Dichotomy of a Man Cave

My brother will soon be moving into a new apartment and it got me thinking about man-design. My decorating habits are so femme that I don't often consider masculine interiors. So I'm taking a timeout from obsessing over my own space to brainstorm for his. In searching for inspiration, I've found that black and white or some variation thereof is the go to scheme for manly spaces.




I love all of them and I love black and white- it is classic and timeless and everything else, but it's used so often and I think it might get boring. I admit that the first thing that came to mind when decorating my broskys digs was Mrs. Robinson's den/bar area. Picture black leather, animal hides, tropical plants and black and white stripes. Fabulous for sure, but to be honest, it's a little too skeezy for a single guy. He is quite the bachelor, but I want to keep it classy. This is one of my favorite man spaces from an old domino magazine, but I think it's a bit much for him.

I would really love to do a Restoration Hardware-ish rugged look with worn leather and bare wood, but I really don't think that's his style either. If his apartment had amazing architecture (unlikely because dwellings in Florida just seem to be void of structural character [no offense]), then I would use Jenna Lyons home as inspiration, which is just so chic and classic, but very balanced. These photos are from a November 2008 domino magazine feature on the JCrew director's New York apartment.



In reality, I think this is more my style. I'm more J*Crew, he's more Armani, so I decided to try and pull inspiration from the Armani Casa collection, but yuck. I'm sorry but it just doesn't do it for me. I've found that a lot of "masculine" design is very stark and cold. Enter Armani Casa. This is just one picture and the pieces alone are obviously streamlined and beautiful, but all together it makes me uncomfy and this picture feels like a screen shot out of a modern day Stanley Kubrick film.

It's just so cold and void. I don't think masculine has to be stark. It doesn't have to feel cold to feel orderly. The number one thing a home must be is comfortable- your home is your sanctuary. That said, Armani Casa's not gonna make the cut. However, the following pic is at the top of my inspiration list. I can picture it full of guys playing poker, smoking cigars and drinking Johnnie Walker to the sounds of Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Yumm.

Unfortunately, once again, this is my taste if I were a cigar smoking, scotch drinking man. Scary thought. So, anyway, I put together a preliminary collage because I think maybe the above mentioned pic is still a bit too much.

After continuing the search a little further, I added some accessories, etc. It's possible that I might have maybe taken it a bit too far. We'll see.

That's enough for now, but I'm expecting comments, questions, and concerns. Godspeed.