Everyone needs privacy; sometimes, moments spent alone with ourselves can be very refreshing. Many men today are resorting to men caves in their homes to enjoy that special private time, unwind from stress, and achieve emotional balance. The garage is the ideal space to convert to a man cave.
- Add an earth-tone paint and finish to your walls and ceiling
- Switch your flooring to hardwood or tile to fit the manly decor.
- Add brighter lighting to your domain to illuminate the room.
- Add matching furniture to the room – ex. Recliner seats, shelves, a bar, flat screen T.V., etc.
A man cave must be appropriately furnished to give you that refreshing privacy you seek. Your choice of accessories is crucial as well what activities (or entertainment) you desire to enjoy in the man cave. You also need to fundamentally understand the purpose of the man cave, so you don’t abuse it and cause an emotional rift in your family.
How to Make Your Garage into a Man Cave?
The garage is an optimal space in your home to convert into a man cave. However, you would need to upgrade it before it fits that ideal haven.
Walls and Flooring
Garages are not known for their aesthetic element. It is conventionally the place for parking your car, keeping your odd stuff, but typically not for relaxation. Therefore to make the garage comfy enough, you will need to add a subfloor to the ground.
You can use either ruse carpets or wood. We will not recommend a concrete subfloor given it could get too hot during summer or too cold when winter comes in.
Insulation
Your man cave needs to be wholly separated from your home. This is why you need to insulate it so that the rowdy noises (when your friends commune) or your music don’t escape and disturb the main house. Hence you need to take care of your acoustics.
Also, insulation is important. Your man cave needs to be comfortable regardless of the weather conditions. Sometimes crevices may disrupt the heating and cooling patterns of your man cave. You need to fill up these crevices after identifying them.
Here is another thing to consider. Since it is unlikely you would be sleeping all through your time at your man cave, you need to procure electrical fittings for your accessories. This will take care of your electrical accessories like your sound system and your television.
The lighting of your man cave is critical. You need sufficient illumination to bring out the beauty and homeliness of your man cave. If you don’t have adequate natural lighting, you may need to procure artificial light sources – either electrical or otherwise. Alternatively, you could seek to improve the natural lighting by outfitting your garage-turned-man cave with more windows.
The Essentials – What’s in a Man Cave?
There are some fundamental features or equipment your man cave shouldn’t miss; otherwise, you may never get the best vibes or fun out of your man space. Let us look at them.
4K Ultra HD Television
You need a TV set, no doubt. One of the best options you can go for is a 4K Ultra HD Television. This will allow you to play some beautiful video games and still watch your favorite TV channels. The 4K Ultra HD Television is ideal so you can enjoy sharp and vibrant pictures.
The size of your 4K Ultra HD Television is crucial, especially since it is not for your sitting room but your small enclave. A 90″ TV may seem too big and oversize for your man cave. An excellent choice here is a Sony XBR for superb quality.
PlayStation 4 Pro
If you are a gamer, there is no way video games should be missing from your man cave. This is the ideal entertainment when you are with your clique of guys enjoying a men-only time. Sony’s PlayStation Pro is a fantastic option or you can go for the Xbox One X.
In a situation where you are not going to have a side-by-side multiplayer experience, then you can procure a separate DVD player so you can enjoy streaming and surfing the web. If you wouldn’t be doing all that digital gaming, you can resort to dartboards and pool tables.
Bar and Beer Fridge
As we said earlier, a bar is an essential component of your man cave if you have a flair for drinks. Few parties or sessions between guys ever go down without a drink or beer.
A full bar may be your best option if you can afford it. You also need the beer fridge to keep your beer. A small beer fridge will not take much space off your man cave. A beer fridge that can store up to 80 cans of beer is great. It is even sweeter if your beer fridge can still accommodate some snacks.
If you are very keen on the taste of your drink and prefer it fresher, then you may want to go for a kegerator instead of a beer fridge. This will improve the longevity of your beer’s freshness, keeping it carbonated for longer. This even gives you even more convenience when procuring your drinks as the kegerator is most times furnished with a dispenser tap.
Exercise Tools
As we said earlier, fitness enthusiasts will like to furnish their man cave with workout equipment. Treadmills are great options here. You wouldn’t need stuff that will be too bulky given the limited space of your man cave. If you want something other than treadmills, you can try out a bench equipped with suspension traps.
What is the Point of a Man Cave?
If the point of a man cave is not correctly known, you are very prone to abusing it. The primary point of having a man cave is to have a private uninterrupted time with yourself. This is the “me” time where you exclusively enjoy your company or that of your male folks. This is done away from your partner or family.
The idea is to give you that emotional escape from the rigors of everyday life or even that of marriage. It has been proven that couples (most especially masculine men) need time alone – away from their spouse – to emotionally refuel and sustain the positive vibe of the marriage. It is only human to get bored with seeing one person all the time – which translates to spending all your time with your partner.
Once in a while, you need to step away to reconnect with your own self, or previous identity before you got attached to your spouse. Mind you, this doesn’t mean the life you had before meeting her is better than that the one you now share with her.
The man cave is the ideal place to unwind after a terribly stressful day at work when you want to be alone with yourself. Note that the man cave is not the “haven” to run to when the slightest conflict occurs between you and your partner.
The man cave can also accommodate your private brainstorming, enjoy your hobbies without disruptions (from family attachments or responsibilities) and even enjoy some of those good old days with your male friends alone.
The man cave will satisfy that inherent masculine demand for space and freedom without venturing out of your home. According to the renowned John Gray, who crafted the reputed book Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus series, “there is a part of the brain that helps us to interpret time and space. That part of the brain is much larger in men than it is in women”.
Macho men are naturally adventurous and wouldn’t always be comfortable when family attachments disrupt their freedom. For such men, the man cave offers them the perfect solitude to hear from themselves, be themselves, and enjoy some luxuries of bachelorhood again.
What is the Purpose of a Man Cave?
While the paramount purpose of the man cave is privacy and solace, this private time can be further deployed to other purposes or applications. These functions may not be properly performed or enjoy in the company of your partner.
When You Need to Unwind
Contemporary jobs are getting more stressful, especially for men. In today’s societies, the man shoulders the more substantial bulk of responsibilities. Hence they tend to work longer to foot the bills. The stress of such jobs – and normal life – can build up over time such that it could pose serious health problems like increased blood pressure or acute migraine.
Aside from the health detriments, such pent up stress can cause emotional volatility, as seen in being temperamental and quick to anger. Such situations require an “alone” time to heal so that the piling stress doesn’t injure your family or marriage.
For men that self-heal, they would need a remote location away from the typical family or partner. This is where the man cave comes in.
Spending time alone or with your close male friends will help you create positive vibes, mentally refresh yourself, and get boosted emotionally. Spending that away time will help you attain emotional balance to come out and face the world again.
A Man Cave Allows You to Express Yourself
In today’s families, decisions are most times resolutions between the contrasting opinions of partners. It is thus very likely that your freedom of expression (both artistically and nutritionally) would be interrupted by the perspectives and tastes of your partner. This is why you need a private space to do things your own completely.
Your man cave is yours to design. From the choice of the décor, the accessories to even the foods or drinks you have there – you are the only one deciding. This restores that sweet power of individuality or freedom, enabling you to be even more creative and expressive.
In your man cave, you are the uncontested boss. You make the rules yourself and determine the status quo on your own.
Get More Creative
While brainstorming is conventionally a collective activity, there are unique people – especially alpha men – who brainstorm more effectively on their own. There are people whose creativity is more triggered in solitude than in joint sessions.
According to Keith Sawyer, a reputed psychologist at Washington University in St. Louis, “Decades of research have consistently shown that brainstorming groups think of far fewer ideas than the same number of people who work alone and later pool their ideas.”
Therefore, your man cave can also serve as a personal office where you separate yourself from all distractions to bring that the best in you intellectually.
Exercise More
Aside from the psychological and emotional purposes of a man cave as we have touched on, there are the physical dimensions to having a man cave as well. A man cave can be your own fitness hub for those fitness enthusiasts. You can install treadmills and weight lifts in your man cave.
This will give you that reclusive time to build your fitness and improve your physical needs. With 75% of men overweight or obese, according to the National Institute of Health (NIH), physical exercise is now so important.
What Does a Man Cave Need?
Having stated some of the purposes of a man cave, you understand your man cave will need some equipment for you to get the best out of it. Your man cave will need to give you the relaxation and entertainment you need to unwind. This is why you need a form of amusement to keep you active and happy when you are inside your man cave.
If you are a sports fanatics, you can get a TV and your favorite sports channels. You can also get your favorite video games as well. Some men wouldn’t really bother about sports in their man cave.
They would rather have a recliner to chill and relax with a drink. Some would prefer installing their work materials and desk in their man cave so they can yet get productive even when locked away in their man cave.
So far so good, we have seen drinking is a favorite past time among men. This is why your man cave could need a fridge or a bar. This way, you can quickly snatch a cold drink or beer without having to go out into the main building.
A bar is also helpful when you would be hosting your male friends. You can also try out other means of entertainment like a pool table. This is a common sight in most man caves. If your budget can accommodate it, you can go for the Costzon 47″ Folding Billiard Table.
Man Cave Inspiration
Having a good theme for your man cave is crucial. You need to enjoy your time in your man cave, so the furnishing and the décor must be perfect for you. The overall design of the man cave should reflect your personality as well as your interests. For soccer or football fans, it isn’t a bad idea getting the walls wrapped with posters of your favorite team.
These posters can be affordably procured from Amazon. It doesn’t have to be your favorite team poster only. It can also be your little trophy room. For that dedicated sportsman who has won quite a handful of trophies or collected some medals, it is always inspiring to display them in your man cave. Such exciting memorabilia will always keep the sweet memories flowing in, empowering you psychologically.
Your accessories should be well selected. You will need a TV as we said. A 90 inch TV being too big, you can go for smaller options like a 55-inch 4K TV. This will not cost you much. If you don’t have enough to buy new furniture for your man cave, you can resort to second-hand furniture.
Recliners, couches, and chairs can cost far less if procured as second-hand items from classified ads websites. There are even cases where you can get them for free. Online resources like Freecycle can help you locate someone in your neighborhood who may be willing to gift you such furniture.
Aside from your TV, your refrigerator is another sizable investment you have to make on your man cave. Admittedly a full-sized fridge may too expensive upon the bulk of space it will take. The size of your fridge should be portable enough to keep a day’s quantity of drinks or food.
You can get quality used refrigerators at amazing prices on craigslist. If you want to go for refurbished refrigerators, you could also enjoy fantastic discounts as well.
Still trying to spend on budget, you can get a cheap bar. This shouldn’t cost you more than $100 on platforms like Nextag. There are also DIY options for you to build a bigger bar. All you need to do is procure the requisite home bar kit from a home improvement center in your neighborhood.
If you want to save further on electronics, a befitting place to look at is your local pawnshop. Don’t forget that you need to understand the return policy of such pawnshop.
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