“Not a Man Cave” Reveal

Happy Monday! I trust you had a wonderful weekend. Thanks to all of Scott’s fans who stopped by the blog to read my interview last week – there were a lot of you!

Today, I’m sharing the “Afters” of the den makeover. I know I have shown you snippets but I couldn’t show the entire room until it ran in the National Post.

Well, this weekend they ran the story. You can read it here – love how the caption is “Not a Man Cave...”  It has details on how I planned out the space and some of the sources. You can also read more info here including the designs of some blogger friends.

Vanessa Francis Design

Vanessa Francis Design

I designed the ottoman and chair and my upholsterer created it. This was because I couldn’t find the pieces in the dimensions and fabric I wanted – so when in doubt, go custom! That chair is so comfortable. It’s 42” high so you can rest your head back and the arms are at the right height for reading.

Before

And just so that you can appreciate the After, these are the scary Before photos of the room.  As I wrote in the article – very embarrassing indeed!  My husband used to watch the tiny TV lying on the “bear” chair – poor guy. He had the Ikea console and bookcase before I met him around 17 years ago.  It was time for everything to go including the carpet which we replaced with this berber from the Home Depot.

Vanessa Francis Design 

Vanessa Francis Design

The TV media unit was one we had in the family room but it always felt a bit too small for the wall so we relocated it to this room where it has more of a presence on this small wall.  I also changed out the hardware to these ones from Lee Valley.  Photographs of our trips to Portugal, Barbados and Florida and original art frame the TV. My 10 yr old daughter painted the circle painting and the ink painting on the lower left is by Karin Lynn Cumming via In2Art Gallery in Oakville.

Vanessa Francis Design

All photos: KWest Images

It really has become one of our favourite rooms in the house.  We have “reading Sundays” where my daughter and I read lying on the daybed and my husband reads sitting in the chair. (It’s just a way of making reading fun for my daughter who would much rather be on her ipod!)  Because the room is so small, it’s really cozy in there!

Have a great week!

Do you have a neglected room that could use some TLC? Contact me at vanessa(at)vanessafrancis.com.