In the vast world, people could do a lot of thing at the same time. While being busy is more preferable, people don’t want to omit the fun part. Men especially would love to gather around and being active. One option to facilitate both personal and professional life is a man cave. Get some ideas ready before starting the project.
1. Adjusting Floor And Wall
It is great to have an empty space to begin with. You could create a lot of things and fill it the way you want. Before stepping to those thrilling moments, note that garage is build as garage. You are working with concrete floor and walls. Will it be comfortable for living space?
During summer, concrete absorbs heat and reflects it to the air. If you don’t create any layer, you will technically spend summer inside an oven. Put a layer of wooden board and carpet in the base. If you have preference for floor pattern or coloring, this is the time to implement them. Don’t forget to repeat the process for walls too.
Image: decoist.com
2. Managing Insulation And Acoustic
Are you now working on garage walls? While you are at it, think also about acoustic and insulation. Will it be better for you to make ventilation window or installing exhaust fan? You should also consider about seasons. It is okay to invest a little bit more on the wall insulation. Just make sure you have warm place during winter and cool area in summer.
Some wall insulation products also offer certain quality of room acoustic. Some men demand theater inside the cave. In this case, they should look carefully for suitable products. However, several others are okay with standard acoustic, as they prefer to have group chat instead of movie night.
3. Planning Electric Plug Installation
Remember that the plan to build man cave is to have balance between personal and professional life. For this reason, many would agree that you need a number of electric plugs. They will be used for your electronics; TV, computer, heater, stove, and many more.
Since electric plug installation should be done before building walls, you better have the blue print first. Easiest way to start is picturing the general function of man cave. Write down some items you will bring into the garage cave. Then, you could plan where you will put them. Make sure it also fits safety standard in your region.
4. Adding Styles
Now that the technical part has been done, you could start thinking about the style you want for the man cave. There are tons of references you could find online. Some might suggest to apply dark concept, light combination, and so on. While these references are great samples, they might make you confused as well.
Instead of focusing on the furniture, it is better to choose your style first. Later on, you could break down the details such as color, tone, lighting and suitable furniture to compliment that style. For example, you love sporty style. You could combine checkered flooring with fun colors and put on several sport items on the walls.
5. Setting The Light
As you might have noticed, garage has minimum light. Unless the door is opened, garage is literally pitch black. Since you want to make this area more comfortable, you will need a lot of additional lighting. For better result, you should combine different kind of lights. Using only one won’t maximize the effect.
For a smart design, you could install specific light for working area and warm colored light for general lighting. Those who love to hang their favorite items should consider to install display lighting. Keep in mind that bigger wattage might blow your electric bills. Choose the light bulb carefully.
6. Putting Furniture
For the last touch, you could add furniture to the cave. This is the fun part after all the hard work. The must have item in a man cave is a recliner. Consider this as your personal throne. Don’t forget to add some extra chairs for your friends. They will be excited to visit your cave.
Another important items are TV, computers, refrigerator, coffee table and cutleries. For kitchen supplies, you could either go fancy or simple. If you enjoy delivery food, then keep some plates and bowls ready. Those who love cooking should definitely invest on fancier kitchen tools.
7. Taking “Out-Of-The-Box” Ideas
All the ideas presented above resembles regular house planning. This is a man cave, where you could do and have anything you want. In that case, why don’t you try one of the following ideas?
a. Neon Light
Usually you could see neon light only on certain districts. Somehow putting neon lights will give bad impressions; clubs, cheap bars, and so on. However, neon lights become hot trends lately. People love to see it as room center. So don’t hold back if you love fancy lights!
b. Theme-less
While having a theme will help you, it should stop your wildest dream. You love both nature and sports. So, hang picture of vast meadow with a lake in the middle. Install golf simulator or VCR screen in one corner. Enjoy both without feeling “off” theme.
c. Expanded Room
Not all people build a garage properly. There are a lot of cases where people just simply build small garage in separated area. Should this stop your well-planned cave? You could always add adjoin space to make your cave bigger.
d. Copy And Paste
It might be hard for some people to do mix and match by themselves. Still, they have to do the styling part. Why don’t you just copy and paste a setting you like from certain magazine. Several places like club or bars have signature tone and furniture. Just adopt it for your cave; its lighting, tone, furniture and decorations.
e. Foldable Cinema Screen
Men love movies and watching them together on computer screen is not an option. Group of men should watch their favorite movie comfortably on cinema screen. Is it too space-consuming? Then bring in the foldable type. Drag it down when needed.
