Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Del Mar Fans & Lighting. All opinions of rockstar lighting are my own. Please see my disclosure page for more information.
We can stick a fork in it ’cause our industrial military office is DONE!
This is what we were sporting in here just three months ago:
I’ve been showing sneak peeks of all of the many projects in this space for a while now, but in case you don’t already know, Robert has always said he wanted a man cave with all of his mementos from his military days.
So we devised the plan to decorate a masculine office for him.
This is the space where he reflects, where he works, where he spends a few moments most days in devotion. And I’ve always wanted to reward my best friend in some way for everything he does for me.
Up until the other day though, after all we’ve accomplished in here, there was just one little thing left that needed a fix.
Ye ol’ boob light. I mean really… once you see it, you can’t unsee it. Ever since a friend pointed it out to me, I’ve despised these fixtures in our house. And guess what?! This was the last one! No more boobs on our ceilings. Yippee kay yay.
Del Mar Fans and Lighting offered to provide a light fixture for this space and really, how could we say no to that one?
We decided on the Quoizel Wilder Drum Pendant and could not be happier. It’s bigger than I’d anticipated, but I love the statement of it in here.
Robert really was the one who took charge in this room and made most of the decisions, including the layout, since this was technically all for him. I’m glad all of his military mementos are at least dug out of the closet and are now on display in here where he can see them and be proud of them.
He just beams every time he walks into this new office of his now. And that makes me happier than anything.
So now… are you ready for the grand tour? (All of this room’s sources and budget breakdown are listed at the bottom of this post.)
I DIYed this ginormous “vintage” map from a poster I found for way cheaper than the real deal.
We installed these industrial shelves and I decorated them with lots of items that Robert already had or were passed down to us or that I found at the thrift store. We hardly had to pay anything for any actual decor on our shelves.
It’s amazing to me that those boots that are now on display on this shelf once trudged through the desert. That little Bible sitting on top of that book stack is what he carried in his pocket overseas and what he read a few scriptures from in his bunk most nights.
I ended up painting or recovering most of our books, and maybe it’s a tiny bit neat freak of me, but I like how they are unified and clean looking now.
I found this typewriter at the thrift store for $9 a couple of years back and always knew it was perfect for a military inspired office.
I placed my grandmother’s old suitcase in here that now houses all of our old photographs. We can just lift the top whenever we feel like getting nostalgic.
These horse head bookends once belonged to my grandfather, who also served in the Army in World War II and the Korean War. They’re one of the few things I have left of him, and I think he would have appreciated these being in an office like this.
So now every spot in this room is all filled up! Normally, I’m a bit more of a minimalist, but this room is definitely the exception, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. A lot of personal history is in this space.
For Robert’s desk, I picked up this fun desk calendar and metal letter tray to (hopefully) keep us a little more organized.
Over on the other side of the room, it used to look like this:
But I gave our closet a little vintage love with this DIY office sign I made.
Robert originally had an all black safe in here that I painted with a faux zinc finish and accompanied it with some thrift store finds on top.
The wall adjacent to it used to have this cluttered look going on:
So we sold the bookcases, donated some of the things that were taking up space, and hung up some of Robert’s accolades in a gallery wall along with this DIY yardstick flag art we made.
We placed that WWII relic on top too and hung up his pack and field books.
Our window looked like this in the beginning:
So to recycle our blinds, I made them into Roman shades with some olive drab burlap, and we framed the window with our usual Craftsman style method that we’ve used on almost all of our windows in our house now.
I gave the floor some texture too with this olive and jute herringbone rug.
Starting tomorrow (May 20), Del Mar Fans and Lighting will be hosting a giveaway on their Facebook page for free lighting too. Ya know… if you have a ceiling boob that you hope to replace in your own house.
So now here’s the big ol’ budget/source breakdown:
- Wall Color | Sherwin Williams Pediment – $0 (leftover paint)
- Desk | Craigslist find – $180 (Originally from Pottery Barn)
- Chair | Craigslist find – $65
- Light Fixture | Del Mar Fans and Lighting | $389
- Shelving | Home Depot – $210 for all 3 shelves
- Herringbone Rug | World Market | $80 (on sale and with a coupon)
- Craftsman Window Trim | DIY – $60
- Burlap Roman Shades | DIY – $50 for both
- Zinc Safe | DIY – $50
- Office Sign | DIY – $18
- “Pull Down” Map | DIY – $48
- Wall Frames | Michaels – $40 for all 4 (on sale and with a coupon)
- Yardstick Flag Art | DIY – $50
- Clipboard Frame | Michaels – $10 (on sale and with a coupon)
- Vintage Tin War Loan Sign | Local Antique Shop – $12
- Vintage Military Trunk | Thrift Store – $5
- Office Supply Organizer | DIY – Free
- Artificial Plants | IKEA – $6 each
- Wooden Desk Calendar | World Market – $21 (with a coupon)
- Pencil Cup | World Market – $7 (with a coupon)
- Paper Tier Tray | World Market – $25 (with a coupon)
- Desk Globe | World Market – $20 (with a coupon)
- Typewriter | Thrift Store – $9
- All the rest of the decor was free since they were items we already had.
Grand Total: $1379 Not our cheapest room ever by a long shot, but considering we had to furnish this entire room from a completely empty space, I guess it’s not too terrible. And since we sold the pair of bookcases for $100, we could really say the total was $1279, right?
So you think it’s worthy of the title “man cave”? This is absolutely the most masculine room in the house. Robert works so hard behind the scenes of this blog and does so much for our little family that I can think of no better way to show him how much I appreciate him than with a space that’s all his own.
Y’all did a wonderful job, Lauren – it looks great! My hubs is a retired Marine, so I’m sure he would love an office filled with some of his military paraphernalia. We have boxes of it stored in our attic!
Thank you, Suzy! And thank you to you and your husband for the service and sacrifice!
Congratulations ! Outstanding ! Job well done !
Thank you!
The room looks great. I really like the metal shelving!
Thank you, Maria! Isn’t it crazy that those shelves were originally garage shelving units?
WOW! Outstanding job.
Thank you!!
This looks really great Lauren. A perfect room for Robert. The lighting fixture gives the room weight and makes it even more masculine. So much testosterone in there and a worthy tribute to your husband!
Thank you, Mary! If a room could man grunt, right? This one would be it. 😉
What a great room and a great theme. Beautiful job Lauren, as usual!
Thank you so much, friend!
Outstanding job! We hav dozens of boob lights around our new build, too! I cannot wait to get rid of them ALL! 🙂
We did too! So glad to have finally prevailed over those things. It’s a sweet feeling ripping those things off the ceiling. “Get outta here!” Hehe
This room is a worthy tribute to your sweet Robert’s service to our country! We thank him and you for your sacrifices for us.
You all did a great job on this project and it shows a lot of love for each other,God,and country.
May the Lord bless your marriage and family,and God bless America!🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
That is so sweet, Melba. Thank you for those kind words. It truly means so much.
I love this room and I adore that light fixture, it looks really great in this space. Job well done, Lauren!
Thanks so much, Erin!
Fantastic job – everything fits in perfectly.
Thank you, Elaine!
What a fantastic job! Gives me lots of ideas for my husbands office! Love all of your ideas and decorating!
Yay! Thank you, Sharon! So glad it could give you a little inspiration.
This room is awesome! I love everything about it. Especially that you used family memories as part of the décor. Well done!
Thank you so much, Amy! Definitely my favorite way to pull of cheap but meaningful decor. If it was all pricey retail items, I don’t think it would pull at my heart strings as much. 🙂
HOLY MOLY!! Absolutely amazing.
Thank you!!! 😀
Very nice, but I have to wonder where the framed flag went. Those are usually given for important occasions, like retirement or end of command or deployment.
My husband had 22 years in and I had five, so we have a lot of military books and whatnot. A good bit just lives in boxes. So what did you do with the coins and mugs? 🙂
The framed flag is still there. It’s on the top shelf on the far right near the window; it just might be hard to see in these photos. Anything that couldn’t be put in frames on display were put in the little cigar boxes on the shelves. 🙂
Such a brilliant mix of new and old, meaningful pieces and bold statements. Is it weird that I wouldn’t mind working there? Ha!
Thank you, Brittany! Not weird at all. I sneak in here and work sometimes too. 😉
I love everything about this space! The light fixture is awesome, and all of those personal touches are so neat. I also love the typewriter – I have no idea why, but I’ve always wanted one at home, ha!
Thanks, Meg! I’d always wanted a typewriter too. I couldn’t believe that one was only $9 when I saw it at the thrift store.
Did you find the yard sticks for the flag at garage sales? I would love to make one like that. The room is awesome! A great tribute to your husband and his service to our country. Let freedom ring!
Thanks, Kaye! You can find them at a lot of random places, but I found mine in a bundle on Ebay.
I’m sure your husband will love this office for years to come! It’s gorgeous Lauren and so many beautiful, personal touches! (I love that wooden calendar on the desk especially… suits this room perfectly!) xo
Fantastic room and excellent choice for the lighting!
Thank you, Sarah!
Wow Lauren, this space is incredible! I love all the personal touches, rustic finds and incredible DIY projects. As always, you did an amazing job.
Thanks so much, Katie! It was a lot of fun to put together. 🙂
Love this room! My husband is a veteran, and I recently made some shelves to display some of his Air Force items. I would love to do an entire office like this for him some day 😊
Thank you, Danielle! And thanks so much to you and your husband for your sacrifice. 🙂
This looks amazing!!! I love how everything turned out! All of the details come together so well and everything fits together perfectly. One question, how high are your ceilings? And how low does the light hang? I love that light and I want to have a statement light in my husbands office but he’s nervous that it will hang too low and also hit him in the head LOL!!! We have 8 ft ceilings on the floor where his office is.
>> Christene
Thanks, Christene! Our ceilings are 8 feet and the light fixture hangs down to 6 feet. (My husband and I are both only 5’9″ and 5’7″.) It hangs a bit over his desk too, so it’s not really a spot that you walk directly under. But for someone taller than that, it might be problematic. There is a similar one that is a semi-flush mount here though: http://www.delmarfans.com/quoizel-lighting/wilder/wlr1716mb/
Love how this room turned out! I’ve been showing my husband the progress and we’re using this room as inspiration to decorate his man cave which is a hodge podge of, well, disaster! Thanks for the inspiration!
Yay! Thanks so much, Colleen! I’d love to see it when it’s finished!
It came together so well Lauren! I love the lighting choice. Well done 🙂
Thank you, Ashlea!
It looks terrific! Glad you found a suitable replacement for the boob lamp!
Haha! Me too. Thank you!
So I just ran across your blog from pinterest and I am completely obsessed. Literally every post I am in love with. This is the exact kind of style I love and I am trying to do for our new house. While it is pretty easy to find “farmhouse” inspiration these days very little of it is on a budget which is what makes your blog so special. Not only is it beautiful but completely obtainable. Thank you for sharing! Looking forward to using some of these ideas for my husband’s office/music room.
Thank you so much for that sweet compliment, Rachael! I’m so glad this little blog of mine is helpful to you!
Amazing…I love everything you do!
Thank you so much!
I am in LOVE with your husband’s office re-do! (this is EVEN BETTER than just the trunk!) I wish I had an office space to do this for both myself and my better half! I was in the Army for 5 1/2 years and my honey is being medically retired after being in the Army for 29 (GASP) years! I had been thinking of doing a memorabilia box for him with his name and rank burnt into it but this stencil idea would be much easier! I’ve only recently found you and I am in LOVE with all your ideas and suggestions. Thanks! Keep up the good work. So, you ever make it down to Texas and wanna help me decorate my casa? Ha. Hugs- Nicole
Aw thank you so much, Nicole! And thank you to you and your honey for your service. 🙂 I’m hoping to one day launch an online decorating business, so who knows! Maybe I can at least virtually help decorate your casa.
Where is the rug from? Working on our office now and this is perfect!!!!
This office is perfect! I shared your post on the facebook page White Walls. I know other military spouses will love it too!
Hello I love the room. Can you tell me if the center shelf was cut from the other higher storage shelf .
Hi Kelley! We bought three shelves and only used half of the center shelf when we put it together. There is a bottom and a top that we connected in the middle for the two on either end. We just left off the top for the middle one, so no cutting needed.