Man Cave Makeover

I'm married to a military man.  If that weren't enough, he is an infantry man.  This quite logically means we are prepared for anything; natural disasters, governmental collapse, riots in the streets, and yes even a zombie Apocalypse (another post for another time).  I try my hardest to contain the testosterone in the only room that can handle the intensity; the man cave.  This room was "decorated" by the man himself as I tried my very hardest to let him mark his territory as he saw fit.  Notice I said "tried."  I did try.  Really.  I eventually persuaded him to move the furniture around so it fit the room a little better... but other than that, I pretty much left it alone.  The collections of randomly placed stuff, mixed with military gear, awards, and antiques have morphed into a sort cluttered, dusty, monument to "the good life" (for everyone but the axis buck mounted on the wall I suppose...).

After watching a movie up there one evening, my husband looked around and randomly said he would like to paint the room and make it look nicer.  I admit it.  I saw the opportunity to control the man cave and I took it.

So we struck a deal:  We would paint the man cave if I had full authority to redecorate the room as I saw fit.

The fine print for husband:  All decor must stay as designed for at least two weeks before he can veto it 

AND fine print for wife:  Nothing that is already in the room can leave the room.  

So I began to plot plan.  I had a Monday off and we drove to Ohio to go to IKEA.  I already had a wall shelf and expedite shelf picked out and despite Ronnie's hesitation, he agreed to buy without questioning.  I had another day off on Wednesday so I insisted on painting the room on Tuesday night so I could spend all of Wednesday getting things put together.  (Side note: I HATE lingering projects.  If we were going to do this, we were going to do it ALL NOW.)

The result was a fresh and classy room with creative storage solutions for all the memorabilia my military man could possibly have (for now anyways).  Bonus- Hubby loves it, too!  He said that he had his doubts but he loves the way it turned out.

During the chaos