One of the best parts about designing and building a custom home for your family is creating personal, fun space for each member of your household. One popular feature in today’s new homes is a “man cave.” Here are some tips to help create a space for the man of the house that will be a comfortable retreat for everyone.
Make It Comfortable
First and foremost, a comfortable space starts with a good layout and comfortable seating. Seating choices abound, depending on your style and seating needs: contemporary sectional sofas; traditional high back leather chairs; home theatre-style reclining seating. A man cave can even be the place you work in your beloved (but ragged) recliner!
Your seating and furnishing should be functional and comfortable for however you use your space. If you love to get together and watch sporting events with a lot of friends, make sure you have a lot of seating with good vantage points of the TV screens and enough surfaces for guests to set down drinks. If your space is more of a personal retreat, allowing you the privacy to spend time alone with your thoughts and studies, make sure you create an environment that is conducive to those pursuits.
Make It Convenient
One feature of many man caves is a well planned wet bar area. Regardless of how you use your space, you’ll likely feel then need to eat or drink! Having a kitchenette, drink station, or full bar can allow you to easily serve or help yourself to refreshments. If you enjoy beer, think about having one (or more) keg taps installed, allowing you to serve a variety of cold brews on draft (maybe even your own home brew).
Another was to improve the usability and convenience of your space is to upgrade your control systems. Rather than having fourteen different remote controls, for everything from the surround sound to the cable or satellite feed, look into having everything connected into a cloud-based control system. This will allow you to control your entire atmosphere with the touch of a tablet or smartphone.
Push the Tech Envelope
Whether you like professional football, video games, or classic movies, a top-of-the-line audiovisual system is a great feature for a man cave. Custom home builders routinely install surround sound through hidden speakers, allowing movies to resonate with dramatic clarity and sports to sound even better than being there. Large projection screens are good choices for both movies and sports. Multiple television options allow you to view numerous games at once or have multiple areas of sports viewing throughout a larger, multi-room space.
Reflect Your Personality
Most of all, your man cave should reflect your personality! If you’re more of a book lover than a sports fan, create a study and library space to enjoy your reading time. If you love to watch as many college football games as possible, design your space for optimal viewing of multiple games. If you are a movie buff, create a theatrical experience with a popcorn maker, reclining seats, giant screen, and surround sound (maybe even a set of velvet curtains). If you enjoy hosting poker night, invest in a quality gaming table and plan your space to be welcoming for players and onlookers. If you enjoy making or listening to music, make sure that your space is designed to help your music sound its best and not intrude into the rest of your home.
Homes by Brill Des Moines custom home builders has been helping design “man caves” and all manner of recreational and relaxing spaces for more than 36 years in over 500 Des Moines custom homes. Contact us today to talk about designing and building the perfect man cave for you—and a beautiful home to surround it.
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