Email: LaurenNicoleGifts@gmail.com

I have always been passionate about designing and making meaningful gifts and keepsakes and was very fortunate to able to start my own business. Lauren Nicole Gifts (name after my niece) was started in 2004 and was a great way for me to have my own business, but still move around as an Army wife. My husband recently retired from the Army and we are now permanently located in Ouray, Colorado

Thursday, April 2, 2009

The Man Room - The key to a happy marriage!

To all the wonderful newlyweds and brides-to-be blog readers out there, I am giving out unsolicited advice again. One of the keys to a happy marriage is to add a “Man Room” to your house.

Trust me, whether you believe it or not traditional man treasures, such as a Velvet Elvis, a classy beer bottle collection, a genuine light-up beer sign, or something equally as tacky will eventually make its way into your home with the following lines, “my best friend gave it to me”, or “I always wanted this when I was a kid”, or my personal favorite, "I just found it laying in the road".

At some point your husband will try to hang this tacky stuff on your walls! I have even caught my husband going through the neighbor’s trash when the neighbor’s wife threw out some of her husband’s coveted Man Treasures (nothing is more embarrassing then to watch out the window horrified that your husband is going through someone’s trash in broad daylight……he could at least wait until it gets dark!).

The best advice I can give is to set aside a room or the basement for a “Man Room” (preferably a room that cannot be viewed or smelled from the rest of the house).

RULES:
1. Your husband can decorate the Man Room ANYWAY he likes.
2. He agrees not to hang Man Treasures throughout the house
3. You get to decorate the rest of the house ANYWAY you like.
4. The Big screen TV (that is large enough to be used in a regular movie theater) has to fit in the Man Room along with the 50 surround sound speakers he has collected.
5. The Lazy Boy chair that clashes with all of your furniture must also fit in the Man Room.
6. He must keep a can of Raid and a bottle of Febreeze within arm’s reach of his reclining Man Chair.
7. What goes on in the Man Room stays in the Man Room!
8. If you do get rid of any Man Treasures PLEASE do not send them to my husband because he will glady accept ALL donations.

I created a special Man Room for my husband the day I came home to find his motorcycle parked in our dining room. His excuse: “It is way too cold outside for the motorcycle and the garage is full”. In case you were wondering, my husband could charm Medusa (which is who I probably resembled at the time) so of course he talked me into keeping the motorcyle in the house for three months. I can't remember, but I am sure I got a new sewing machine or something out of that deal.

What's the worst thing your significant other has drug home? If you say "nothing" it probably means you just haven't found it yet.

Disclaimer: I am not a therapist or a counselor, but I have been happily married to a "Five-year-old" for 18 years.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

We're hoping to move into a 2 bedroom with a den apartment soon and one of those rooms will be Man Land. Good advice! :)

Ink Obsession Designs said...

We finished our basement and my husband made it his man cave. Best advice ever!

Brandi said...

I totally agree with you. We just moved into a house with a basement and my husband is so happy that he has a "man room". It will keep him from hanging Fat Heads up in our bedroom at least.

Unknown said...

Oh my goodness, you are so totally right about The Man Room! My dad has a Man Room, which he demanded to have when he and my mother bought the house back in 1987. His excuse was that I had my own room, my mother was commander in chief of their bedroom, so the third bedroom belonged to him. He doesn't have the tacky beer signs but he has filled to the brim with his dusty collection of books of all kinds, DVDs of all the programs that he watches and records, furniture galore (you can hardly walk around the already small space), his collection of frogs and owls, a treadmill, a large TV, a leather recliner for him and our dog, plus a chair for my mother so they can both watch the huge TV. The room is busting at the seams, but at least it keeps him happy...lol. All men need their Man Room or else every woman on Earth would lose her mind...hahahaha.

Unknown said...

My hubby has his man room in our finished basement, but he's a neat freak & with the exception of the bar area, it looks better than the rest of the house because he keeps the kids out!

I need a Mom Room!

Jules said...

Best advice ever! I refer to my husband's man room as the man cave. We would not be able to live together in harmony without it :) The basement is his domain.

Sjn said...

great advice! We finished a walk up attic space (no basement here) for the big screen so the man can watch all his bang bang shot um up shows up there while I watch HGTV.
As your contest is ending mine is beginning. Come over and enter at www.countryclublivin.blogspot.com

Mrs. Sitcom said...

Hi, just found your blog, love your items! Oh, I can only imagine what Mr. Perfect will drag home...we're just getting started. And I laughed so hard at the "five-year-old" comment -- here too! :)

Lis said...

My hubby has a man room and I only go in to take trash and empty cups/beer bottles/etc.

I love it- I think it makes life so much better for us both!! :)

School Day Love said...

My husband has a man cave in our house! I decided last week that I should get a craft room then. :)

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