In the modern world, manhood has largely been relegated to the outdoors and a few sports arenas. However, in a house that has been man-built and maintained, there needs to be a space for unbridled masculinity. The following is how to build the perfect manly refuge amidst the nooks, the obsessive color coordination and the bay windows of modern life.
Step 1: Understand the Area
There’s a certain amount of space you can use, and that’s what you’ve got for the time being. Trying to get a space to be something it’s not is like lying about your heritage — it’s embarrassing and it won’t help you with anything. When you reconcile with the space you’ve got, clean it out and take a good look at what you have to work with. This is your new canvas, and you are its artist.
Step 2: Decide What Your Theme is Going to Be
The great thing about a space that’s all for you is that it can be whatever you want it to be. If you love cars, it can be your personal auto shop. If you’re big into woodworking, it’s all about the saws and sanders.
The number of possible themes is as limitless as are your potential interests. No matter what your hobbies may be, these will create and populate your cave’s theme. The better defined your theme is in your mind, the better you will be able to make it work in real life.
Step 3: Color the Place, but in a Manly Way
Color coordination isn’t solely a lady’s domain. As great as it is to kick back in a testosterone-infused paradise of relaxed social etiquette, the place doesn’t have to look like a sloppy mess. Your mancave can actually look very refined and visually powerful by keeping your color scheme tight and controlled.
This tightness and control can be a relaxing element that shows off your confidence. Naturally, your color scheme doesn’t have to come from the Martha Stewart catalog. Your colors can be road-cone orange, jet black and chrome, just so long as it suits you.
Step 4: Keep the Light Reasonable
The use of light can wash out a space or make it just bright enough to be useful for what you want to do therein. To start with, keep natural light controlled. You can use Roman blinds from the TheShadeStore.com to stay in control of outdoor light interference, and from there you can choose how much artificial light you want to use. Using long fluorescent lights down the center and sides of the ceiling usually provides plenty of illumination for just about anything.
Step 5: Manage the Space
Once you have the space mapped out, properly lit and equipped with a theme, you need to make sure that everything you want to do in there is actually possible. Will a pool table, full woodshop, auto shop and Olympic gym fit into a 10-foot square space? Quite possibly not. Know your limits and make sure everything fits with room to move around.
Building your mancave is an exciting creative endeavor. Just make sure you don’t trip up on a tiny detail.