Design Direction

February 3, 2010 · Posted in Design Direction

Do you have a challenging space or need some design guidance? Design Direction is a chance for you to submit photos or videos of your design challenge(s) and a Vastu interior designer will provide you with some help. Every Wednesday we will feature one reader’s submission.

“Our house has a basement my husband calls his “man cave”. He is the one to spend the most time there, but occasionally the family and guests are down there to watch movies. He wants to decorate the room in the colors of his alma mater (forest green and gold) and his favorite football team (purple and gold). He’s adamant about the colors, but I don’t see how those colors could possibly work together. If no one ever went down there I wouldn’t care, but I still want to be able to bring friends to the basement and be proud of the decor… Any thoughts on how to make it work?”

Krissy says…

I get this question a lot – where a couple living together need help reconciling two seemingly opposing interior design aesthetics, and this is certainly not the first time I have encountered the multi-functional “man cave” dilemma. I recommend sitting down together to come up with some other adjectives that describe your mutual goals for the room, for instance, do you want the space to be “sophisticated”, “modern”, “fresh”, etc? To achieve a “manly” feel to the room, select chunky, angular furniture in dark wood and leather finishes. The sports theme of the room doesn’t need to be overtly literal to suggest team pride. Consider ways other than paint to incorporate your husband’s desired colors into the design scheme and achieve your mutual goals. Perhaps it’s best if the walls remain in a neutral color palette (albeit a “masculine” neutral), while the team colors are brought out in pillow fabrics, window treatments, throws, artwork, and accessories. A plaid silk with green, purple and gold would make for great throw pillows: it incorporates all of his colors and is a masculine pattern, but the silk will soften the room. Offer to frame, and prominently display, jerseys (one green and one purple) and pictures of his favorite teams. Since gold is the common, unifying color of his two favorite teams, include gold colored metalics (light fixtures, frames, etc). Something like this Babette Holland lamp in the bronze finish is a great way to incorporate a pop of “gold”. As an added nod to his teams, place a game winning autographed ball in a case on a shelf or the coffee table. For more tips, feel free to call us! Good luck!