Here’s the Plan…Turning our Garage into his Man Cave, & my DIY Sanctuary

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GOALS! This is the one image I keep coming back to over and over again for inspiration on this project. I am going to make a tool wall and if it’s just 50% as sexy as this masterpiece, I will have smashed it. (no pun intended)
Huge credit here to @inordertosucceed

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When we finally moved into our house we were lucky that the Boy’s Dad came to stay for a couple of weeks and together with my Dad they helped us with all the heavy lifting to move everything we owned out of storage. The men all slogged for days moving load after load from the storage unit into a Van then the house. I can’t take any credit here and I suppose I’ll never fully understand the tedious but immense physical effort required to unload the storage unit, one trolley load at a time, down multiple corridors, a lift, and then more endless rows of padlocked units. Thankfully (I obvs mean regrettably!), I had to work during all this but I would like to clarify that I pulled my weight on the first leg of the move emptying two houses into said storage unit, and all the packing, and the unpacking, and the copious amounts of food and booze to keep everyone going. I digress, but my point here is that we saved thousands of pounds doing the move on our own and not paying for a removals company. Would I do it again? HELL NO. And my one piece of advice is never take that cheaper storage unit on the first floor at the far end of the building - there’s a reason it’s empty and cheap!

The storage unit the size of a double garage that we managed to squeeze in everything we owned that we could live without for 3 months. The essential crap came with us in the car which became our mobile storage unit whilst we ‘bedroom surfed’ through the family.

The victory shot I received whilst at work when the Boy and his Dad were half way through unloading and could see the back of the unit. I really felt for them, honest!

The money we saved, together with the trauma of DIY removals, led to some emotional (and rather reckless) purchases whilst we were ‘homeless’ and dreaming of our new home. We convinced each other we needed to invest in some future heirlooms that we knew we could never justify at a later date. Everyone needs a pool table and table tennis table right?! 

Two years later and that pool table has been used just once when we cleared a room and brought it into the house for a New Years Eve party. 99% of the time the pool table is in the middle of the garage with crap hidden under it, crap stored on top of it, and crap leant against it. It’s unrecognisable as a pool table and one might even think it’s just one big pile of crap. 

BEFORE | I’ve not moved a single item in the garage to show you exactly how it looks right now. There’s a pool table under there that wants to be played, and a Boy in my life who needs a Man Cave to play in. I’m so excited to finally make this a place we use and maybe even have a date night playing pool together.

The table tennis table on the other hand gets used a lot in the summer in the garden, but despite promising each other we will pack it away after every use and store it in the garage, we just don’t. There’s not enough space, and there’s no clear access past the Pile-of-Crap-Pool-Table, and we are lazy. We paid the price for an outdoor table so we let it be an outside table. Big mistake. It’s starting to go rusty, the playing surface is bubbling at the edges and it’s only a matter of months before the top becomes so uneven that I will finally get spin on my shots and beat the Boy. As much as I need all the help I can get to win, we aren’t wasteful and we actually love this table tennis table so it’s time it came indoors and had a storage spot in the garage. 

Then it gets worse. It hurts my OCD genes to admit that we have boxes and boxes of unorganised tools and equipment – pretty much everything you could ever need for a DIY project, but not categorised, or grouped into any sort of order. I’m talking a paint roller in a box with a tile cutter, rusty old screws and a smelly pair of trainers. Or, a garden trowel in a box with a power drill, BBQ firelighters and a lava lamp. Nothing makes sense and it makes my blood boil every time I try to find something. Since the day we got the keys and started the big move, the garage became a dumping ground and has not been touched to this day. So, we (mostly I) have finally decided it’s time to sort the crap and make a sports man cave for the Boy and a DIY sanctuary for me. 

BEFORE | We have the best Ryobi power tools which were the best hand me downs from the Boys Dad which have set us (mostly me) up for DIY for life. Plastic boxes on shelves are dangerous hiding spots for junk that quickly gets put away and never found again. I’m getting rid of these shelves and all the boxes to put everything on display and bring some order to all the tools.

BEFORE | The dartboard is going to be hung (and hopefully I’ll learn how to hit it) and the party signs I love to make are going to be hung as wall art. So tacky. So what!?!

BEFORE | The signed England football shirt is still a contentious topic. It’s never coming in the house, and I don’t really want it in the new garage either but I’m prepared to put it up on the back wall above the freezer I suppose. The P letter sign has been with me for years - its the P for Purcell (that's me) and Palmer (that’s the Boy). That’s definitely going up. As are those orange Ikea wardrobe doors we picked up for £5 in the Ikea Bargain Corner without any need, use or idea of what to do with them. Please tell me everyone else buys crap in that sale section with no idea why.

So here’s the plan….

Everything on the walls. Nothing on the floor

One of the biggest issues in our garage is that we put everything on the floor. The shelves are all fully loaded and stuff falls off them all the time especially when I am in a rage trying to find something. We’ve both been guilty of sometimes just throwing things in from the door as we can’t physically or mentally step inside. Number one plan is to plan new storage that prevents anything going on the floor. I’m going to fill every inch of every wall and I am even considering getting the Dymo machine out to make labels.

Another enviable tool wall made from standard white pegboard. Credit @sortedsimplicity

One long continuous shelf all around the room

I have no idea how to make this yet, but the short breeze block pillars are screaming out for a shelf on top that wraps around the room. I plan to store all the paint tins, power tool boxes, drill bit kits on a long plywood shelf wrapping around the entire garage. There will be nothing inside a box, inside a box. It all needs to be visible so I can see it, and find it within seconds.

A tool pegboard of dreams

I am taking the principle of making everything easy to find to the extreme here by attempting a pegboard wall to store and showcase all the tools I use on a regular basis. It will most likely be an insult to experienced and more skilled craftsmen, mechanics and DIY masters but I am going to give it a go.

If you followed my Instagram stories you will know the drama was real in trying to source the Skandis pegboard from Ikea in black. Just as I waned to buy them they were discontinued. I wish I could let go of all the little pots, shelves, clips and clever accessories that Ikea make that are only compatible with the Skandis series, and go for regular black pegboard, but I just can’t. So we are going for white and bets are on whether they will end up being sprayed black.

My collection of corks finally put to use

Obviously I got caught in a Pinterest black hole looking at Man Cave inspiration and when I found this idea I knew I had to try and recreate this for myself. I’ve been collecting corks for years with no idea what to ever do with them. I’ve been waiting for this moment - when an idea would hit me and I would know it’s the one.

All I wonder when I look at this is whether we have drank enough bottles of wine over the years to give me enough corks to make this. And if we have enough corks, does that mean we have a drinking problem?
Credit: OldDogOriginals on Etsy

All the cliche gaming accessories I can think of (and make)

My list of little sub projects keeps getting longer and longer, but I’ve found some brilliant inspiration which is going to keep me busy (and entertained) for weeks.

Do we need pretty (but unnecessary) storage for Table Tennis bats? I THINK SO TOO!
Source: WesternTuffWoodwork on Etsy

Why buy something that looks so easy to make? I’ll regret saying that for sure but we definitely need somewhere to put a drink when we have that one and only date in the garage! Source: Pinterest

Zhoosh up the breeze block walls

“Zhoosh” - that’s the verb meaning ‘to make more exciting, lively or attractive’ - so if you’re still reading we've both learnt how to spell this now. I’m obviously going to paint the hell out of the breeze blocks. I’m going for Brilliant White all over with Black (no surprises there) for the pillars.

Expect regular progress updates on Instagram Stories and a delayed unveil as my ‘one week’ project has already spiralled out of control and will probably take me until Christmas now.

Wish me luck

x

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