Georgia Bulldogs Man Cave

I hope you’ll indulge me this post.  It’s not my typical design-y/decorator-y stuff, but with the start of football season upon us, I couldn’t resist sharing Michael’s Georgia Bulldogs Man Cave. Although he hates the term man cave.  And really, it’s more of a collector’s den.  You’ll see why in a minute.

I’ve mentioned that we (mostly Michael) may be the biggest Bulldog fans ever.  Michael is such a huge fan, that he only ever wears the school colors.  Myself, I never wear orange-it’ll always represent the Vols, Tigers, and Gators #sorrynotsorry.  During football season, I carefully plan what colors of mums to buy to coordinate with our fall outside decor (never orange or purple mums.  Yellow is acceptable except during the Tech game.).  In our past two houses, we’ve dug up two huge patches of orange day lilies that the previous owners planted en masse. Why do people plant so many orange day lilies, anyway? We painted our last house white, with black shutters and a bright red door.  This house, we painted the doors red.  Thankfully, the house was already gray with black shutters.

This is what we did to an old smokehouse on our property not long after we moved in.  And by we, I mean Michael.

True bulldog fans will know that this is in tribute to the painted barn on GA 15 that all the folks traveling home to Athens after a (hopefully!) win over Florida look forward to reading every year.

See what I mean?

And no, it’s not a problem. 😉

Georgia Bulldogs Man Cave

This is really a detached shop/two car garage, but since we don’t really need it for that purpose, Michael claimed it as his room.  We’ve loved hosting tailgates here, and we often head out here to watch games or movies.

We’re planning to add either a pool table or ping pong table as well as a full size fridge (there’s a small one behind the bar) and someday a bathroom in here, but that will be a bit down the road.

Michael has quite a curated collection that he has amassed over the years.  It looks like a lot, and it is, but he put a lot of thought into everything that goes in here.

This is half of the room.

The middle

And the other half.

Want to take a closer look at his collection?

I’ve mentioned before, I think in a Hunt post, that Michael is a collector of Jack Davis art, who was an illustrator in a lot of different mediums, including a lot of comic books, but also many nationally published magazines and album art.  He is beloved to Bulldog fans because of his many caricatures of UGA figureheads (usually Hairy Dawg).  Jack Davis art is becoming harder and harder to find.  Michael picks it up whenever he runs across it now.  Here’s some of his collection:

I think the Sanford and Son is my favorite.

I’m not sure who or what this little guy is, but I approve 🙂

Pretty much everything on this shelf has a story.  Thrifted, traded, flea market….

This little guy is a custom bobblehead I had made of Michael.  He’s of Michael wearing his robe (you’ll see it in a minute) and the Georgia wrestling belt he designed.

Signed by Mark Right (obviously).

A vintage bulldog figurine and some SEC champion Coke cans.

A vintage bulldog figure and some Civil War soldiers.

And here’s Michael with Larry Munson, legendary Voice of the Georgia Bulldogs.

These wooden lockers came out of Stegeman Coliseum after a renovation years ago.  We bought them from someone locally who had them for years, but didn’t have room for them anymore.  I surprised Michael with them for his birthday.  They were in rough shape because of a bit of water damage, but ended up being an easy fix.  Now, they are a perfect fit in here!

We picked up the metal lockers at a yard sale- they were blue and got a swift coat of red and black!

One of my favorite parts of the room is the bar.  We actually bought it from the same gentleman who sold us the Coliseum lockers.  We had offered to buy the bar from him when we bought the lockers (which was about 3 or 4 years ago) but he wasn’t interested in selling.  Last year, when we moved in and really wanted a bar in here, we just couldn’t get this bar out of our minds…and I texted him to ask if he would sell it.  Turns out he had just listed it on Craigslist!  We brought it home the next day.

The pool table will eventually go where you see the kitchen table in the foreground.

And here’s my little Beau posing at the bar (insert eye roll).

I forget how many times I’ve said this, but jeez this kid is a cutie-pie! and sweet baby Jesus does he love to be in front of the camera.

Okay, now you’ve seen a wee bit of Michael’s comic book collection (but only the pieces that feature some of Jack Davis’s art). Now, take a look at some of Michael’s custom action figures that he’s made in Georgia Bulldog colors:

The Hulk is his favorite, the one he worked the hardest on.  I think the paint might still be wet on that one 🙂

Next, his book collection.  He collects anything Lewis Grizzard, but also programs, media guides, and any book that is specific to the bulldogs.  He has several original signed copies.

And, what I think is his finest work, his Ric Flair Georgia Bulldog Robe:

He made two of these, and he and his friend wear them to the Georgia/Florida game, otherwise known as the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. I think Michael has lost count of how many times he’s had his picture taken with folks while wearing this robe.  It’s a hit for sure.

Here’s a picture of he and the boys (he also made a smaller one for Beau to wear) wearing them to picture day a few years ago.

I am continually amazed at how creative, smart, and talented Michael is.  He has more artistic talent in the tip of his little finger than I do in my entire body!

I hope you enjoyed a tour of Michael’s Georgia Bulldogs Man Cave (but don’t tell him I called it that!).  Here’s hoping for a Bulldawg victory this week!  Gooooooo Dawgs!!!!!!

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