Man Cave/Vintage Lounge - Thoughts, anyone? (Heavy with photos)

[V.C. Brunswick]

Man Cave vs. Boyhood Fort

Who's Allowed
Boyhood Fort: Not girls: they have cooties
Man Cave: Not women: they have authority

Primary Materials Used in Construction
Boyhood Fort: Wood, stuff your Mom doesn't want
Man Cave: Particleboard, stuff your wife doesn't want

Key Activities Inside
Boyhood Fort: Goofing Around, Avoiding Responsibility
Man Cave: Goofing Around, Avoiding Responsibility

Peak Periods of Use
Boyhood Fort: After school, weekends
Man Cave: After work, weekends

Slumber Parties With Buddies?
Boyhood Fort: Yes
Man Cave: No

Food and Beverages Consumed
Boyhood Fort: Soda and unhealthy snacks
Man Cave: Beer and unhealthy snacks

Spend the Night Inside?
Boyhood Fort: It's been known to happen.
Man cave: It's been known to happen

Money spent on space
Boyhood Fort: As little as possible
Man Cave: As much as possible!

Is this a phase you'll outgrow?
Boyhood Fort: Yes
Man Cave: No

Source: The Man Cave Book by Mike Yost & Jeff Wilser (Harper, 2011)

 

[Roving_Bohemian]

Man Cave vs. Boyhood Fort

Who's Allowed
Boyhood Fort: Not girls: they have cooties
Man Cave: Not women: they have authority

Primary Materials Used in Construction
Boyhood Fort: Wood, stuff your Mom doesn't want
Man Cave: Particleboard, stuff your wife doesn't want

Key Activities Inside
Boyhood Fort: Goofing Around, Avoiding Responsibility
Man Cave: Goofing Around, Avoiding Responsibility

Peak Periods of Use
Boyhood Fort: After school, weekends
Man Cave: After work, weekends

Slumber Parties With Buddies?
Boyhood Fort: Yes
Man Cave: No

Food and Beverages Consumed
Boyhood Fort: Soda and unhealthy snacks
Man Cave: Beer and unhealthy snacks

Spend the Night Inside?
Boyhood Fort: It's been known to happen.
Man cave: It's been known to happen

Money spent on space
Boyhood Fort: As little as possible
Man Cave: As much as possible!

Is this a phase you'll outgrow?
Boyhood Fort: Yes
Man Cave: No

Source: The Man Cave Book by Mike Yost & Jeff Wilser (Harper, 2011)

VC, good man, you hit the nail on the head! I'll have to print this out, frame it, & hang it on the door of said-future man-cave!!!

 

[1961MJS]

Bless you VC, you're my new hero.

Later

 

[Stray Cat]

Who's Allowed
Boyhood Fort: Not girls: they have cooties
Man Cave: Not women: they have authority

I've had that one slapped in my face when I was a kid: "You're a GIRL".. and now again?! lol

Is this a phase you'll outgrow?
Boyhood Fort: Yes
Man Cave: No

Ha! :rofl:
[size=-2]Even when they call you "one of the boys", they'll never let you inside.[/size]

 

[Roving_Bohemian]

see, in my case it's more for self preservation... while we are otherwise 100% compatible, I am a devout History buff who is especially taken with the Adventure & Grace of the Golden Age, & my wife is a somewhat "crunchy" modernist.... we agreed that she can decorate the house, but this one room is MINE. If she were to come in all the time, the "outdated-ness" of it might become a source of contention, so why start down that road? My Room, My Style, why bother her with it by letting her in?

PS Honey if you ever read this I still love you... lol

 

[jamespowers]

see, in my case it's more for self preservation... while we are otherwise 100% compatible, I am a devout History buff who is especially taken with the Adventure & Grace of the Golden Age, & my wife is a somewhat "crunchy" modernist.... we agreed that she can decorate the house, but this one room is MINE. If she were to come in all the time, the "outdated-ness" of it might become a source of contention, so why start down that road? My Room, My Style, why bother her with it by letting her in?

PS Honey if you ever read this I still love you... lol

Well fortunately my wife doesn't mind my antique shop of a room that I have. It is a big mess today though. The cable guy was supposed to come in yesterday and put in Wi-Fi out there and enhance my cable channels. It is too far away from the main house to get Wi-Fi from there. It was fun convincing the cable guy to run a separate cable all the way back there in the first place years ago. The guy didn't show up so I still have the mess from clearing off the wall so he would get to it.....

 

[Pyroxene]

Long time no post - Anyway...

My best friend started building his mancave years ago and its been an on-going project ever since. I have had the pleasure of enjoying many fantastic cigars there. Every time we visit there has been some improvement or change and gets better every visit. According to him: "The total size of the man cave complex is currently 32x35', 1120 sq ft. "

Here is how it got started.

This is what phase one looked like completed.

The bar

The walk-in humidor

Phase 2 he has turned the entire theater 90 degrees for an even bigger screen experience.

You can read all about it at Puff.com. Look for a thread called "Man Cave - Smoking Room"
Cheers,
Bill

 

[jamespowers]

Long time no post - Anyway...

My best friend started building his mancave years ago and its been an on-going project ever since. I have had the pleasure of enjoying many fantastic cigars there. Every time we visit there has been some improvement or change and gets better every visit. According to him: "The total size of the man cave complex is currently 32x35', 1120 sq ft. "

Here is how it got started.

This is what phase one looked like completed.

The bar

The walk-in humidor

Phase 2 he has turned the entire theater 90 degrees for an even bigger screen experience.

You can read all about it at Puff.com. Look for a thread called "Man Cave - Smoking Room"
Cheers,
Bill

Holy Crimony! I'll take one too.

 

[kyboots]

Wow I am impressed but I could not afford that. Depending on size and costs, a small antigue oak bar with oversized dark brown leather furniture ( one piece must be a sofa for entertaining ), real dark oak paneling on the walls, open fireplace and my bookshelves, thick dark oak wood floors with old Persian area rug; plenty of glasses, Maker's Mark and some new Jim Bean spirits. It would need a large music system with lots of speakers, perhaps a few old 901's strategically placed. A sound door and sound proofed. Did I just describe Heaven?

 

[O2BSwank]

I also wish that I could nave a separate structure built also. However I am finally really getting started on my own study. My wife had taken over my son's bedroom when he went to college and turned it into her scrapbooking/artist studio space. As her needs have changed she has pretty much taken over the living room and dining room also. I have been toying with the idea of moving to a larger house (away from the Bay Area) that could handle both our desires. I had also considered letting her use our master bedroom as her space while we moved into the unused bedroom, how ever I thought that was too much of a sacrafice. My wife, a really lovely and dear woman, has been encouraging me to start to collect the items I would want in my study. I have: some nice paintings and framed artwork, a nice wood and leather chair, a really huge antiqued leather club chair and ottoman, a 1940's wood desk, chair, and file cabinet. I have restored a 30's style downbridge lamp and my 1942 Silvertone console radio/record player. I finished my 40's secretary desk/bar conversion and I have an old wooden fireplace surround reputedly from an old San Francisco Victorian. I also have a Craftsmen style built in cabinet that was obviously removed from a house prior to demolition. My Dad bought that cabinet over fifty years ago to house our new encyclopaedia Britannica and it is probably a hundred years old. Add to all this some modern wood bookshelves and other interesting lamps,clocks and radios and I have really everything I need.

 

[Matt Crunk]

I'm surprised that with all this talk about retro man caves and dens that no one has yet touched upon the home tiki bar/lounge. Yes, it's kitsch. Yes, it's more late '50s and '60s than Golden Era. But it is what it is, love it or hate it. Along with my seedy private dick-style home office, I plan to build a home tiki lounge when I enclose my 24' X 30' double carport later this year. Something along these lines:

 

[jamespowers]

I'm surprised that with all this talk about retro man caves and dens that no one has yet touched upon the home tiki bar/lounge. Yes, it's kitsch. Yes, it's more late '50s and '60s than Golden Era. But it is what it is, love it or hate it. Along with my seedy private dick-style home office, I plan to build a home tiki lounge when I enclose my 24' X 30' double carport later this year. Something along these lines:

Not necessarily 50s and 60s. It developed in the 1930s really. Trader Vic's opened in 1940. Its expansion happened throughout the 1940s and then really boomed when the servicemen came back after experiencing Tiki in person. It gathered an increased following in the 1950s and 1960s but it was rooted in the Golden Era.

 

[Matt Crunk]

There has been a recent resurgence of Tiki culture among the hip. Lots of people building basement and spare-room tiki bars, even outdoor tiki huts and tiki themed pool houses. There is even one print magazine devoted to tiki, and more than a few websites. I'm lucky enough to live within a two hour drive of an original tiki restaurant called The Omni Hut, which has remained under the same ownership and largely unchanged since it first opened it's doors in 1961. My wife and I go there as often as we can.

 

[jamespowers]

There has been a recent resurgence of Tiki culture among the hip. Lots of people building basement and spare-room tiki bars, even outdoor tiki huts and tiki themed pool houses. There is even one print magazine devoted to tiki, and more than a few websites. I'm lucky enough to live within a two hour drive of an original tiki restaurant called The Omni Hut, which has remained under the same ownership and largely unchanged since it first opened it's doors in 1961. My wife and I go there as often as we can.

I live near an old Trader Vics and I have gone there more than a few times. They make lousy Mai Tais though. It is depressing considering that Trader Vic invented them! They don't use his 1947 recipe. It stinks.
I did a bit of the Tiki thing in my patio and in My Study. However the breweriana kind of overpowers it.

 

[Matt Crunk]

Actually, the Omni Hut is located in what was for many years a "dry" county. Even after it finally went wet a few years back, they decided to remain BYOB. Which is actually a good thing. The house drink is a tropical "tea" that comes with endless refills, and makes a great mixer. Just bring along the rum or other intoxicant of your choice, and you can drink all evening for about $3.75.

 

[jamespowers]

Actually, the Omni Hut is located in what was for many years a "dry" county. Even after it finally went wet a few years back, they decided to remain BYOB. Which is actually a good thing. The house drink is a tropical "tea" that comes with endless refills, and makes a great mixer. Just bring along the rum or other intoxicant of your choice, and you can drink all evening for about $3.75.

If it doesn't have a big menue of tiki drinks then it just isn't the same. Trader Vic's started as the bar Hinky Dinks so they definitely have a large menu of tiki drinks compiled over the years. I have even compiled a list of tiki drinks over the years.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Does anyone else think that this thread can be moved to the vintage home thread?

 

[Shangas]

I think it belongs there. It should be moved. Yes.

 

[jamespowers]

Does anyone else think that this thread can be moved to the vintage home thread?

No because it doesn't necessarily have to be attatched to the house. It could be freestanding as we have several examples herein.

 

[Roving_Bohemian]

Wow I am impressed but I could not afford that. Depending on size and costs, a small antique oak bar with oversized dark brown leather furniture ( one piece must be a sofa for entertaining ), real dark oak paneling on the walls, open fireplace and my bookshelves, thick dark oak wood floors with old Persian area rug; plenty of glasses, Maker's Mark and some new Jim Bean spirits. It would need a large music system with lots of speakers, perhaps a few old 901's strategically placed. A sound door and sound proofed. Did I just describe Heaven?

I agree with Kyboots... as impressive as that is my budget is much smaller (my taste runs more towards the 1890-1830 style lounge anyway, but I would like that much space to work with...)

I am lucky in one respect - when we move back to Europe we'll be living in an area that's transitioning from beautiful antique styles to more "updated/civilized" modern furniture & decor so the stuff I like is relatively cheap...

As far as moving this thread, while I agree with JP - it doesn't have to be attached to the house - I don't mind this thread being moved to whatever category the mod's think is best, as long as it stays it's own thread... I opened it to get ideas for a man-cave and would prefer not to wade through pages of living rooms, kitchens, garages, etc just to find one suggestion for my space. I hope you understand...