Move over man cave, this post is all about a mom cave. When HomeGoods contacted us to offer us a gift card to create a mom cave in our house, we asked if we could pay it forward instead. And they were game. Oh and then we asked what the heck a mom cave was.
It’s actually a little haven for any mom in her own home. The mom’s answer to the man cave if you will. It can just be a small corner of a bedroom with a chair for relaxing and reading or an entire room devoted to crafting, pedicuring, or anything else that your little mom heart desires. So I set out to find a deserving momma in need of a figurative cave to recharge her mom batteries. And Farah (mom to adorable two-year-old Laila) of eMommie seemed like the perfect pick. Here she is now with little Laila and her hubby Luke.
So we popped over to her house to see what we were working with. She showed us into this rarely used office that she had always been meaning to transform into a quiet room for reading, meditating, relaxing, and just calming the heck down after a long day of working and moming.
You can see from the paint swatches on the wall in the photo above that Farah was planning to bring in a serene blue color for those walls. But when it came to actually picking the color she was experiencing a bit of paint paralysis. So we whipped ’em out (our paint decks, that is) and helped her choose a color (Catalina Blue by Benjamin Moore color matched to satin Behr paint). Then we dropped the H-bomb (aka: told her we had some HomeGoods swag that we could add on their dime). That was fun. I can’t imagine what it’s like to tell someone they won a million dollars or a house on HGTV since it was so darn exciting to announce that we had some free furnishings and accessories for her future mom cave.
After we all simmered down (we were as excited as she was) we left her with some homework a la Trading Spaces. We assigned her and her hubby Luke with the job of picking up our pre-selected paint color and going to work on those white walls. And we ran to HomeGoods and a few other stores to shop for her mom cave makeover in the meantime. Here’s John holding the lamp and the print that we knew would be perfect for Farah’s room.
And here’s her mom cave after the big makeover:
The wall color definitely set the stage for relaxing and escaping the daily grind. And thankfully Farah had a few basic items already on hand that we could work with. Like the two Ikea tables in front of the window, a pair of white Ikea curtains from another room, the white armoire that she had tucked behind the doors to this very room (why were they hiding such a great piece?) and a few accessories like the picture frames, the blue vase on top of the armoire, the blue pillow on the chair, the blanket rack, and the brown branches. And once we moved those things around and worked out a new layout, it was obvious that all we needed were a few things to polish the room off.
Like a new chair for the corner, some larger hanging lanterns (in an easy-on-the-eyes grouping of three), a nice textured and cozy rug, a sculptural table lamp, some inexpensive art, and a small basket for next to the chair (to corral books and magazines).
Farah’s favorite thing of the entire makeover is the chair, which actually has a cool greeny-yellow Ikat fabric on it. We love how it works with the lamp shade and some of the coloring in the lotus art to bring a nice warm glow to the cool blue space. Oh and it’s comfy. Clara and I tested it out extensively (ok, so I fed her in it mid-makeover… a girl’s gotta eat!).
And you know we’re cheap right? Well, we are. So when we needed a few finishing touches we decided to flex our cheapskate muscles and hunt down some serious deals for Farah (since she agreed to foot the rest of the makeover beyond the HomeGoods donation and gave us a budget to work with- so official, right?). Anyway, when we happened upon these $15-for-all-three paper lanterns from World Market…
… and a $15 clearance rug at Target (yes, a fifteen dollar 4 x 6 Thomas O’ Brien rug!) we snatched them up faster than you can say minemineminemine (that’s a Finding Nemo reference FYI).
Here’s the full budget breakdown:
- Paint: $20 (Benjamin Moore Catalina Blue color matched to Behr)
- Chair: $120 (from HomeGoods)
- Lamp: $50 (from HomeGoods)
- Lotus art: $25 (from HomeGoods)
- Rug: $15 (on clearance from Target)
- Paper lanterns: $15 (from World Market)
- Magazine basket: $16 (from Target)
- Total: $276 (just $81 spent by Farah thanks to HomeGoods!)
Not bad right? Especially because most chairs can run you $300 or more, and we also managed to squeeze in paint, art, a rug, a lamp, and a few accessories for under $280 (and Farah only had to break out four twenties). But the makeover fun isn’t over. We’re greedy little buggers. So when we laid eyes on Farah’s potential-riddled living room we knew we could do a little somethin-somethin in there too. So we did. That post in a minute (there are too many pictures to merge it with this one).
In the meantime what kind of inadvertent mom caves do you guys have going on at home? I admit that anywhere I’m nursing around the house becomes my temporary mom cave because I get to zone out and focus on Clara for a few moments every 2.5 hours or so. Gotta love that baby for the self-imposed breaks that she gives me.
Sara says
Congrats Farah! The room looks very relaxing. All parties did a great job, I appreciate that Luke was a good sport. My husband would do anything to get out of painting.
Meghan says
We are currently renovating our basement into the ‘man cave’ but I told my husband last week that all I want is one corner of it for me!! He agreed!! I’ll be getting my mini ‘mom cave’ soon!!! I actually have an awesome chair that used to be my grandma’s that I want to reupholster to fit in with my new room!!
Sara says
If anyone has not checked out the post of Amanda’s (2 up), you should. She has such a lovely “mom” cave. Way to go Ben!
dana says
congrats Farah!
Alisa Decatur says
From boring to beautiful! I love the rug and chair. Super job as always.
Oh, and I’m watching “The View” right now and it’s on mom caves.
susan says
Tell the people at Home Goods I am headed their way after seeing this post. Any chance you can make this a regular feature? Gotta go look for my “mom cave” spot. Now how can I incorporate a wine rack and glasses into my cave? Hmmmmmmmmm
Emily says
Gorgeous! I’d love to have a mom cave instead of a corner of the kitchen table. Love the chair and the budget stickingness.
kendra Bester says
Great Job on the room, turned out excellent!
and I love the paint colour it makes the room feel so relaxed.
Check out my blog, I will be sharing my room makeover in just a few days!
http://youngdiy.blogspot.com/
Cheers Kendra
Lauren says
I’m not a mom yet either, but I like to think that my living room is my little get away space. We don’t use it much, so I get full rein of decorating and use it as my place to relax and chill after work while watching the (2) kitties play. It still needs some new touches like paint and carpeting… but all in due time (and money)..
Skooks says
I hate saying this because it sounds so “Mr. Schu’s crazy ex-wife from Glee” but I have a craft room. It’s really more of a sewing room, but there are some other crafty type supplies in there so it can be multipurpose. We recently moved into our first home and (for the time being) there are enough rooms that I can have one to myself so I’m savoring it! I took my old bedroom furniture from when I was growing up, my husband gave it a nice coat of heirloom white paint, added a sewing desk and a shelving unit and we’re in business. I’m hoping to post pics of it on my blog soon. :)
Ashley says
Wow I’d love to find a $15 rug at Target! I really like it. We just used a similar color blue in our family room that we are making over. We opted out of putting a TV in the room to make it more of a relaxing zone and the blue works great. I’m hanging my Ikea curtains today lol.
How did you pick the lucky Farrah and her family for this awesome makeover?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Ashley,
We actually hadn’t ever met Farah or her sweet family but they were recommended to us through a friend of a friend (when we mentioned the mom cave challenge and said that we needed a deserving mom) so we asked them via email to send pics of their house and we loved what we saw!
xo,
s
Kelley says
Looks fabulous! Yay for a Mom Cave :)
Amy @ Journey Mum says
We have quite a small house so unfortunately there’s no extra space for my husband or I to have a whole room to ourselves. I’ve turned a corner of our bedroom in to my little space. I have a gorgeous bed side table filled with loads of books, with beautiful little jars on top that I put flowers in. There is also a bookcase on my side of the room where I’ve sorted all the books by color so it’s like a little piece of art. Add to that, our feature wall is on my side and it’s purple!
Patti says
Love the makeover! The room now looks so pulled together and finished, something I can never get quite right unfortunately. Right now I’m changing up my dining room and am stuck as to which way to go regarding the area rug. How do you know what color to go with? Do you usually go with a darker contrasting color to the walls? I would have never looked twice at this dark brown rug for the room but it works! Thanks for any help.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Patti,
There aren’t any hard and fast rules, but we usually like when the rug is a different shade or color than the floor and the wall (so it adds dimension instead of looking flat). And since darker rugs hold up well to stains and spills, we usually prefer them (although some spaces look great with something lighter than the walls and carpet). It also helps if the undertone or color of the rug is present somewhere else in the room so it looks cohesive, and thanks to the dark branches, the dark woven baskets, and the legs of the chair it feels tied in.
xo,
s
Carla says
Love the wall color and the lotus painting – beautiful job!!
Erin says
LOVE that room!! What a beautiful wall color! I might have to use this color palate as inspiration for the future. Love the chair too. Looks amazing.
r8chel says
Lovely! The ‘after’ is so peaceful.
Also, do I get points for finding Sherry, John, and Clara’s foot reflected in the front door in the first photo? ;)
Emily @ The Happy Home says
i always wondered why men were so insistent on man caves when it’s MOM who usually needs some time away from it all! so not fair. this room is gorgeous!
Cait @ Hernando House says
I love the idea of a mom cave :) And we have a lantern hanging in the corner of our living room that I’ve been meaning to add two more to: http://hernandohouse.wordpress.com/2010/08/24/living-room-remix/
Christy Q says
Gorgeous! I need to revamp my craft/sewing room (a spare bedroom) and this post is serving as inspiration for my revamp. Great job all around!
Laura (Blogging Over Thyme) says
You guys are brilliant, this room looks awesome! This is much nicer in my opinion than any man cave–hehe. Is this going to be some new post series of yours? Crashing houses and making them beautiful. Cuz I love it.
YoungHouseLove says
We would love to do this more regularly- maybe five or six times a year or so! It definitely depends if we can get some swag from a store to help with the makeover and find the time with all of our new house projects that we’ll be juggling when we move!
xo,
s
Mary Ann says
This came at the perfect time. My husband started off with two separate spaces just for his stuff (that’s completely aside from the space in our bedroom) and we’re getting ready to combine his rooms and turn one into a craft/work room for me. I’m very excited!
Roshni says
Awesome!! At first I thought you guys were just doing another giveaway but this is so much better! I love before and after posts!!
Beth says
Why did you get the color matched with a Behr paint? Why not just buy the BM?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Beth,
All in the name of saving money! It’s about $10 a can cheaper, which adds up to $60 saved for both rooms. We love BM paint of course, but Behr is great stuff too (and good for anyone on a budget).
xo,
s
Christy Q says
Just one quick question – I cannot find Carolina Blue on Benjamin Moore’s color viewer. I did find Catalina Blue but no Carolina Blue. :( Is it a retired color? Thanks!!!
YoungHouseLove says
Ack! You’re right! We meant Catalina Blue (703)! Off to fix that…
xo,
s
Annamae says
I love this idea! never heard of it till now. Honestly the whole house is my domain. Hubs gets the garage but with two young kids there are a lot of areas the kids take over… toys, art station, reading station, school room(we home school), and all this within a two bedroom apartment! So while I definitely work hard to keep it a space I enjoy I’m hugely inspired to designate a specific space to my personal recharging area. :) Thanks for the inspiration! off to brainstorm now…
Christy Q says
Thanks, Sherry, for checking! I’m going to get a Catalina Blue swatch from my local BM and see how it looks in my space since I am desperate to get rid of the sunrise orange that has been there for 5 years. :) It was nice for awhile but it’s just not “relaxing.” :)
Candace says
Just thought I’d let ya’ll know that The View had the Homegoods interior designer on today and they were doing Mom Caves! Ironic? or planned? I discovered Homegoods out here in San Diego and I LOVE ’em! Thanks for the great makeover!
YoungHouseLove says
HomeGoods contacted us to whip up a mom cave (which is why they offered up the free goods that we passed to Farah) so we’re guessing they contacted The View to chat about it too!
xo,
s
kathy says
One of the walls in the room was not photographed. It’s the wall opposite the armoire. Can you add pics showing entire room? That would be most helpful! Thank you and xoxoxo.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Kathy,
The part of the room that wasn’t shown was actually just a wall with two big double doors that open up into the hallway. Since we didn’t do anything decorative on that wall (because it was mostly all door) we decided not to share that POV since it wasn’t very applicable to the big furniture and accessory transformation. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Tracy Lee says
I wish my place were large enough for me to have a proper cave! The best I’ve got is a sectioned off portion of the bedroom (separated with a Japanese screen) where I keep my art supplies and computer, but it is way too cramped!
I love the Catalina Blue, and Behr is my favorite brand of paint (it’s very thick and has excellent coverage, especially for the price). I do tend to go with a more dramatic wall color because all of my furniture is so neutral! Right now I’m on a turquoise kick, thou
Briel K. says
Ooh I love the room. It makes me want to grab a book and hang out in there. Nice colors!
haha @ the woman who had a dream with you in it. I have also dreamed that I visited you guys but fortunately Sherry was not annoyed with me. :) I don’t think the dream took place at your house though. It was some different place!
Erin C. says
Love the makeover!!
Apparently, Sherry, you are very “dreamy” because I’ve dreamed about you also. Sorry if that’s creepy haha. In the dream, we were hanging out at your house- you were very animated- telling me some long, detailed story, and John was in the kitchen, making us milkshakes.
YoungHouseLove says
Woah. That dream could totally happen. Seriously, John makes milkshakes and I drone on and on about things on a regular basis.
xo,
s
Wehaf says
@ Sarah. THANK YOU. I hate how men are the default, but women are defined by their role in relation to men: mother, daughter, wife. To me, this is not a “mom cave”, it’s just a relaxing space, which happens, in this case, to be for a woman.
Danielle says
I shared this with my husband, and told him it’s what I want for Christmas.
Erica says
I love the transformation! That looks like the same paint color that I have in my master bedroom, and I love it. I was going for a color reminiscent of Restoration Hardware’s famous silver sage, and I think mine is a close match without the Restoration Hardware price tag.
I love that lamp! Very pretty! I think every mom deserves a mom cave. Although with three kids in a three bedroom house, I do not see one in my near future. Maybe when my oldest goes off to college in ten more years:)
Erin @ Where Beauty Meets Function says
I adore the colors you guys used in this mom cave! And I’m torn on my favorite piece…it’s either the lamp or the chair! :)
Sima says
I love the white and blue with touches of yellow. Again you have done an amazing job. I was going to go out Ikea for a chair for my office, but now am thinking if I should check out Homegoods.
Senzel says
Looks fabulous! The colors are tranquil and perfect for a spiritual getaway, Can’t wait to see it in person Farah, Luke and Laila!
Allison says
First of all, when you said mom cave, I initially thought one of their mom’s was moving in to a spare room. Not that I know what it is, I cringe a bit that I thought it normal to return to a MIL’s room as a cave!
Now, my question… I’ve seen those lanterns at World Market before and like the looks but they do make me hesitate. Do the ones you installed actually light up? Adding electric through the ceiling is never something I’ve done before. Also, how safe are the lanterns? Something about paper and the light bulb/electricity makes me extremely nervous, although I see them in many homes.
Just found your blog a few weeks ago and I enjoy very much! Allison.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Allison,
They have an option to light up if you use a light kit (purchased separately) but we just grabbed them without that so they’re purely decorative (no wiring involved).
xo,
s
Anna says
Great post! Love the idea of a mom cave. Made by Girl also did a post on mom caves. I shared your link there. Here is her link: http://madebygirl.blogspot.com/2010/10/forget-mancave-how-about-mom-cave-via.html
From Bali With Love,
Anna
http://annaelizabethpoole.blogspot.com/
Monica says
Oh my word! That looks fabulous and very…simple to transform.
Now I wish I had a Mom Cave to transform! haha
Bromeliad says
Awesome job. So nice of you to share the swag.
Angie says
Just got back from my Home Goods. I really wanted to get the Lotus print, but bummer they didn’t have it! Love the room!
Judy says
I love this color! I know you paint matched it to a Behr paint – but do you recall the name of the paint?
Thanks
Judy
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Judy,
It’s not a paint color by Behr that has a name, you just grab the swatch that we mentioned from Benjamin Moore and take it to the Home Depot counter and ask them to scan it (aka: color match it) to Behr paint (they’ll use a plain white base and make a special formula that matches it). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
sarah {handbagsnpigtails} says
What Im wondering is: wanna come to my house? I live in a very old house with lots of dark woodwork. Im stuck in a rut with living in this gorgeous old house yet wanting an updated look.I LOVE the style of your home but Im totally clueless how to incorporate those things into an old home. Im begging!!!!!!!!:)
Oona says
The girl that cuts my hair just bought that same chair! It’s gorgeous, IRL. Personally, I don’t understand the concept of “lounging” chairs without arms, but I was surprised at how comfortable it is.
Elle C. says
I’ve left several comments and questions here and they aren’t showing up. I’m just testing to see if this posts.
Elle C. says
DOH! Just realized I was commenting on the wrong post. No wonder I couldn’t find anything. Der.
Jamie Nelson says
I love the rug and didn’t really believe that you got it for $15…but low and behold, I found it yesterday at Target. Thanks for the cheapster tip.
Jennae @ Green Your Decor says
You did a BEAUTIFUL job with this room! And you’re making me want to go to Target right now to see if I can find the same rug!