Mancave Must Haves

So guys you know how it goes, you buy a house and the woman in your life makes all the decisions for decoration and layout, lets be honest, we do it for a simple life, after all happy wife, happy life right?

So after the 1000th time being dragged around a home décor showroom, and being constantly asked “do you like this?” we inevitably give in and just say, “sure honey I think that looks great”, when what we are really thinking is – if I have to decide on another scatter cushion I will bury my head in it and hopefully pass out!

Now not all women are like this, some will either ask you to come with them, and others will just crack on and organise it all by themselves, and as is quite often the case, the women will do an incredible job of turning the house into a home. Now I’m not a big fan of scatter cushions (like seriously what the hell is the point of them?!?!), nor do I really give a monkeys uncle on accent colours or frilly things (again can’t see what all the fuss is about), but my other half has done a great job of turning our house into a home, she loves it and that’s all that matters.

Now your probably nodding your head to some of the above and kinda thinking, I’ve got a missus like that, well now imagine you have two women doing all of this, that is what I’ve got, yeah I know I must need my head examining lol, hence the reason for requesting my man cave.

As these two have got the house to do what they want with, and I’m just the DIYer that gets called in when something needs doing, I wanted my own space to put my stamp on, and also to retreat to if needed.

I didn’t want just a tiny 8×6 shed in the bottom of the garden, nor did I want just a room to hide in, I wanted and got a barn, for me to do what I want with. So now I’ve got 150m2 of space to renovate, organise and then decorate the way I want it, yeah yeah I know, I’m a lucky bas**rd aren’t I.

But what do you put in a mancave to make it the sanctuary of dreams?

1. The absolute true man cave must have – a pool table. I don’t care what you say, this was always number 1 on my list and I was not going to accept anywhere that I couldn’t fit my pool table in, I had already bought the pool table before we bought the house, so the barn had to accommodate my earlier purchases. Now my pool table isn’t anything flashy yet, but I plan on trying to do something different with it. I’m aiming for something similar to the below.
2. Second of my early purchases was a full size poker table with a case full of chips, as again I wanted somewhere that is a bit of a focal point. Unfortunately due to space constrictions, I am not 100% sure where this will fit in, the girls are convinced that it won’t fit, but me being me, I’m going to do my utmost to try to squeeze it in somewhere.
3. A bar. No true man cave is complete without a bar. After all where are you going to store all the drinks, and secondly I have purchased so much bar stuff, pumps, lights, posters, etc, it would be rude not to have somewhere to put them – wouldn’t it? Now I’ve got something like this in mind, which I will need to build, so we will see how it turns out.
4. Outdoor Kitchen. Now this is me being a little bit extravagant, but sod it, why not? I want somewhere where friends and family can meet together and be entertained, plus isn’t there something manly about cooking food for your family on an open fire? Not finalised the design yet, but I want to incorporate a pizza oven, bbq, grill area, and possible a smoker, but we will see how creative I feel at the time.
5. Snug or sanctuary. I plan on having a room with a big sofa, where I can kick back and put my feet up, and watch some of my favourite movies. Now this is a definite must, how many times do you ask your other half, do you want to watch a movie, and they come out with something romantic, or a drama, or a comedy, now I don’t mind some of these in moderation, but really want somewhere for my action movies in surround sound, so you can feel like you are there. Plus I have a ton of movie posters, so I need somewhere to put them up.
6. Bathroom. A bathroom in the man cave? Yep as I can’t be bothered to walk up to the house everytime I need to go, plus it will come in handy for guests. Now I’m not talking about a small little corner to stick the bog and a sink, I’m talking a full on walk in shower, rustic bathroom, hey I might as well go in comfort
7. Spare bedroom. Now this might sound a bit odd, but bare with me. My first thought was for when guests come over to visit. This way they have their own space and aren’t intruding on your space in your house, and how many times have you had guests over, and your all queueing for the bathroom in the morning, this way, no early morning dramas, and worse case if you have a barny with the missus, your not kipping on the sofa with the dog, win win I reckon.
8. Workshop. This was an absolute must for me. I needed and wanted my own space so that I can go off and tinker with projects, as well as somewhere to make things for my wife and sister-in-law to go in their houses, I hate not having a proper workspace so this will be one of my first project to get completed. How many times have you had a complaint from your other half that your making a mess in the house, well this is my way of keeping the peace and getting what I want, sneaky maybe but try it
9. Personalisation. Now everything I want to do might not to be to everyone else’s tastes, but to be honest I don’t care, this is my sanctuary, so I will decorate it and personalise it the way I want. I have accumulated all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff, and what better way to feel good, than to be surrounded by the items you have collected and want to enjoy.
10. Pool. Ok not exactly in my man cave, but it will be right outside, maybe it’s a little bit extravagant but if you can, then do it. From day one I had always wanted a pool, so I have been loads and loads of research, and once the time comes, I intend on building the pool myself, I don’t want a ready made pool if I can avoid it, partly to keep the costs down and also because I don’t relish the thought of having something that everyone else has got.

So these are the 10 must haves for my man cave, what would you add to the list, or add for yourselves, I look forward to your thoughts, and you never know I might incorporate them into my little peace of heaven.