the man room

we have lived in our house for a year and a half now.  in that time, we have managed to only do a handful of projects from our list.

1. start a family :)
2. switching out the stove top and front light
3. finding a few antiques for the house
4. putting up the instagram wall 
5. decorated the nursery  
6. switch out and set up the guest bedroom (once used for this)

we also have a space we call "the man room."  we call it this because its in the basement and its is a space where husband can retreat to play his video games.  unfortunately for husband, its the only room in the house that has a tv, so we use it more like a den.  even though its not technically a man room, i still try my hardest not to girly it up the space too much.  its hard though because its sooooo "off-white" down there.  you know, that awful cheap off-white carpet that they put down in apartments and the walls are painted about the same color ... yuck.  

anywho, my plan is to add splashes of color and collect some man-tiques and other guy things to make the space a little more fun.  i wish i had a REAL "before" photo.  when we first moved in, we went to walmart and bought the cheapest futon they had and the tv was sitting on an antique kitchen table.  the shelves were packed with randomness and there was a huge stack of unpacked boxes behind the futon. you can see that we have added a nice sofa bed from ikea and the old foot locker i found is being used as a coffee table.  i felt like the walls were too bland but i had zero desire to paint the entire room.  i decided to start with the built-in shelves above the sofa. 

before

after

i had seen this little do-it-yourself project on other blogs and then all over pinterest, so i thought i would try it out.  i paid all of $15 for the paint and i still have enough left over to save for another project.  it took a total of 3 hours to complete, including cleanup.  i feel like painting the back splash of these shelves has really added to the room. it was an inexpensive and quick change that added a little life and character to the space.  

do you have an easy and inexpensive project that really made a difference? 

* please excuse the photos.  the "before" shot was taken with my nikon and the "after" was one i took with my phone.