Help! 1 man room, 2 purposes, 3 loves. Painting desk & PC/Geekery den.
Hi all, new to the community, but so much inspiration already!
I'm in middle of purchasing a new house with my wife, and as this will be our family home for years to come, I've managed to secure a 14ft by 7 ft dedicated space for my 'ugly/manly hobbies'. I need some help in finding a design to ensure my multi-function space is an attractive place to be, and not simply a den of man-junk. In a nutshell, the room will be used for PC (Work & Gaming), PS4 Console, and the building and painting of historical, fantasy and sci-fi miniatures (think airfix for the modern day).
The room itself is 14ft by 7ft, with double doors to the Garden centrally at one narrow end, and will be accessed by a single bookcase hidden door at the other. Furniture wise, I need space for one double and one single bookcase, a desk large enough to fit 3 widescreen monitors (so at least 4'7" wide) for the PC, and a small desk plus storage for painting and assembly of miniatures.
My passions and therefore assortment of 'manly/ugly' decor, include ancient history (particularly Egyptian), sci-fi (star trek, star wars, etc), Marvel, Fantasy (Lord of the Rings, Discworld, Game of Thrones, etc) and WW2.
How on earth do I get the history/medival fantasy and the futuristic sci-fi/comic book stuff into one room? Can I do two halves, should I use a divider, neutral the whole place frame everything in black and display everything in boxes? Really don't know where to start!
Any and all help appreciated!
Rick
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8 years agoRelated Discussions
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Comments (63)Hi all-I'm back:). Happy New Year! After a much needed holiday and some down-time, I am back on track! I decided to postpone the redecoration of my office till week after next so that I could take my time in choosing paint colours. I ordered 10 tester colours from Dulux and have been playing with them at work this morning. It's quite incredible how colours on your computer screen look nothing like they do when rolled on white paper or your wall! I'm so pleased I got these tester samples. My plan was to paint my 3 main walls (the only walls that will be painted) a light lilac with the false wall (below my window) a darker grey. But having seen the colours on the wall I could probably get away with a light grey for my 3 main walls and a darker lilac for the false wall-ledge. I want the false wall to stand out and be approx. 2 shades darker than the main walls. Having spoke to Dulux on the phone the woman advised against certain colours as they would make the room feel "closed in". Because it's a small space I do need to be careful not to use too dark a colour for the main walls. I've decided I'm keeping my purple blind so am basing my paint colour choice around the blind, and the grey chairs that I will be ordering from IKEA...attached/uploaded somewhere earlier in this thread:). I've already eliminated a couple of the tester colours simply because I find them too "baby pink"-as if for a newborn baby girl's room (i.e., Lavender Blossom=bottom colour on left) & Soft Montelimar 4=bottom colour on right). I don't want anything too girlie-most of my clients are men:). I've painted 5 colours on the left and 5 colours on the right-hopefully you can make out top to bottom, etc. I like Violet White (the top colour on the left) as a possibility for the 3 main walls, or Goose Down (top left), with Lavender Quartz (4th down on left), Grey Steel 2 (4th down on right) or Chic Shadow (2nd from top on left) as possible colours for my accent false wall (below the window). I love Lavender Quartz but fear it may be too dark for the 3 main walls. So this is where I'm at at the mo! If any of you talented designers have any preferences or colour combination recommendations (I need two colours-a lighter one for the 3 main walls and a darker one for my accent false wall/ledge)-I'm all ears. xx...See Moreminnie101
8 years agoHi Rick. I assume you're good at diy so why not some ikea hacking? (I've only recently learnt of such a thing!) this pic is from pangalore and you may be able to do something along these lines. This system is all on rollers so it can open up but maybe look at a fixed 4ft divider with the remaining 3ft as opening. I'd have the big desk in the bottom left of the pic with maybe the small desk behind the divider. You may also be able to squeeze in an anglepoise and a small chair by the french doors which can be used for working at the desk when needed. You can buy boxes I think for storage to fit into the units maybe on the bottom shelves and use the rest for display. I would try and keep the walls etc light and just choose statement lighting, seating, desk, maybe a rug etc depending on your style. Get the maps and art framed in the same frames if you haven't already. You'll obviously need to ensure you have appropriate task lighting. Can I just ask why 3 screens are needed though?!
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8 years ago@funkyfreak
I've got about 10k to do bathroom, utility, stud wall in the lounge-diner (to split in two) and stud wall (with secret bookcase door) to create the mancave you see here. So there's some budget, but not looking to plow £££ into it.
@Minnie101
That's a lovely looking example, whether it would work on such a narrow room would be my worry. I'm already turning what is currently a 20 x 7 room into a 6x7 (library/storage/ironing space for now, kid space in the future) and 14x7 for this office/man cave. With the only natural light coming from the french doors, and no possibility to add windows (bar skylights I suppose, but they have their issues and expense) I don't know if it would work? Anyone have similar experience they can share? I agree with the desk placement, I'd planned loosely for it to go where you suggest, as the small desk needs to be near the french doors for natural light to paint with.
As for the screen setup, I work on them, and also do spaceflight sims on the bottom three, the top one is for the skybox. That's my old Ikea Jonas desk (1.4m) they're sat on. As you can see, they're very cumbersome which is why they won't blend into a fantasy/history themed room, or a renaissance/artist-y workshop!
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8 years ago minnie101
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8 years agoI was just reading the comments above and I thought I would draw it up for you. This is a really small room, as soon as you start dividing it up the space will feel ridiculously cramped with all your belongings. I suggest you make your own shelving and desk or hire a carpenter to make you something bespoke for you as it is such a small space. Give yourself a long desk, half for computer half for painting. Where normal depth furniture will hinder door access put your tv area. Put storage beneath your desk area. More importantly instead of having an intrusive book case put a shelf that goes all of the way around the room just above door height. You do not need to acccess your books everyday so make use of the limited space you have and put them up high. This also allows more wall space for your artwork. Let us know how it all goes
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8 years agolast modified: 8 years ago
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