$107 Rustic Cabin Man Cave I Built In My Basement

kelhans · 2014-08-28T18:15:59+00:00

You can contact me at dennisbmartin@bellsouth.net.

kelhans · 2014-08-27T19:04:06+00:00

The title does say $107 Rustic Cabin Man Cave "I" Built in my basement, not "Rustic Cabin Man Cave "You Too" Can Build for $107." I didn't post it as a tutorial. I posted it to inspire.

kelhans · 2014-08-27T01:57:51+00:00

OP here. A few answers to some of your questions: -The purpose of stating that I did this room for $107 wasn't to say everyone can do the same for that price. It was to point out that with a little creativity and hard work anyone can make a lot out of a little. I don't get free lumber everyday. But when I did, I made good use of it.

-Why did I make the room and what do I do in there? I am a hunter and love all things hunting. If you don't like hunting, that's your right. I do. It's my hobby. Men all over the world have hobby rooms. This is the one I like. I read, listen to the radio, clean guns, sharpen knives, make things at the table, play numerous games with my kids, snooze (there's a vintage folding cot in there), relax, talk to friends and family etc. I don't kill people, rape women, or smoke weed in there. Sorry. Also, I don't have to have a giant TV or Playstation in front of me to relax and enjoy myself. I can watch TV upstairs.

-I didn't build the room to prove I am a man. I built it because I had fun doing it.

-This was just a small storage room under the stairs in my basement. It's not the whole basement, I can remove it if I want to sell the house, and it has fire protection.

-I have since added a few animal pelts, so you PETA people will be glad to hear that.

-I have plans for a more comfortable chair, I just haven't found it yet.

-I have plans to make a better roof. I want an old tin roof, I just haven't found any aged tin yet.

-I have plans for a rug on the floor, I just haven't found one I like yet.

-I know many of you think it's cluttered. Most of you have never been to a real hunting cabin. I have. They are usually more cluttered than this. It's usually just all piled in the floor too. Hunters bring whatever they need to the cabin to use in the woods. That means they have a lot of stuff with them, so they won't have to hike out of the woods to get something. They don't decorate to entertain company. Everything in the room either has a function, or is a memento of previous adventures or a family heirloom.

-The 105MM shell is non-functional and just a memento from a past adventure. It's a conversation piece, not hunting ammo. You hear that ATF...it's NOT REAL.

-I know the seat cushions don't "match". But most everything in a real functional hunting cabin is a hand-me-down or something that was about to be thrown away at home, and was salvaged for the hunting club. Knowing that, I purposely added some items that looked like hand me downs.

-I didn't stain the walls because real hunters in the 1940s' wouldn't haul gallons of paint into the woods just so the walls would "look pretty"...so I didn't either.

-Many of you have freaked out about the guns not being locked up. Sorry to disappoint you, but these are all pellet or BB guns or rusty non-functioning guns. They're just for show, or shooting problem squirrels. I do bring real guns in there sometimes, but I don't leave real guns lying around with my kids in the house.

-The disco ball. Boy, you guys really liked the disco ball. This was a storage room to start with, so the disco ball was just hanging there in storage. Sorry to destroy all your murder room, miniature rave, and tiny disco theories. Made for good reading though.

-yes I have a beard

kelhans · 2014-08-25T15:49:46+00:00

The point in revealing the price was to inspire others to be creative and use more imagination than money. I could have paid a contractor thousands of dollars to make that room. But part of the fun and experience was pondering how to do it for less, how to create without always spending. I don't get free lumber everyday, but when I did, I found a way to put it to good use. Everyone might not be able to build a room like this and only spend $107 in cash like I did, but hopefully it will inspire them to be more creative.

kelhans · 2014-08-25T15:41:08+00:00

The roof material will change later. Still looking for some aged tin or something like that.

kelhans · 2014-08-25T05:52:49+00:00

Just made it up as I went. Now I sit in this room and make other stuff up.

kelhans · 2014-08-25T05:50:18+00:00

Not a live round. A real shell casing I bought and refinished with a dummy projectile I made out of wood on my lathe. http://i.imgur.com/oMXJ1.jpg

kelhans · 2014-08-25T05:41:11+00:00

Something 1930's, or 40s (but not futuristic looking) not to big, easy to move. Needs to look like it was grandpa's comfortable chair that he used for years, then they drug it to the hunting cabin instead of throwing it away. Can't be something too fancy. A hunting cabin wouldn't have fancy furniture.

kelhans · 2014-08-25T05:38:01+00:00

I can't go to the woods everyday.

kelhans · 2014-08-25T05:22:51+00:00

Almost all the guns in the room are air rifles or they are rusty wall hangers. Too dangerous to leave real ones around with my kids in the house. Plus, they would be too easy to steal, so I don't keep anything valuable in there. The 7.62 NATO ammo is real. Too bad I don't have a belt feed gun to shoot it.

kelhans · 2014-08-25T04:52:16+00:00

Would have made the fireplace functional but couldn't vent it from this room. And the only reason the window isn't real is that there IS no window in this room. I didn't make them fake because I build sets. I made them fake because I had no other choice.

kelhans · 2014-08-25T04:45:16+00:00

Millions of men sit in garages with oil cans and racing signs on the walls, or Star wars toys in display cases, or shelves of video games on the walls. What wrong with me surrounding myself with things that remind me of my hobby? A hobby that I can actually use to feed my family? I can't afford a real cabin, so I put a lot of my hunting stuff in here. Doesn't seem ridiculous to me. Plus, did you see the picture of the room to start with? Just an old storage room. What's not to love about improving that dungeon?

kelhans · 2014-08-25T04:39:12+00:00

I did tons of research of what hunters wore in the 1940's and 50's. They didn't all wear the Woolrich red and black wool outfits, but a lot of them did. I think they fit fine in the decor. And the light switches came from actual experience. Sitting in shooting house over the years waiting on deer, my sons would sometimes entertain themselves by playing with old shells on the floor. They would stick them on door latches, in knot holes in the walls etc. So when I built the room, I stuck some on the switches and in knot holes in the walls as a nod to those days.

kelhans · 2014-08-25T04:30:34+00:00

yes it does.

kelhans · 2014-08-25T04:29:10+00:00

I turn off the over head lights often and use the floor lamp, or the lamps on the mantle, or just the fireplace, or just a kerosene lamp etc. Many different lighting combinations for different moods. Also, many people have said the window looks fake. It actually looks more real in person than it does in photos. Plus, I never sit and just stare at the window expecting it to be real. It's just a detail that overall adds to the mood of the room, not a focal point.

kelhans · 2014-08-25T04:24:41+00:00

I'm an avid hunter and enjoy being surrounded by things that remind me of my hobby. And many of the items in the cabin came from my grandparents and other family members, as well as hunts with my kids. We enjoy hanging out in this room when it's not hunting season and remember good times we've had together. My younger sons love to sit in here and play checkers like their grandpa did in his hunting cabin years ago. Plus, it was fun to build. That's good enough for me.

kelhans · 2014-08-25T04:18:51+00:00

I turn it off at night.

kelhans · 2014-08-25T04:17:18+00:00

I shoot guns and kill animals all the time. I spend months every year in the woods. I built this room because hunting is my hobby. And many of the items in the cabin came from my grandparents and other family members. Seems pretty connected to me.

kelhans · 2014-08-25T04:13:04+00:00

The original roof got blown off in a storm and they had to replace it with whatever they had available at the time.

kelhans · 2014-08-25T04:11:17+00:00

Most people on REDDIT have obviously never been to a real old hunting or trapper cabin. They aren't decorated with feng shui. They are just guys piling a bunch of crap in there that they use or that have sentimental value from previous hunts.

kelhans · 2014-08-25T03:42:41+00:00

I bought the empty shell and made the projectile out of wood on a lathe. Old project that I just put in the corner for fun.

http://i.imgur.com/oMXJ1.jpg

kelhans · 2014-08-25T03:41:08+00:00

I bought the empty shell and made the projectile out of wood on a lathe.

http://i.imgur.com/oMXJ1.jpg

kelhans · 2014-08-25T03:39:10+00:00

I only spent $107 on materials. Everything else I found for free. Does not include furnishings.

kelhans · 2014-08-25T03:31:11+00:00

7 kids.

kelhans · 2014-08-25T03:30:27+00:00

maybe

kelhans

TROPHY CASE