A Dark, Richly Colored, & Eclectic 'Woman Cave'

Everywhere you look on Pinterest and design websites, you'll see something about decorating man caves. And lately, "she-sheds" are trending all over the place... backyard sheds transformed into creative little hideaways for ladies. Don't get me wrong: I'm all for guys have a place to go do their man things (video games, tools, beer recipe making). However, I'm not the backyard type. I'd take a woman cave over a she-shed any day. 

So when the folks at Chairish invited me to curate a styleboard as inspiration for my dream woman cave, I hopped on board!

Chairish, an online marketplace for vintage furniture, is one of my favorite places to do online window shopping. I love their selection of unique, colorful furniture ranging from Hollywood Regency to Mid-Century Modern. And if my apartment weren't already bursting at the seams with furniture, I'd be filling my virtual shopping cart instead of just window shopping. ;)

So in creating my woman cave style board, Chairish challenged me to include one of their most popular bar stools. At first, I thought: "Yes! My woman cave would be a girls-only bar right in the comfort of my own home." The thing is... bar stools can be used for so much more than just seating at a bar. 

I decided that my dream woman cave would be a personal retreat for writing, blogging, reading, researching, crafting, and maybe just lounging around with a glass of wine, my cats, and a Mad Men marathon. (Confession: As I write this, Mad Men is paused, one of my cats is nuzzled against me sleeping, and I have about half a glass of Shiraz left to sip on.) 

Anyway, I realized that a bar stool would be ideal for the standing desk I've always wanted. Since I won't want to stand all the time, a bar stool would be great to pull up when I want to sit down. Since Chairish offers so many stylish bar stool options, I had a really tough time narrowing it down. I started and scrapped several decor boards until I finally zeroed in on my decor priorities. 

My woman cave color scheme.

You may know that I have a bright coral room accented with turquoise and white. It's where I do my blogging, writing, researching, reading, crafting, and other creative endeavors at home. I knew I wanted to create a similar task-focused space, but with an entirely different atmosphere. Something darker, dimmer, more eclectic, and a bit Bohemian.

I ended up choosing the Mid-Century Walnut Chet Beardsley bar stool because 1) I love the charcoal color, 2) they look both stylish and comfy, and 3) the ring around the legs is convenient for non-dangling legs.

So handsome, right?!

I paired the bar stool with a pipe-and-wood standing desk because I just love the look of mixing and matching styles... in this case, retro and industrial. I incorporated a lot of black and charcoal through the inspiration board, rug, and rolling bar cart (perfect for keeping my Shiraz, gin, and brandy handy). I brought in more retro with a vintage couch and more industrial with a rustic bookcase. 

To balance out all the handsome vibes that could easily be swayed into man cave territory, I added a lot of feminine touches: pretty metallic accents in the lighting and magazine holders, flashes of raspberry pink, luxuriously layered curtains, and flowers. The walls would probably be painted a dark gray or deep teal... I couldn't decide! Oh, but I did decide I'd totally do my novel writing on that fabulous typewriter keyboard that hooks up to a tablet!