And so the man-cave was born.
My wife (K) didn’t seem to mind. It meant that the room we’d already designated as the study became her domain exclusively. And it helped contain all my geeky stuff to a single room. She did veto the name “man-cave” though. And to be fair, I was mainly calling it the man-cave to irritate her. But “the study” was already taken. What on earth could I call my little room?
And so the den was born.
What goes into a 21st century den I hear you ask? Well, there needs to be X-Box playing space, bookshelves filled with speculative fiction novels, some kind of chair/footrest combo for reading/game playing etc, a small lounge in case a nap is called for and a place to write.
With most of the stuff ordered, the piece I was mainly missing was a desk. I wanted something with a bit of character, rather than an Ikea special (as much as I admire the ingenuity of our Nordic furniture masters). And in the dusty bowels of a local auction house I found it – a circa 1900 American oak roller top desk. It was in pretty bad condition, but some cleaning and waxing and I think it has come up OK.
And so my place to write has finally come together. A room I can retreat to when the insanity of the world (or my children) drives me to the brink. A place of box DVD set watching, writing, reading and game playing. A place where none may enter without my express permission. Well, except my daughter. She pretty much goes where she likes. As does my son, now that I think about it. And I don’t actually fancy trying to stop my wife going anywhere in her house.
But besides everyone else who lives here, none shall enter!
While I tend to write all over the place (wherever and whenever I can find a few minutes spare really), I like the idea of a place where I can organise my stuff. A base camp if you will.
Lets see if it actually improves my productivity!
Do you have a specific place to write? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
I have the Libarary – 4 bookcases 1 non fiction and three fiction and a cedar table that houses the printer, laptop and the most immediate TBR piles. I have a small Victorian writing desk but it is in the formal dining room.
Excellent – sounds much more writing focused and distraction free than my small piece of paradise. But hey, in these small inner city houses I'll take what I can get!
I like the idea of a Library – perhaps if I ever win lotto (quite a feat given I don't as a habit buy any tickets). I also like the capitalisation. Henceforth the den shall be known as the Den!
-m
Well it's technically the formal lounge. Recently it has been invaded by my wife as we restrict cooling to one room in the mansion. :)
Yes, the only room in this house with air conditioning is the master bedroom. All four of us were huddled there for quite some time on our 42 degree day this week. I think if we'd had to go through what you guys did we would have starved to death – no one would have been willing to go our for supplies.
I shall always think of your room as The Library. Formal lounge rooms are so 2012.
-m