Doing up the Man-Cave – GASP!
Well the gasp is a representation of most people’s reactions whenever they come over and we go down what used to be the basement to enjoy some of the fun relaxation lying in wait in our man-cave. I kind of get a kick out of this reaction which I can say with great conviction stems from people not quite associating a man-cave with the residence of a household belonging to a gay couple.
Either way, I have some great tips for doing up your man-cave. If you don’t have a spare room or a basement to set up your man cave, consider a space in the backyard to implement a custom shed design; a backyard shed can also be a great space for some alone time or a men-only get together. And don’t worry, if that is indeed how you want yours to be, it’s as “manly” as man-caves can get!
Rough walls
This is perhaps the ultimate key to giving a space designated to be a man-cave that elusive feeling of a cavernous hideout turned oasis/retreat. You should not have plastering done unless it’s finished in a rough-cut styling, in which case the rough-cut plastering would be as a result of previously having had smoother plastering done as you’d otherwise do for a regular interior space.
So leave that face brick as exposed as it is – exposed interior face brick does indeed tend to work best for man-cave interiors.
Lighting
Just because it’s called a man-cave doesn’t mean it needs to be dark. However, it’s always good to have a range of lighting options you can use depending on your activity. For example, if you’re watching a film, you only need mood lighting to set the tone. For this, you could head to www.neonfilter.com for some custom neon lights to jazz up the back wall. For other activities like drinking or gaming, you might need some brighter lights so that you can see better.
Custom fridge
The older the refrigerator the better in this instance, but obviously you might have to have it re-gassed or repaired in any way to get it functional again. Otherwise, beverage cooling units such as wine coolers perhaps don’t belong in a man cave, so get an old fridge customised with some airbrushing (in the style of those hot-rod muscle cars synonymous with the hey-days of some good old American muscle). If you are going to be cooling wine, like we do, then you can have the cooling temperature range customised for just that.
Aimless artwork
Okay, so artwork can never really be aimless because that’s what art is – something which is representative of something else which holds unique and I guess sentimental value to the buyer of the artwork. However, I think you will agree with me that something like a picture of a Harley Davidson wouldn’t exactly be fit for display in a high-street gallery, or indeed something like a realistic painting of a 1967 Chevrolet Impala.
Those are the types of “aimless” artworks which are best-suited for man caves, best displayed by mounting them each on a pair of nails which have been driven into the face brick.
You’ll probably need to drill the holes however since it’s pretty clear that the manliest of men cannot hammer a hole into a face brick with a nail and hammer!
Screen it up!
Seating arrangements in a man cave are to be taken care of with old couches (which are often very comfortable), so that’s sorted, but in terms of the entertainment you should either add one insanely big screen (a projector will do) or litter the cave with many screens. You can then add a soundbar using resources like https://www.vizio.com/en/sound-bar/dolby-atmos to add to the atmosphere, especially when there is a football game on.
A good sound system will do to cover the entertainment so long as it’s something high quality or similar to a Graham Slee HiFi (https://hifisystemcomponents.com/) system, but you should also perhaps add something like a snooker table to create a different focal point.