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Danielle Bean

Danielle Bean
Danielle Bean, a mother of eight, is editor-in-chief of Catholic Digest and Faith & Family. She is author of My Cup of Tea, Mom to Mom, Day to Day, and most recently Small Steps for Catholic Moms. Though she once struggled to separate her life and her …
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Rachel Balducci

Rachel Balducci
Rachel Balducci is married to Paul and they are the parents of five lively boys and one precious baby girl. She is the author of How Do You Tuck In A Superhero?, and is a newspaper columnist for the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia. For the past four years, she has …
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Lisa Hendey

Lisa Hendey
Lisa Hendey is the founder and editor of CatholicMom.com and the author of A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms and The Handbook for Catholic Moms. Lisa is also enjoys speaking around the country, is employed as webmaster for her parish web sites and spends time on various …
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Arwen Mosher

Arwen Mosher
Arwen Mosher lives in southeastern Michigan with her husband Bryan and their 4-year-old daughter, 2-year-old son, and twin boys born May 2011. She has a bachelor's degree in theology. She dreads laundry, craves sleep, loves to read novels and do logic puzzles, and can't live without tea. Her personal blog site …
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Rebecca Teti

Rebecca Teti
Rebecca Teti is married to Dennis and has four children (3 boys, 1 girl) who -- like yours no doubt -- are pious and kind, gorgeous, and can spin flax into gold. A Washington, DC, native, she converted to Catholicism while an undergrad at the U. Dallas, where she double-majored in …
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Robyn Lee

Robyn Lee
Robyn Lee is a 30-something, single lady, living in Connecticut in a small bungalow-style kit house built by her great uncle in the 1950s. She also conveniently lives next door to her sister, brother-in-law and six kids ... and two doors down are her parents. She received her undergraduate degree from …
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DariaSockey

DariaSockey
Daria Sockey is a freelance writer and veteran of the large family/homeschooling scene. She recently returned home from a three-year experiment in full time outside employment. (Hallelujah!) Daria authored several of the original Faith&Life Catechetical Series student texts (Ignatius Press), and is currently a Senior Writer for Faith&Family magazine. A latecomer …
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Kate Lloyd

Kate Lloyd
Kate Lloyd is a rising senior, and a political science major at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in New Hampshire. While not in school, she lives in Whitehall PA, with her mom, dad, five sisters and little brother. She needs someone to write a piece about how it's possible to …
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Lynn Wehner

Lynn Wehner
As a wife and mother, writer and speaker, Lynn Wehner challenges others to see the blessings that flow when we struggle to say "Yes" to God’s call. Control freak extraordinaire, she is adept at informing God of her brilliant plans and then wondering why the heck they never turn out that …
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Woman Caves?

Do you have one? Do you want one?

My married daughter—who only has one child and therefore room to spare—tells me she has recently set up a “man cave” for her husband. This means the guest room now has a huge, old, non flat-screen TV that someone had given them,and a comfortable chair, and the desk top computer.  Now Mike can enjoy his beloved hockey games and catch up on computer work at the same time.  Bernadette benefits by getting the computer/office out of the master bedroom (more room for her stuff!) and getting Mike’s beloved but ugly recliner out of the living room. 
This “man cave” thing is a recent trend that has its roots in an old idea: that a husband might wish to get away from household busyness and pursue what he enjoys,in a space of his own,  which he can organize (or not organize) as it pleases him. Traditional “man caves” are garage and basement workshops, or, for the more intellectual types, a “study”. You find lots of these in English literature. It’s the one spot where the maid is not allowed to come in and clean, or if she does enter to dust and vacuum, she is not allowed to touch anything else.
I guess this would be a great spot for some pithy social commentary about the devolution of this special male territory from a place of creative craftmanship or intellectual pursuits to beer-and-tv land. Or to bemoan how this sort of thing has the potential to isolate family members. Or to growl that once one has a bunch of children, there simply is no luxury of extra space for a silly Man Cave.

But I don’t feel like doing that. Because all of this was only preamble to the next talked-about trend: the Woman Cave!
Maybe it’s just another scheme of the home decorating industry to get us buying more products. But I think its a fun topic to talk about.
Some will argue that the whole house—except for the possible man cave—is a woman cave. After, she is the one who decorates is and decides what happens where. And who has time to retreat into a cave anyway?
On the other hand, there are those sewing and craft rooms that are surely retreats of a sort for the crafty type. Those of us whose favorite leisure activity is reading often have at least a corner of a larger room that contains what everyone knows is “Mom’s chair”, with a shelf or end table to hold books and a cup or tea.
Or maybe you have a prayer cave—a spot where you can snatch a few moments away from the kid’s noise, light a candle, exhale and talk to God.

Google “Woman Caves” and have fun seeing the many different ways—simple to ostentatious—that this concept is envisioned. Then come back and tell us: do you have a woman cave? What’s it like? Or if you don’t, have fun describing your fantasy retreat room. Would it be a chintz-upholstered Victorian sitting room, or a spa? An artist’s studio or a chapel?


Comments

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On “those days,” all I really need is four walls and a door.  Even the linen closet would do, if I could fit in there!  smile  This said, my current woman-cave is the bathroom.  (Well, that is until the morning when my toddler tried to climb in the shower with me.) 

But, really, as Christmas-Story-esque as it sounds, the bathroom is usually a much-needed kid-free moment away to put on a little makeup, get a glass or water, or just close my eyes and sigh for a moment. With this in mind, I made my tiny one-bed-one-bath apartment bathroom as pretty as I could.  So when I go in there I can stand still in the one room not bestrewn with toys and take a few deep breaths!  Its certainly nothing fancy… just pretty wine-colored rugs, one wine-colored candle, a few square-feet, a big ol’ mirror, and my makeup bag.  I look forward to reading about the “caves” of those who have more space to work with than I do… smile

 

our kitchen bumps out at the back, there is a window and a radiator with a shelf over it. The microwave, crockpot and larger baking dishes live on the shelf. I have a bookcase wth cookbooks, devotional books, the yellow pages, and folders for my most-used kids’ files. The phone is there and a large beat-up wicker chair. I painted the walls a few years ago. There is white paneling on the bottom half, dark yellow on top. On one wall is a large painting I got inexpensively at target—a Tuscan (or French) hillside with vines and poplar trees. On the other is a framed article about “tea time” that was written up about me a few years ago. I have striped cafe curtains. This is “mom’s den” and I get a surprising amount of work done there. I am fully accessible to my family but it is amazing what a difference it makes.

 

Oh, that sounds so nice!  My husband and I are moving soon, and I’d love to have a set up similar to yours- a little space in a public room of the house.  To me, the idea of a space like this is a huge help in keeping us focused on our vocation to serve our families.

 

Oh yes, I have one and have had one since I’ve been married. It’s the frontroom. It’s exactly as I like it. I don’t let anyone go in there…just me..unless it’s a holiday. It’s very peaceful to sit fireside w/a cup of tea while reading a book.

 

Dh has a man cave. A 200sq ft shed complete with workbench shelves, two guitars and a couple.amps
I’d love a corner for.my sewing and crafting supplies, a nice comfy chair and reading lamp would be nice too. As it is my stuff lives in the closet under the stairs and I read in bed. Maybe I’l
Get a space when we have more kiss out of the house than in.l

 

I saw a YouTube video for a Mom Cave last year. I never got around to watching the whole thing. “Mom Cave” sounded so, I don’t know, primitive. I finally realized that it evoked a sense of claustrophobia in me, exactly the opposite of what I understand is intended! What I really want when I need a minute away from the crowd is space to breathe - but having my own corner does sound appealing.

 

A 4 season sunroom with a large overstuffed chair and ottoman, small table on either side for stuff(books, papers, laptop, phone, tea), plants that water themselves and a chocolate truffle dispenser…that’s my fantasy!

 

Sounds wonderful Maureen!  I want one too smile

 

Oooh! This is my favorite one so far. Especially the truffle thing but the plant come a close second. And these,of course would be plants that flower almost continuously.

 

The sunroom concept has long been my dream, only I would add a small table and another chair so I could have my morning breakfast there (with my husband) and I could have afternoon tea with a friend as well.  The room next door would be a more masculine “library” with a lovely fireplace and also two comfy chairs and a bar.  My husband and I could spend our evenings sipping gin and tonics and discussing politics in comfort.

 

My husband was very sweet and turned a small room in our home into a craft room for me. I was excited at the time. I picked out a pretty rug and moved my favorite reading chair in there. It has a nice desk and all my craft supplies…..I never use it! I feel so much pressure when I go in there like that I have to create something wonderful since he made this space for me.  Now I feel like I’m just taking up a room that we could use for something else. :(

 

I guess you could call it a cave, but I tend to refer to my office as a black hole of unfinished projects that my current workload prevents me from touching, such as Christmas cards that were returned due to outdated addresses (must update my list), leftover school pictures, outgrown clothing that is waiting to be a large enough pile to justify a trip to Catholic Social Services, mending, broken toys that need super glue, etc. Boy, that’s depressing! And to make it worse my captcha is “plans98” - Yes, it’s definitely a cave full of 98 plans.

 

In my dream home - after that money tree starts bearing fruit! - I would love to have a combination writing study/yoga studio/prayer nook. All serenity and peacefulness. Dare to dream…

 

I have no desire for a woman cave.  I feel like the majority of the house is my cave.  While we have only one livingroom, I am able to keep the toys sequestered so that when my son is in bed, it mostly looks like an adult space.  The livingroom, kitchen and master bedroom are decorated to my taste (with input from my husband), and when I’m able to have some alone time in any of those rooms, I feel like I’ve had a nice break.  We just created a little mancave for my husband in our unfinished basement.  We put a computer desk down there along with some space heaters, and he decorated it with dragons and posters that would never be allowed in the main house.  He loves to go down there and play his computer games, and I’m really happy for him.  It would otherwise be just storage space (space heaters wouldn’t cut it for me, so I could never use it as living space).

 

Well, I’ve had the same bedroom for 45 years, and that’s where I spend most of my time. Since I inherited the house, I’ve expanded my “cave” somewhat, but still my bedroom where I spend 95% of my time is still my room. To this day, I still consider the master bedroom my parents’ bedroom even though they’re both gone. I fear only moving will break the spell. That being said, I love closed in spaces, and would be very comfortable in a real cave. Female.

 

yes !  I have a sewing/craft room with colors & a few pretty things that make me happy smile
http://nestfullofeggs.blogspot.com/2011/12/tour-of-my-studio.html

 

Totally relate:  The Bathroom.  The one room I can lock without feeling guilty…...and take (or attempt) to take a few extra private moments alone time…...ours isn’t big, fancy, or even especially soothing.  Its a family bathroom in a household of real boys!  I try to keep it clean, matching towels hung up, and stuff corralled.  But its still that one last place I can find privacy (or attempt to—-without fail the door gets banged, someone is hollering, the phone rings…..well, moms understand!)  Someday…..I’ll have that private nook etc.  but for now I take what I can find and count my blessings.  Nice to know someone else can relate!

 

There are many ways available to make own cave in any home and these include picking the perfect spot as it can be made anywhere in the house from the guest room to a closet. It is a very good way to make it to use a decent sized closet. Choosing the perfect colors is also included in this and it helps a lot making the perfect cave. The comfort level of the cave is very important thing and it requires to be perfectly managed. Adding personality in many aspects is also one other way to make the cave very much attractive.
Sunrooms Canada


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