Every single guy grows up with high aspirations and ambitions to build the absolute perfect man cave. Sure, we like the wife and kids and all… but let’s be honest, where do we go to get away from it all? The man cave. A man cave is an almost sacred place that gives you back the freedom you once had. A man cave is essentially a glorified porcelain throne that men can escape to with more stuff to play with. It can be a place to prove you’re the manliest man alive. That being said, man caves can go a little overboard costing thousands and thousands of dollars. Well this guy needed a man cave to get away from it all but was on a budget. You will be amazed with what he does for a mere $107 bucks and some pallets.
It started as a tiny storage room with absolutely nothing in it. Not the place you’d wanna hang out.
A local metal company was throwing away their shipping pallets so he picked up about a dozen of these shipping crate walls for free.
He then took a hand draw knife to give the boards a hand cut look.
Here the boards are starting to cover the bare walls.
They have a rough finish on them mimicking an old cabin.
He had to be creative with some of the interior pieces. He will create a false ceiling so the plumbing is accessible and he needed a way to hide the support columns to stick with the design. Notice the hole in the wall leading to a storage room on the other side of the wall. Remember that for later.
He decorated the fire place with stones that he found on the side of the road. Also free and fit the “old cabin” perfectly.
He did add a center beam for the false ceiling to rest on. This is one of the few pieces of wood he purchased. He then aged and stained it for a rustic look.
He made this end table to store all of his knickknacks and collectibles. He calls it his “table of contents”.
The floorboards are the same wood used for the walls. He ripped them down to 3″ and cut the ends into a tongue and groove pattern.
He wrapped the columns with faux support beams and added a lock joint for visual detail. Giving this “old cabin” a hand-built look.
The floor is complete!
The room took about 6 weeks to complete with at least half that time used scavenging for usable materials. The total cost in purchased materials was $107.00. The contents in the room are worth a lot more than that but he had been collecting them for his whole life.
Take a look at the window. That’s the hole that lead to a storage room. He used a high def graphic and made a faux window to look through.
He actually installed a light behind the window that you can turn off to simulate night or day.
Most of the furniture was made from free reclaimed old wood.
The fireplace is fake but he put real burn marks in the floor and on the stone. He also added a light and real ashes to give it a fireplace smell.
Everything in the room is antique or vintage in some way. The scrapbook under the window is full of hunting pictures spanning from the 40’s to the 60’s.
He glued the seams of the floor boards together but left it free from the concrete below. This makes the floor creak a little mimicking a real old cabin floor.
He skimmed the back side of the basement door with 1/8″ plywood to save on weight while keeping the exterior looking like a normal door. He plans on finding a very rustic door knob to swap out. The light switches are actually spent .357 magnum cartridges.
Even the pots and coffee kettles have authentic looking burn marks like they’ve been hanging over an open flame.
He’s often asked what’s in the “table of contents”. Simply a bunch of knickknacks that don’t fit the hunting theme but he still loves to play with. He keeps them out of sight but still accessible.
The thing I love most about this man cave, besides the fact that it only cost $107.oo, is that it’s not your typical modern bar look. He went for an old rustic cabin on a river and it’s something we don’t see very often. This looks like a place I would love to unwind and relax in. A place to get away from it all and take in the smells and views of the mountains. You’ll probably have to use your imagination a little for that last bit but that’s part of the fun.