OT: Michigan Man cave/Kids Room
Two seperate questions here on a slow day.
1) THE MAN CAVE - I am in the process of buying a house but down here in Georgia where I live a basement is a rarity. The wife has given me the go ahead to turn the garage into a man cave but I did not know if any one out there has had experience with this. In my mind this includes a huge tv or projector, pool table, foosball table, etc... Is the garage a good choice or do I just sell the pool table and foosball table and turn some random bedroom into the Michigan Man Cave? Dont get me wong though, I am still looking for a house with a basement.
2) Found out yesterday that I am having a boy - look for the Hello post in Feb. The wife is a two sport college athelete so I am hopeful he gets that from her and we will have a kicker in 18 yrs. The question here is in regards to the baby room. The agreement the whole time was if its a boy its a Michigan room and he is brainwashed from day one. However, last night the wife says "it can be Michigan but it also has to be classy". What does this mean? Are the walls not going to be Maize now? Looking for advice from those out there who have done some kind of baby Michigan room because I think if I can come to her with some good ideas I will still have a fighting chance.
I have a Couch and Cable in my garage and im out there every night. Slide the door down and you have your privacy or leave it open in the nice summer air. I love it. And being in Georgia its not like your gonna get cold out there.
and congrats on the news.
Congratulations! Here's to a safe, uneventful next few months!
I'm in the same club as you - baby on the way in February. But its our second so I've been through your dilemna in #2 already. Face fact: You will never get your way in the baby's room. Just give up any hopes right now that there will be anything more than a small Michigan flag on the wall or a miniature helmet on the hutch/bookshelf. It'll save you a lot of argument and stays in the "doghouse" if you just accept that fact now. Especially if its your first. I know, from experience!
I'm not sure! I guess I've always spelled it that way (improperly, I now know).
You seem very happy, excited or both!!
Baby room can be just that, baby room. As the kids gets older you will paint and replace furniture. At that point you can start to add in the Michigan gear/apparell with out much hassel.
Where in Georgia exactly is bad for basements? is it toward the coastal area?
between the clay and the flooding from the Savannah, the word basement seems to be a new term around here. At least this is what I am hearing.
If he's a kicker please send him to Michigan. We'll probably need one.
Most everything is slabs or crawl spaces on block around here.
Need to get a concrete finisher to put the new epoxy coating on you garage floor. Maize & Blue with the block M in the center!
Go buy about 15 Michigan onesies in a range of sizes and colors. This is your best bet as far as getting the block M brainwashed into your child. Mom's can't resist a cute little boy in a Michigan shirt. And leave the room to her.
Dammit guys, I'm not going to see my 5-month-old for another 3 hours, and now this thread is going to make those hours go really sloooooooow.
I'm sure you've already thought of this, but be sure to scope out the external noise situation with the garage. It would suck if a neighbor's lawn mowing ruined the man-caveness.
Oddly enough I have not thought to much about this. Looks like I will be bringing the lawnmower to all of the housing tours.
But I think it's more important the other way around. How well will profanities/music/tv volume carry outside of the garage. It probably isn't insulated. Also, i had a buddy who lived in gulf shores and he said when he left his garage door open it tended to attract snake. And also, won't a garage in georgia get really hot?
Some R13 just for sound proofing will go a long way to ensure a bit more isolation.
Another thing to consider is the AC situation in the garage. I've never lived in Georgia, but I'm sure one of those hot, humid summer days will make the man cave absolutely unbearable...
all that humidity can really mess up any electronics you have in there.
I would think the swings in humidity could also be bad for a TV, but I don't really know.
1.) THE GARAGE, not so much my friend. Its Georgia=freakin hot and muggy. Kick that bad boy man cave inside. Plus you'll need to keep the car and truck out of the sun or you'll roast your ass off after it sits in the sun all day.
2.) Classy should require you to keep the palate clean, light Maize walls. medium dark blue carpet works. M themed teddy bears and such, toss a penant on the wall.
keeping the wife happy and sane after that kid comes home is hard enough, you don't want to add to her displeasure with a baby room she hates, then in turn hates you for. Remember, when the doc says don't touch her for 6 weeks after birth your life will suck a little more also. Do nothing to compound any aggrivation.
Remember, the man cave will be the boys favorite room, just like dad.
You probably won't win the baby room... unless a.) They come out with a UM Winnie the Pooh decor line at Ethan Allen sometime soon or b.) your wife just doesn't care much about the kid. Let's face it, neither is gonna happen...
BUT you'll have the last laugh as the kid will just become a Michigan fan when he learns how vested you are in the whole thing. I hear "Look Dad, an M for Michigan" at least three times a day, and the kid's usually pointing at the shirt on my chest when he's saying it. By the time the kid is three the block M and/or helmet will become as recognizable and familiar to him as any Nick, Sprout or Disney character. You will win.
They build them, but they are all called "daylight basements"....meaning that the basement is half-buried....Typically, you can't see the basement level from the front, but its fully-exposed with a walk-out door in the back (it will look like a 3-story house from the back)....its like they intentionally build them on a hill or something.
Anyway, if you get a basement, you probably won't have much of a useable backyard. I recommend going with the basement, you can't make up for the the extra space especially when the kids start coming.
Try to get some Michigan friends to give you some gifts that will be considered tasteful. A michigan teddy bear, maybe a blanket. There is also a kids book - "Let's Go Blue"
<br>
Congratulations on the boy! We have our third on the way in December.
Forget Augusta, come up to Alpharetta, we have basements (and unlike the north), the basements down here are primarily day light basements.
Anyway, like everyone above said, you do not want to be sitting in a garage without an A/C in Georgia. Neither will your expensive TV. Also, your HOA, if you have one, may not be too pleased with it either.
I finished my basement last year (translated I had an electrician, plumber, and dry wall guy come out), but I did do the floors, wiring, and painting. I put the kids play room right next to the media room and the Michigan room, so they can't escape it. Props to the mgouser to posted pictures of his basement (stole the Fathead block M idea from him).
My son (5 years old) and I watched Michigan vs Duke basketball in the media room and it was one of those special events. He asked why Michigan lost to "those Dukers".
Last word of wisdom, as much as I love Michigan, the wife has made it perfectly clear that the "Hope Scholarship is the Hope Scholarship." Free in-state tuition versus out of state tuition (x3). Just sayin.
Town called Peachtree City, about 20 miles south of Atlanta. Just about all of the newer houses have finished basements. You definitely would not want to turn your garage into a Man Cave... would be unbearable in the summer and early fall with the heat / humidity. So I would defnitely strongly recommend finding a place with a basement or extra bedroom. As far as stuff to put in it... I think it has to have a large tv, refrigerator is a must (kegerator optional), comfy chairs, and at least a card table.
Congratulations on the upcoming birth of your son. I have two boys (a 7 year old and one about to turn 6). I also have an awesome wife... so one boy's room has a Star Wars theme and the other is Sports. To keep it classy on the sports-side, I was able to get framed-signed jerseys and pictures and hang them in the room. Unfortunately I did have to compromise somewhat (my wife is a UT fan), so one of the jerseys is Ricky Williams. But the Woodson one more than makes up for it!
Im expecting my first grandson and my son just bought new bedding for the baby bed all Michigan. His wife took to the theme of a sports bedroom and bought new baseball wall pics that consist of the GB Packers, the Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions and the Philadelphia Phillies. He told her she did a fine job!
I go through that everyday. lol
If the house you're looking at has one, make sure to get a radon inspection. A lot of houses that are built into rock have this issue. But it is not the end of the world if radon is present -- though you would want to get a system that circulates the air and blows it out of the house...
It is much better to know about it and take care of it, especially if you have little kids and plan to spend a lot of time down there. And in this environment, you probably can get the seller to help pay for the system as part of the negotations.
Looks like a) I wont win with the wife (kind of figured this one) and b) I need to find a house with a basement
If you want to paint the room Maize and Blue, go to home depot and for the most authentic Maize, just wear a maize shirt and put it up to the machine and it'll rip the exact color from it.. Because HD's "Michigan Maize" isn't even close to accurate. The Blue is accurate I would say. I would know I painted my bedroom in the colors with blue carpeting. Someday I plan to expand it into a whole house.
Glidden has the official NCAA line, at Home Depot, and I had no problems with the Maize and Blue colors. The grey primer helped, but the blue still took 4 coats, so that kinda sucked...
That's what I did, except the Maize color showed up on their computer looking more like Gold of Iowa than anything. Luckily I was wearing my Maize Rage t-shirt and the guy got the shirt color for me. Can't get more authentic than that.
for my boy's nursery. I think it was a perfect look, regardless of what the color looked to be on the computer.
THIS is classy...
Wow, that is impressive. The poster is awesome and the rug is a nice touch.
My wife would not let me do a Michigan-themed room for either kid. I offered to do one for Eastern Michigan (her alma mater) if one could be UMich. She declined. Oddly, the one that I offered to make Eastern-themed used to be a main floor laundry room in our house.