Man Cave Ideas
My awesome man cave ideas will help you to create a spectacular getaway like my Steelers man cave. You have come to the right place for the best tips and ideas to build the perfect “Man Cave”.
My Steelers man cave, aka Steelers room, aka the electronic domain, is my favorite room in my house. Just about everything I need is in that room. Well, at least my favorite things. These are the conversation starters and the things that you notice right away when you enter my man cave.
What Is A Man Cave
The man cave is a place for the man of the house to get away (or take a break from what is going on in the rest of the house), and do things that men like to do. And it is a great place to hang out with your friends. But some men spend as much time as they can with the family in their man cave.
Why Have A Man Cave
Before I was married and I lived in a house by myself people often asked me why I have a man cave. Their logic was that my whole house was my man cave. Sometimes you may want to keep certain people or traffic out of other areas of the house. So the man cave is the perfect place for those who you don’t want to be in certain rooms around your house.
The man cave is the perfect place to have a party. When you have a table set up for food, a bar area and a restroom nearby, your guests will not have a reason to go into other areas of the house.
Here are some pictures of how I set up my man cave for a party.
This is how I set up my food table most of the time.
Then there is the table with some drinks and snacks.
And the table where we sit to eat.
Below on this page you will see a video of the room set up.
If you have a dedicated bar it will really set your party off.
My Sanctuary
My man cave is my sanctuary. It is the room where I keep and display all of my Steelers stuff. I spend as much time as I can there surrounded by some of my favorite things. Everybody that enters the cave must know and follow the rules.
A man cave can also be a great place to spend time alone. When I need some “Me” time, do not disturb me while I’m in my Steelers room. Sometimes I just want to enjoy the moment.
Don’t Have A Basement
Some people think a man cave has to be in a basement. A man cave can be in any room that you want it to be. It can be in a spare bedroom or even the garage. There are some guys who have built fantastic man cave sheds outside of the house.
My nephew, also a Steelers fan, set up his man cave in the enclosed back porch of his house. This cozy 5’x8′ space is perfect for him. He has his Steelers stuff and everything else he needs there.
Top 5 Man Cave Must Haves:
A Theme;
The man cave theme should be obvious. My Pittsburgh Steelers themed man cave is very obvious. The Steelers logo is everywhere in my man cave.
Tv’s;
I have 8 of them. There are two 55″ the 43″ and four 32″ tv’s and a 28″ in the room. Yes I have 8 tv’s in my man cave. I also have a projector. I’m ready to watch all of the games.
Comfy Seating;
If I could I would spend all weekend lounging in my man cave in my favorite recliner. It is so comfortable that I fall asleep almost every time I sit in it. I love that chair. It reclines all way back like a bed, but it’s way more comfortable. If I get too comfortable I will not be able to watch a game till the end.
Mini Fridge;
I have 2 mini refrigerators in the cave. You don’t want to have to leave the man cave to get a snack or something to drink. There is always plenty of food and drinks in the cave at all times.
Man Cave Rules;
Things can get out of control real quick without rules especially when the guys are drinking alcohol. I have the rules posted and let people know that they must follow them at all times.
My Favorite Man Cave Ideas
Here is a list of some great man cave ideas. These are some of my favorite themes for a man cave. As long as you have nice comfy seating, a tv, and a mini fridge to keep your drinks and snacks in you are good. That’s basically all you need.
How you decorate the room depends on your own design taste and your budget. The size of the room isn’t that important unless you plan on having more than just a few people in the space.
That is just a few great man cave ideas or “themes”. The best man caves are a combination of the themes that I have listed above. I found a video of a fabulous finished basement that is a combination of my list and more. The basement even has a hair salon. Check it out below.
https://youtu.be/
Tv Shopping
I decided to change the theme of my man cave a little. My man cave is going to be like a sports bar. The first thing you notice when you walk into a sports bar is that there are a lot of tv’s. That’s the look I’m going for.
I went looking for budget tv’s $500 or less so that I could buy several of them. The first place I checked was the largest retailer for buying tv’s, bestbuy.com of coarse. The insignia and toshiba tv’s were in my price range so I went to take a look.
I ended up buying 7 tv’s on that trip, one of which I put in my bedroom. A couple of months later I caught a sale that I couldn’t pass up, so I bought 2 more tv’s for the man cave. I think I’m almost there with the number of tv’s that I want now.
The best thing I have done with all of my tv’s is to pair them with a media streaming device. One of my tv’s is a smart fire tv which means it has the fire tv stick built in.
Man Cave Food
When you are in the man cave you won’t want to have to leave the room to get a snack or something to drink. There is always plenty of snacks in the mini fridge. I keep a supply of box candies like the ones you buy at the movies along with popcorn, chips and nuts.
Of coarse there is always plenty to drink. There are two mini refrigerators to keep drinks cold and a supply of ice. You can never have too much ice.
Game Day Parties
On game day or when we have guest we have a table set up with chicken, ribs, pizza and maybe chips or something like potato salad. I also have deli meats and buns to make sandwiches.
I have a personal dessert chef who makes the best cheesecake you have ever tasted. Her creations really set my man cave party’s on a different level. She loves to decorate desserts in a football theme. My favorite one is the cake that’s made to look like a football field with the Steelers logo on the fifty yard line and the name of the team in the end zone.
She makes cakes and cookies shaped like a player’s Jersey with a name and number on it. I like that extra little touch for my game day football themed parties.
Make It Great
If your room has all of the things that a man cave must have, you will have a very nice man cave. Just doing a few extra things will make your man cave great.
When you go in your man cave and never want to leave, and your friends start to hang around more, you are pretty close to having the perfect man cave. (The tips below are for a sports themed man cave).
1. Paint the room in your teams colors;
2. Add photo mats in team colors to your pictures;
3. Framed jerseys with team colored matting;
4. Put your autographed items in a display case;
5. Having a rug with your teams logo on the floor;
Just doing something as simple as painting the room in your teams colors really makes a big difference in the overall look and feel of your man cave. Having my room painted in the official Steelers team colors is probably the best and cheapest thing I could have done. When I found out that Lowes and Home Depot has official team color paint for all teams I had to get a couple gallons of Steelers gold.
Displaying Your Collections
You will want to hang pictures of players, past and present all over the room. Instead of just putting your pictures in a basic frame, one of the best man cave ideas is to add matting in your teams colors to make those photos really stand out. I get my framing done at Michaels.
They are a bit pricey but they do a really good job. They have a lot of sales so look for those coupons to save a lot of money on that custom framing.
Michaels also sells all kinds of shadow boxes and display cases to fit just about anything that you may collect. Like the custom framing, these items can be quite pricey.
Making A Gallery Wall
One of my best man cave ideas was to create a gallery wall. That is a great way to display your favorite items.
In 2010 I started collecting football cards. At first I was keeping all of my cards in a binder. I liked some of the cards so much that I wanted to have them on display.
One of the walls in my man cave is dedicated to displaying some of the football cards of some of my favorite players from the 1970’s.
My all time favorite player is Lynn Swann and it is obvious when you see the display. I have a video showing that display below.
An autographed framed jersey is probably my favorite thing to display. Just like the pictures that you have matted in team colors, have your jerseys done the same way. You can also add sports cards and photos in with your jersey framing. It does cost extra to add the photos and things, but I think it is worth the extra cost. (Each opening of each mat is an extra cost).
Protecting The Things You Collect
Other things that you may collect and want to display like, autographed balls and helmets will get dusty very quickly. I recommend putting those items in a display case. You can add a name plate to those display cases to help remember who signed each piece.
Favorite Things
While in my man cave I am surrounded by some of my favorite things in the whole world, which is mostly Steelers memorabilia.
Everything that I talk about or recommend on this website are things that I own or use, except for the Valencia Tuscany home theater seats that I dream to own one day.
Below is a list of some of my favorite things in my man cave that I don’t consider sports memorabilia. For many years I’ve been collecting lots of things that have a Steelers logo on them that are by no means sports collectibles. Some of these are just really fun to have and use.
1. Pittsburgh Steelers NFL Team Pride Light;
2. Pittsburgh Steelers Replica Super Bowl Rings;
3. Pittsburgh Steelers Crock Pot;
4. Pittsburgh Steelers Logo Rug;
5. Pittsburgh Steelers Monopoly Game;
6. Pittsburgh Steelers Watch Collection;
Accepting Gifts For Your Man Cave
Over the years I have gathered hundreds if not thousands of knick-knacks. Many of these non-sports memorabilia items are gifts from the various women in my life (mainly my mother, wife and sister-in-law). They just see the Steelers logo and buy them for me and of course I accept them.
In the past I considered these items junk, but I admit I’ve turned into a hoarder. Anything that has a Steelers logo on it I definitely want it.
Hoarding Steelers Memorabilia
I’ll be adding items to this list often, because I’m always finding something new and different with my favorite team’s logo on it. It doesn’t matter what it is, big or small, I’ll buy anything “Steelers”.
My father-in-law belongs to an online book club and buys me books and dvd’s about the Steelers. It’s the combination of things that I own that makes my man cave what it is to me.
Although my autographed items are really my favorite things, some of my Steelers stuff is just nice to have for my man cave parties.
Making Changes To Your Man Cave
I have learned that my man cave will never stay the same very long. My first man cave idea was to just have a room to sit around a table and play card games, have some snacks and watch sports. I had my Steelers memorabilia all around the room of course but that was the basics of the room.
After a while as the price of projectors was becoming more affordable I decided to turn my room into a home theater. It was great for watching sports. I had a 120″ screen and a great surround sound system. Because I was still collecting sports memorabilia I needed the wall space where the screen was and the theater seating took up a lot of space also.
“I decided that I wanted a home bar. So my man cave became a bar. It didn’t take me very long to decide that I wanted more TVs for watching sports. The idea to turn my man cave into a sports bar seemed perfect. So I went out and bought 9 tv’s for the man cave. One of them I ended up putting in my bedroom so I have 8 tv’s in the room. Right now I am really loving how things are coming together in my room. So for now my man cave is a Steelers sports bar.”
My YouTube Channel
Please visit my YouTube channel to see more of my man cave videos
https://www.youtube.com/user/SteelersFanCave
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