A man cave is a place that all men dream of. A place to get away, even if your normal life is great. From the beginning of existence, men need space and quiet to perform the rest of the their lives to the highest ability. They need a place to let their mind relax and watch something mind numbing… most likely sports. We are not talking about when you and the wife watch the Bachelor because you both secretly like. We are talking about watching the game and western and move that was released before 1975 and TV shows about other men surviving in crazy environments. Man Cave Essentials are part of that space and need to be taken seriously.
So if you are lucky enough to have a space to call your own, yes it is 2020 and your wife deserves one too, then feel lucky about where you life is and the things you have in it. That being the case, we have put together a Top 10 list of Man Cave Essentials. Yes, it would be nice to have a golf simulator or a pool table or even a secret room that hides your arcade. But not everyone has the room or resources for that. However, everything on this list, you should be able to get into a small shed or tiny basement room.
10. A Dart Board – You do not need much room for a dart board. It can even go on the back of a door or easily be put up and taken down as needed. According to the Professional Darts Corporation… Standard height from the floor to the bullseye on the dartboard is 5 feet 8 inches, while the oche (distance between the front of the board and the toeline) should measure 7 feet 9.25inches. So you basically need about 9 feet in your man cave to make it happen. If you space is smaller than that then improvise. Dudes need something to do while hanging and playing a mindless activity is perfect.
9. Sports Memorabilia or Decor – I would say 9.5 out of 10 man caves are used for mostly watching sports or gaming. And if you have another activity in mind, decorate with your theme. But one of the main thing you want visitors to experience in your man cave is the vibe as soon as they walk in. You do this with sports memorabilia and your team’s decor. Want a talking point for each visitor? Get an autographed football or baseball from your favorite player or team and display it prominently. Guaranteed anyone who visits will ask about it. And if you don’t have the budget, start small. You can get autographed baseballs of eBay for around $30-$50. You can get a team flag for around $25 and all sorts of different items with your teams mascot and logo. They key is to find a few to start with and build a collection your friends will be jealous of every time they visit.
8. Lighting – This is (most likely) not a dance club. It is a place to hang out with yourself or friends. So people need to be able to see each other. Optimally, you would have many options for lighting and can adjust as the mood dictates. One of the coolest things you can add to any man cave is a neon beer sign. These are not cheap and can be delicate. But if you really want to give off that bar vibe, check into those to see if you can afford one.
7. Big Sound – All the good man caves out there have a way to enhance the sound of whatever they are watching or playing. Weather is is a soundbar, built in speakers or whatever you can find, when you want to go to 11, you need to have that option. Just like TV’s, sound bars can be pretty inexpensive these days.
6. Tables or shelves – People need a place to set down a drink. No one wants to carry around everything all day and night. We are lazy, we want to unload weight. Add on to that, people talk with their hands, get erratic during high energy times and high five when their team scores. Drinks need to be set down frequently and not be in a place to be spilled. Optimally each seat should have a place within arms distance to set down a drink that is not in the way of someone else or might get knocked over (as in on the floor). Check out some ideas in the video below.
Top 5 Man Cave Essentials You Must Have
5. Flooring – And when we say flooring, we mean purposeful flooring that works with your type of man cave. Quick story… we had a buddy that had an awesome basement. 2 huge TVs, 2 large couches, video game consoles, etc… It was a great place to hang out because you could easily get 10+ people in there comfortably to watch a game. The problem was his basement had nice white carpet. And when inevitably someone spilled a drink, it was a huge pain in the ass. The owner had to get out all the supplies to dab the stain, then rub it in circular motions, add another product on top of the first one, etc… And when you have 10+ people in there drinking and having fun, a lot of spills happened. I could never understand why he invited all of us over because spills were a common occurrence and he always got mad because he would most of the game cleaning that nice carpet. Then came the night 4 girls came over with strawberry daiquiris and the fun basement was never the same. The owner never really let people over anymore and frankly, it was always a chore to go over because you spent the entire time trying not to spill a drop and feeling bad if you did.
So what we are saying is… if you want your man cave to be a place multiple people can gather to have drinks, watch sports, play video games and have fun, then your surroundings need to reflect that. Don’t have nice carpeting or a nice couch you don’t want spilled on… Leave that for your living room. If the basement already has carpet, maybe rip that up and put down a wood or laminate floor. When purchasing furniture, don’t get white and make sure there is a stain guard. You don’t want to be a host that gets mad when there is a spill because there will be many. Have a mop ready and keep watching the game. We can’t over estimate this in our list of man cave essentials.
4. Good Seating – Unless you and your buddies are gym goers who work out consistently and are a statue of health, you need comfortable seating. In real man life, we are all of the verge, if not already, fat. As we get older, your backs hurt, ankles swell up and we are becoming more and more lazy as each year passes. But the type of seating you offer will have a lot to so with the square footage of your man cave. Optimally, you would want to have multiple recliners and a large comfortable couch. At least 1 seat per person attending. We want to eat and drink beer and not feel like we are running a marathon while watching the game. So seating is a must. If all you have are folding chairs then bust them out. Better that actually standing.
3. A Refrigerator – Nobody except weird Europeans like room temperature drinks. And if you are serving beer (you need to be serving beer) it must be cold. No doubt people will bring their own from time to time and there needs to be a place for them to chill their beer as well. A full size fridge is optimal but even one of those little ones will work if that is what you have. A full size can be bought for around $500 and if you have a water line, you can get ice too! But a small one can be found for around $150. If the drinks are warm, your friends will leave.
2. A Bar – We have hinted around this before in this article but in most groups of men who are friends, alcohol is a part of that. People like to relax and have a drink. If you want to have a real man cave, you need to designate a specific location a visitor can get a drink. And a bar does just that. It doesn’t have to be high end but should include an inward facing lower counter and an outward facing higher counter. You need a few shelves for alcohol bottles behind it and optimally (read number 3) your fridge will be behind there as well. If you like to play bartender, then this is your space. Finally a bar needs to have at least 2 bar top seats. People like to hang out at the bar, especially if there is someone behind there pouring drinks. To go along with number 4 of good seating, if at all possible, have a couple stools at your bar. Wet bars are cool, but essential.
1. A Big TV – What is the point of your own pace if you don’t have a TV to watch. And who wants to watch a game on a small ass box TV from 1998. The truth is, TVs are very inexpensive these days. Why? Because they are poorly built. But that doesn’t change the fact that with a little shopping around, you can find at least a 40″ TV for around $200-$300. If you are super crazy, we can even wait until black Friday and buy up a very nice one on the cheaper side. But the fact remains, the number 1 Man Cave Essentials item is a big TV. If you can rig up a couple. your man cave will go from a rating of 6 to a rating of 8 just because the multiple TV’s.
See below you can check out 20 awesome man caves.
They you go for Man Cave Essentials. want more Top 10 lists? Look no further than Not Yet Fired.