Reddit user kelhans shared his amazing DIY project, transforming a small storage room in his basement into a ‘rustic cabin’ man cave. The most amazing part is that he only spent $107 on materials! While the finished room was furnished with stuff he already owned, much of the building material was scrap, found or reclaimed.
I’ve included his captions from the Imgur album below and you can find more information from the comment thread on reddit. The father of 7 (yes seven!) says this is the only place in the entire house that is completely his.
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The room when I started.
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I used old crate wood that a local metal company used for shipping. The boards after breaking apart were 1″ x 8″ x 12′ rough cut pine. I used a couple dozen of these, they were free!
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I used a draw knife to make each board look hand cut.
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The walls going up.
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All the wall boards in place!
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I had to find a way to hide all the support columns and air ducts. I will install a fake roof that can be opened to access plumbing if needed. The window will look like a mountain scene when finished. Behind that window wall is a store-room.
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Stone going in for the fireplace. I found these on the side of the road a year before I started this project.
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Center beam for the ceiling. One of the few pieces of lumber I purchased. I aged it and stained it.
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The table is all reclaimed wood and opens to hide some collectibles. I call it my “table of contents”.
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Same wood as the walls was used for the floor boards. I ripped them to 3″ wide then cut each with tongue and groove.
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Faux columns that cover the steel floor supports, with a lock joint just for visual detail.
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Floor going in.
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Finished Man Cave! Took about 6 weeks, with about half that time spent scavenging materials. The construction cost me $107 in materials. Everything else was free. The contents cost a lot more! Room is built and furnished to give a 1940’s-1950s era hunting cabin look.
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Exterior window is actually a photograph lit from behind. You can turn the light off to simulate night outside.
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Many of the pieces of furniture and shelves and crates are handmade from aged and reclaimed wood.
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Fireplace is fake but made of real stone and reclaimed barn wood. I even put real ashes in there and real burn marks on the floor.
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The scrapbook down below is full of deer hunting photos from the 1940s to 1960s.
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The flooring is glued together, but not to the concrete slab. It creaks and gives slightly like an old cabin floor really would.
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Main door into room from basement. Looks like a regular door on the other side. I covered this side with 1/8″ plywood strips for effect, yet it kept the weight down. I plan on changing the knob and handle out to a more rustic version soon. Light switches are .357 magnum cartridges.
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Kitchen table. Note all pots etc have “burn” marks on them like they were heated above real fire.
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