Basement “Man Cave”
July 11, 2009 § 28 Comments
This basement renovation project started with a request for a palette of brown and purple. Coming from a couple with impeccable taste in furnishings upstairs, I knew this would be a fun challenge. We inserted some green into the mix along with a touch of copper and brushed nickel and ended up with more of an upscale version of the typical “man cave” (obviously there had to be two large TVs in the space along with exercise equipment, a bar, a kitchen, and a pool table).
We started with two support beams in the middle of a large space so we built a granite-topped bar between them and divided the space into a media area, a pool table area, and exercise gym.
Instead of putting the large TV on the focal point wall, we decided to build bookshelves flanking a gas fireplace with a metallic tile surround. The Monet print above the fireplace is a nod to “The Thomas Crown Affair,” the homeowners’ favorite movie and the movie of choice on “Opening Night.” The purple and brown leopard print on the little bulbous rocking/swivel chair is my favorite piece in the room. And it’s so comfortable!
Your Home & Color Coach 
We are renovating an average size of 15 year-old single family house. Kitchen & family room are wide open. We have white cabinet & island in kitchen, all Stainless Appliance, Santa Cecilia granite, natural oak hardwood floor in 1st floor. We think about Sienna Sand from Duron as main color in almost whole house, but it seems to dark for us because we plan to resale the house within year or two. What color would you suggest us to use? Thanks!
Hi Jennifer,
Try Papaya from Ben Moore (957). I think it will be perfect.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
definitely like!!!!
Thanks! The homeowners were pleased too!
Hi Barbara!
I wanted to repaint my burgundy den for something soothing and tropical. I had envisioned tranquil blues with brown, but the huge, overstuffed sofa we couldn’t resist is a weird shade of brown. Not chocolate, but more like distressed leather with a rust tinge to it. I don’t want to use earthtones, but anything else is making me wince. (Not to mention the sofa totally overpowers the room, but we just had to have it.) My husband likes a light shade of olive, but that’s just not what I had in mind. I’m not afraid of color because the ceilings are 11ft with three large windows. I’ve looked at paint swatches until my head hurts.
Hi Cyndi38,
I just responded to your email and called you Colette. Sorry about that. As I mentioned there, take a look at Ben Moore’s Ocean Beach for your walls. Then use the tropical colors for accents in the room. Once you get rid of the burgundy, your sofa will look better and you can go from there.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Wow! That’s a basement? Gorgeous!
What a wonderful resource your website is!!! I really hope you can help me! We are moving into a house we just purchased in a few weeks (I sent a pic to your email address). It has so much potential but right now it looks heavy with all of the brown. Eventually, we intend to replace the siding and put nice stone brickwork where the current brick is at the bottom of the house. In the meantime, do you have any suggestions on what colour to paint the garage doors, the part above the garage doors (it is stained wood with windows), the porch windows and entrance door? Your help is most appreciated!!!!
Hi Melissa,
I suggest painting the trim around the garage doors and the porch windows a white (China white?) to tie those windows in with the addition above. Then paint the garage door and front door Alexandria Beige (HC-77) from Ben Moore that will modernize the palette. It will also go beautifully with whatever stone you select to cover the brick.
Putting a couple of shutters on the upstairs might help too (Alex Beige will work there too.)
Hope that helps.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Hi Barbara,
Thank you very much for your time and advice. I checked out the colours and really like them. I have sent two more pics to your email account so you can see what I am talking about. Can you just clarify whether we should be leaving the “brown” above the garage doors untouched, or painting it the white you suggest? The brown above the garage doors is wood strips that appear to have been stained. You will note that there are several windows above the garage door. You can’t tell but we actually have two front doors (the porch door is open in the pics). I am assuming I would just paint the porch door the alexandra beige since it is the door everyone will see from outside.
Thanks!
Melissa
Hi Melissa,
I have never seen that kind of garage construction before so I’m a bit perplexed as to how to handle it. But I would definitely paint the stained wood, either white to match all other window trim, or since there is so much wood compared to window, you might paint it Alex Beige to tie it in with the actual garage door. I suggest sanding and priming and then going from there. It shouldn’t stay brown. Way too dark.
Frankly, if you know a good builder, you might consider replacing those windowed panels with smaller clerestory windows above the garage doors and siding the rest to match the house. The current windows look like an add-on and not part of the garage door unit. Just a suggestion. Nothing urgent. Paint will help pull everything together.
Good luck.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Hello, Barbara
Would you be able to suggest a color in the Behr line (or failing that, Valspar) that would be equivalent to Benjamin Moore’s Peanut Shell and to Benjamin Moore’s Richmond Gold? I love the BM colors, but we just don’t have a nearby source for their paint!
Thanks for your time and help!
Liz
Hi Liz,
You should be able to go into either Home Depot or Lowe’s and ask them to make a Ben Moore color in either the Behr line or Valspar. They SHOULD have a fan deck and be able to match all the main competitor’s colors. If that doesn’t work for you, write me back and I’ll take a look at some alternatives.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Hi Barbara!
I am painting the shutters and trim on my 20 year old north-facing colonial house. The body of the house is vinyl siding in a vanilla/cream color. The shutters and front door are currently a barn red. I love the red but want something a tad less brown. Would Benjamin Moore’s Classic Burgundy be ok? Also, would BM Lancaster White be ok for the garage door? It matches the siding pretty well.
The vinyl window casings are white, but my storm door is cream like the siding. Could you recommend a color for the trim around my front door and dentil molding under the roofline? I tried BM Shaker beige, but it’s a bit too brown.
Thank you!
Mary
Hi Mary,
You’ll have to compare the reds and see which ones you like better than the one you have currently. The burgundy still has a little brown in it — not sure how it will compare to your barn red. Have you seen Heritage Red? No brown in that.
Whatever paint color matches the siding best will be fine for the garage door. Even going a shade or two darker would look great. As for the door trim, how about white?? That will make your dentil molding really stand out the best.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Hi, Barbara
I continue to drive myself crazy with color selection…I would like to send photos of the room in question, and pay for your expertise in helping me to select a color. I do not know how to attach photos via this site, however. I only know how to do that via e-mail…please advise whether I can directly e-mail photos of the room to you.
Furniture is sage green sofa and deep red leather chair. Fabric for curtains is deep red with touches of carmelish yellow. Flooring is hickory laminate, with lots of orange hue to it. I painted the room Behr Warm Cocoon with hideous results. The yellow is at odds with the orange in the flooring and just too bright. I am considering orange hues but worried about going too orange. I want the room to feel warm and cozy, inviting and cheerful (can one color do all that?!). I tried samples of Behr Pumpkin Butter but felt it was too blah beige and not enough orange. Maybe something lighter and with more orange? Would a Behr version of BM Peanut Shell work in this room? Or should I look more at apricots or light terra cottas? Please help!! Like I said, I would love to hire you for this consultation and have you look at the photos before answering if possible. Thanks so much!
LIz
Hi Liz,
Sorry for the delay. I’m working back through the blog posts and emails and trying to catch up.
If you’re still working on your room, you can send me photos at bmeglis@yahoo.com and I will help you.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Hi Barbara!
Just wanted to tell you that I checked out the Ocean Beach and really liked it. We’ve had some sheen issues twice with Ben Moore, so I opted for plain old Walmart Color Place in the Hazelnut Creme, which was as close as I could get to the Ocean Beach. I only have one coat up so far, but thank heavens I don’t see the burgundy anymore and it looks really good. Our house is circa 1880, so the plaster makes it look even more “sandy.” Thanks a million for the color!!!! You’re right, it will be a lot easier to use the tropical accents with this color as a backdrop.
Great, Cyndi,
Glad that worked out for you!
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Hi Barbara,
Thanks! The Classic Burgundy on the shutters looks great, and I love the Lancaster White on the garage door. Would Heritage Red work on the front door, with the burgundy shutters?
Thank you,
Mary
Hi Mary,
I’ve never used that combination, but you can try it. It may make the shutters look more brown than red. If that’s the case, just paint over the heritage red with the burgundy and that should look terrific.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
This basement is gorgeous! Would you mind sharing what color you used on the walls?
Hi Nelly,
Not at all! We used Ben Moore’s Bennington Gray (HC-82), a really nice soft green that looks spectacular with dark woods, creams and browns. We used Dark Walnut (1358), a rich purple/brown, as an accent color.
Thanks for asking!
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Hello Barbara,
Wow, the basement looks great!! I wish I could get my husband to agree on neutral colors like that!!
We plan to do our basement this year, including putting in a bar. He want’s to put in cherry waynes coating as well and the bar will be cherry. We do not get a lot of natural light, but the carpet is light burbur. I think we need a light color on the top. Our pool table is burgundy as well the cloth on our pool table. What are your thoughts on a color for the walls?
Any insight would be helpful. I also plan to go to Shermin Williams and ask their opinion, but the more the merrier.
Thanks!
Hi Regina,
Look at Sherwin Williams’ Buckram Binding SW0036, a nice neutral that will accent your cherry, go with the carpet, and lighten up the basement. It will also allow you to add more color in your furniture and other accents.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach
Hi Barbara,
I like this basement so much that I’m seriously considering painting my dining room and living room the same color (Bennington Gray).
However, both rooms have a chair rail in wood stain. Is there a darker green, or another color, you would recommend to paint below the chair rail? Also would those colors flow if I painted my foyer Lenox Tan HC-44 ?
Hello Barbara –
I’m redoing my basement and working on my color scheme. I’m planning it around my couch/chair — brown leather. I went onto the Sherwin Williams site and found a paint color, Indian White (0035) that shows the accent couch as the same color that I have and I like this version of white, so I’m thinking of going with that as the color for the walls.
I’d like to figure out how to use the other complementary color shown on the site, Nomadic Desert (6107). My friends are telling me to keep the baseboards semi-gloss white. So one question is whether you see a way to factor this other color in.
And my second question is what color carpet to go with. I’m looking to go with Mohawk SmartStrand carpet type.
I’d appreciate your help.
Thanks,
Sarah
Hi Sarah,
There are two kinds of finished basements: one has a low ceiling, high small windows, and a “basement”-like feel and the other has high ceilings, big windows, and a walk-out to the backyard — not a basement-like feel at all. I’m not sure which kind of basement you have, but here’s a recommendation.
As for carpet, I suggest a medium to dark tone so that your leather sofa/chair will not “float” on a white carpet color. (Using the Nomadic Deserta as a carpet color is one way to introduce the darker tone without using paint.) However, if your basement is dark without any natural light to speak of, it’s okay to go light with the carpet color. Regardless, keep it neutral.
If you then prefer to paint the complementary color, there are several places to use it. If you have bookshelves or other shelving down there, you can paint the back of the shelf; you can paint an accent focal wall (the first one you see when you enter the space unless there’s a fireplace down there in which case the focal wall is the one with the fireplace) or paint a large piece of furniture, like a coffee table. Other ways to use the Nomadic Desert: on the ceiling (only if it’s high!), behind framed art, painted accessories (lamp bases, picture frames).
I suggest that you paint the room Indian White first and then decide where and how to put the complementary color in. As for trim, if you need to maximize light down there in the basement room and you like a traditional look, then white trim is the way to go. If you’re shooting for a more modern feel, keeping the trim the same as the wall color gives a nice clean, uncluttered look. Although you can paint the baseboards brown, it’s kind of a waste of your accent color.
Hope that help.
-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach