Designing a “Man Cave” for the “Man of the House”

By Eileen Narozny


According to the Urban Dictionary the phrase “Man Cave” refers to a room, space, corner or area of a dwelling that is specifically reserved for a male person to be in a solitary condition, away from the rest of the household in order to work, play, and involve himself in certain hobbies or activities without interruption. This definition leads me to the question, “Do you have a space in your home that is dedicated to the man of the house?” You do not have a “Man Cave”! Is there a space that you can use to create this area? Do you have space in the garage, basement, loft, or extra bedroom? Yes, that is great – let’s see what we can do to transform this space.

Let’s begin by asking some questions about the man of the house. What does he like to do in his free time? Watch sports? Play games? Entertain his friends? Work on hobbies? Plays, composes or records music? Based on how you answered these questions which one of the following room types fits his personality? Or does his personality and interests warrant a combination of the following room types?

Media Room – is a great area to create for your sports or movie enthusiast. A media room is an easy room to decorate using a theme. It can be anything from his favorite sports teams to a vintage or sci-fi movie theater.

Bar – is something nice to create if the male of the house likes to entertain. In this area it would be fun to create a wine bar with a wine cellar if the room is available. It could also just be a basic bar with a kegerator and wine refrigerator.  The décor of the bar area can be themed as a sports bar, Irish pub, wine bar, or anything your imagination allows it to be.

Game room – all men are boys at heart and appreciate a well thought out game room. In a game room you can include a poker table, pool table, shuffleboard table, air hockey, dome hockey and a board game table. And to really appeal to the kid at heart you can include a few arcade games and a gaming system. There are a lot of options for a game room and the game choices should simply be centered on the interests of the male in the house.

Work room – this area can be used for hobbies such as woodworking or painting. Some men would even prefer a work area in the garage to tinker with their car, motorcycle or boat. Or they may like to restore antique cars. So take some time and make the garage a special place filled with the equipment needed for their hobby. Make it extra special and add a television and a sound system.

Music room – a room filled with all the instruments that the male in the house plays. It could also have a sound proof recording studio attached. A room like this is for a serious musician and needs to be created specifically for what he likes to do. Whether it is writing, composing, recording or playing his favorite songs.

The type of area you can create depends on the amount of space you have to work with. It is a good idea to involve the individual this room is being created for because it needs to fit with their personality. And just like any other decorating project you tackle it is important to start collecting photos of things they like and put them in a file. The ideas mentioned in this article can be used alone or combined to create the perfect “Man Cave” for the man of the house. And ladies there may be times when they share this room with you and the rest of the family. Make this project a fun and rewarding experience.

For more information and a free in home consultation, contact, Decorating Den Interiors at (800) 886-9499.