Styleture

“Behind every man is his man cave.” Or so goes the opening line of The Man Cave Book (2011 HarperCollins Publishers) by Mike Yost and Jeff Wilser. The two authors are no strangers to the pantheon of all things men, having created mancavesite.org and authored The Maxims of Manhood.

The Man Cave Book by Mike Yost and Jeff Wilser

The duo are well aware that in the design world there is constant evolution and man cave design is no exception, inevitably changing with trends, technologies and most importantly, new and out of the box thinking. The Man Cave Book does an above par job of identifying the latest in man cave design trends and takes us on a rather whirlwind-like tour of a plethora of different man caves to suit a variety of tastes, budgets and levels of difficulty in regards to achieving. The book talks about The Everyman Cave that you can have without “plundering your savings, gutting your home, or ditching your family.” Mark Lau, the owner of one such cave featured in the book, which includes a plethora of razor sharp war memorabilia, says of his décor, “The collection of swords depicts my love of my German heritage, my love of America, and my love of weapons.” Manlier words were probably never spoken.

2010 Man Cave of the Year by Steven Clark

The Sports Cave, which is essentially “a shrine to your team that’s so spectacular, so heroic, that it actually improves your chance of winning,” gets plenty of coverage here as well. A great example is a cave owned by Alfred Wasilewski that includes furniture, framed photographs signed by players and even projections slides that shine on the cave ceiling, all in the theme of the New York Giants. Perhaps it’s the Gentlemen’s Cave featured in the book that is the ultimate style for the most ambitious of cave dwellers. Elegant, design-forward, and most of all, expensive, such a cave harkens back to another era when the bachelor pad was all the rage. However, in the modern age, such a cave will have the latest in technology (and maybe a stripper pole, too.) An interview with Wired’s Daniel Dumas featured within the book reveals some interesting tidbits about options for the Gentleman’s Cave; in regards to audio, “You can go balls-to-the-walls,” he notes. “There are companies that will come in to your room, measure your acoustics, judge the materials of your walls, and they’ll make a custom audio system. This is the kind of thing NBA players do. You can spend $100,000.” Additional man cave themes in the book include: The Bar Cave, The Clutter-as-Art Cave, and Odd & Outdoor Caves.

As the duo of Yost and Wilser say, “The man cave can be anything; a stylish lounge, a home theater, a high-tech Mecca to gaming; a music studio, or just an ode to your once great college crash-pad.” If you’re thinking about manning up and creating your own man cave, The Man Cave Book is certainly one resource that will help you to “cave on”.

Do bathrooms have a gender? Should they? Depending on the inhabitants of a home and their design aesthetic, any room can have a gender leaning. We’re not taking sides because we feel good design should be bigger than just one thing. However, we have seen some products that clearly seem to think of themselves as having a decidedly more masculine appeal, in an absolutely gorgeous, take-no-prisoners way. If you feel like playing the gender card, there are many wonderful ways to say, ‘welcome to the men’s room,’ all are welcome.

Cesto from Corbett Lighting

Cesto from Corbett Lighting

If you want to add something entirely unexpected to a room, take a look at the elegant hand-crafted iron Cesto light from Corbett Lighting. It’s a completely updated and unique take on a basket-weave design – both solid-looking yet seemingly light as a feather. The oval open-weave lets all the available light shine through. Contemporary without being precious, this collection suits many different decors. Available as a one-light mini pendant or wall sconce up to a 10-light pendant, the Cesto is shown here in Napoli Bronze with a Champagne Shade. Also available in Modern Silver. For more information visit corbettlighting.com

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Spring is right around the corner and we know a lot of people will be looking to take on a new renovation project this spring, and what better project to do this year than a new man cave space! Here are a few designs and ideas that we’ve found that we think are just great.

Pool Table Designs:

Man Cave with Nice Pool Table- Image courtesy of HGTV's Rate This Space.

This is one of the nicest designs we’ve seen that includes a pool table. This really has a “cave” atmosphere with the stone archway and bar elements. The leather theater and leather bar/pool chairs also bring the man cave’s decor to a new level, and a new price point when compared with some of the other designs in this post.

Here are some more pool table designs that we thought were interesting and might be perfect for your next man cave project: Read the rest of this entry »

Over the past few years Man Caves have been becoming more and more popular. If you don’t know already, Man Caves are places designed for the married man or family man as a place to have their space, decor and design. A Man Cave can be found in an addition, basement or even in a garage and have a number of styles whether it be the simple garage with a mini bar and T.V. or an elaborate basement redesign with all the amenities such as a pool table, dart board and full size bar. Here are a few things you can use to take your Man Cave to the next level this winter.

Clock / Aquarium:

Fishtank Clock

This Vertical Fish Tank II available on Opulent Items is a cool take on a modern design of a clock plus a place to keep your fish in your man cave.

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