We kinda have a "man cave", although it's not just for Mark.
It's for both of us.
We're not sure what to call it, so we kinda call it our ER, which would be more appropriate if either of us was in the medical field.
Our house is a tad under 100 years old. Built in a time when many people did now have a family car, but before members of a family each had their own individual car. Our house has a one car garage. We knew we would never use it for our vehicles. Short of constantly playing car tag and rearranging our vehicles in the garage and driveway, utilizing the garage would be more of a hassle than a convenience.
Mark built a carport that fits both our vehicles nicely, and we used the garage for our dumping grounds. I mean storage area.
From the beginning we did have plans to convert the garage into an extra recreational room, and it only took us four years to accomplish this task.
My plan was a simple more rustic room. More of an off-shoot to the deck. The garage has a back door which opens onto the deck, so it seemed logical to me.
But Mark's plan, as usual, was much grander than mine. As he would explain his ideas to me, I kept thinking, "that sounds like a lot of work. Why not just keep it simple?"
It's not 100% completed yet, but it is close enough for me to finally share photos.
Side note: I often get asked why I work if Mark is retired. My joke is that I work at a lumber yard to off-set his little projects. That's probably more accurate than a joke.
Side note: I often get asked what Mark does all day now that he's retired. Believe me, the man stays busy, and you are about to see just one of his many endeavors.
Side note: I do not have any "before" photos to show. I should have. Imagine if you will an old, cold garage. Old minor, nothing major!, cracked cement floor. Spider webs here and there. A bit of junk piled up over here. Then more junk piled up. And more. Boxes we didn't know what to do with when we moved in. Holiday decorations. Then over the last four years, things we accumulated but didn't want to deal with. It all ended up in the garage. Right? Many of us have areas such as this, and our garage was the catch all.
Moving forward.... the first thing needed was a shed so we could organize (hopefully) and keep some things. Because our house is old, we wanted a more rustic shed. Mark even gave it a carport for the lawn mower to match the one for our vehicles.
Then decisions had to be made. What to trash. What to donate. What to keep. Where to keep everything while the garage was being converted.
There was a closet in one corner Mark detested. To him, it was wasted space. To me, it was storage. Mark spoke about how he was going to build a new closet. I'm thinking, "but we HAVE a closet?" Why tear down a closet only to build a closet? (See how our thinking did not align!?) I finally decided the best thing for both of us was for me to get out. This was Mark's project, and I was going to let him have it.
There were little details not readily visible; re-routing plugs and light fixtures. And there were details that were absolutely readily visible. The floor, doors and painted walls.
Mark tore down that closet he loathed. Mark built a new closet.
Mark leveled and tiled the floor. My joke is that our garage now has the nicest floor in our house, but our tile was free. A friend had excess tile from her remodel, and we jumped on it. A gorgeous floor and it's free!? Sign us up.
We used paint we already had; the garage is the same color as our bedrooms.
The ceiling fan was free courtesy of McCoy's also having a huge remodel.
The closet doors were given to us from another friend. His remodel had changed course, and he no longer was in need of them. They were brand new!
The doors Mark found on Craigslist. One brand new for $50. (The sellers thought the blinds were broken. When we got it home, they worked just fine.) The other for $100.
All in all the remodel cost us just under $2,000., but the biggest expense was the furniture.
Here, after four years of procrastination and three months of labor, is our "extra room".
From some of the classes Mark taught while at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. (The FLETC) This is the perfect place for a couple dog beds. (See? Not completely finished.)
Mark's new closet. Closet doors were free, we just had to buy the cute little knobs. The door on the left is a small broom/ mop closet. In the middle is storage for our plethora of cat/dog food and needs. The far door hides our water heater. One simple closet in the corner, but it fulfills a multitude of needs.
A few certificates from Mark's time in the Army, and the flag which was flying over the Border Patrol station in Lake Charles during Hurricane Harvey. A few of the guys signed it and presented it to Mark upon his retirement after 23 years of service in the Border Patrol.
Orange! He picked out "fake grass" for our rug. I love the colors together.
Our puzzle table. Mark gets a little obsessed with puzzles. Once he gets started, he has a hard time stopping. He can stay up all hours of the night working on one. He wanted the perfect puzzle table, so he built it himself. The whiskey barrel base was found on Craigslist; he made the table top. The wall on the left in the photo holds some model cars Mark's father had collected. Upon his dad's death, Mark got the cars. On the right is a "thin green line" flag and a plaque, again, presented to Mark upon retirement. The flag was made by the local boy scouts in Lake Charles.
This door leads to the deck where Mark had his Bar-B-Q pit and smoker. How could I not get this door mat? Notice the mustache. It's really more for our own pleasure than that of others. Let's face it, we put it inside, not outside. Ha! Maybe that will change at some point, but ...maybe not.
An old New York City pay phone. Mark's dad purchased this phone and hung it in the hallway of their home. It was the "kids' phone" and used as a deterrent to keep a house full of teenagers from hanging on the phone for hours. The short cord meant you had to stand. The hallway meant anyone and everyone could hear your conversation. They didn't have to actually pay to use it, but it still managed to serve its purpose. It will go on the wall above where it is now sitting, but Mark has been researching the best way to hang it. It's heavy!
As you know, our whole baseball tour has been in memory of Mark's father. He, along with Mark's mother, had taken his own baseball tour. This corner is a mish-mash of memorabilia. Most baseball, but not all. The framed tickets are from when his parents attended the world series. The drawing was done by a young Jake; father and son holding hands.
(Oh... and a fridge for nice cold beverages complete with a freezer for ice cream.)
Rounding out the room, this door leads into the utility room and back into the house. (Look, there I am in the glass. *waves*)
Mark definitely did not keep it simple. He put a lot of hard (and dirty) work into it. Except for the electrical, he did it all himself.
....and I absolutely love it!
