Find the Perfect Spot
This first step in creating the ultimate man cave is to seek out the best location. More often than not, man caves are found in the basements of homes — makes sense, right? A basement man cave is great for men who are rowdy sports fans or who still cling to their goal of becoming the next big rock star. The secluded location and concrete walls make it great for muffling all kinds of man cave craziness. For the more intellectually concerned cave man, consider renovating a study. It’s likely that the room will already have many essential pieces for creating a classier hideaway.
Need room ideas? See more ways to create space: Renovating a Forgotten Space
Add Some Style
Now that you’ve settled on a location for the man cave, it’s important to then decide on a particular style. As mentioned above, man caves can be geared towards sports enthusiasts, musicians, intellectuals and even geeks – go forth and dwell. Obviously, this is a limited selection of styles, but men tend not to be too complicated, so it’s a good starting point. Once you’ve decided on a theme, you can then begin gathering items to fill the space — like posters, lights, furniture, statues, etc. To help with staying on track with a particular style, it helps to choose a special centerpiece to work off of. Here are a few suggestions for each theme:
- Sports
Consider using a pool table, dartboard, or even a poker table as the centerpiece for a sports themed man cave. These help establish the room’s theme with a touch of class and respect for traditional man games.
- Musicians
For a music themed man cave, you can create a special display for one of your favorite instruments, showcase signed rock n’ roll memorabilia or even highlight your earth-shaking sound system.
- Geeks
This is actually a much broader theme to work with, but one centerpiece that will always stand out is an arcade machine with one of your favorite classic videogames.
- Intellectuals
If you find yourself craving the finer things in life, then a man cave with a high emphasis on quality design should be a priority. Some phenomenal centerpieces that will help to articulate your worldly taste are a mahogany bookcase and a classic lounge chair.
Related: 4 Ways to Help Dad Relax
Consider the Layout
Once you’ve gathered up a pile of stuff for your man cave, you then need to figure out how to arrange everything. It may seem like a trivial task, but it’s actually crucial to attaining maximum man cave efficiency. Just like in every store, you want to make sure to sell your guests upfront with some notable eye candy — whether that be a swordfish you caught off the coast of Maine during a 4-hour battle between man, beast and nature, or just a framed photo of Sammy Hagar you took while he walked passed you in the Atlanta airport back in 2004.
No matter his preference, Dad will for sure enjoy your willingness to help craft the ultimate man cave. However, we can’t promise that you’ll ever see him again once it’s completed.
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