There are plenty of ways to bring your man cave to the next level. One impressive element to add to your man cave is a bar. Some may even say that no man cave is complete without a bar. After all, what better way is there to relax in your man cave to grab a cold drink or make yourself a cocktail.
With a few materials and the help of some friends, a man cave bar is feasible to build. The most difficult part is deciding how you want to decorate it. There are a number of ways to go about decorating and designing a man cave bar. Whether you have an entire basement dedicated to your man cave with room for a wet bar, or you use a small part of the garage that can hold a dry bar, there are many ways to make a man cave bar the best hangout spot in your home.
We’ve detailed some ideas to make your man cave bar yours and your friends’ favorite place to hang out.
1. Bar Stools
If you have a wet bar, chances are you will occasionally be playing bartender with your buddies. While they wait for their drinks, it is crucial that you have some comfortable bar stools for them to sit on and chat.
Think about the type of bar stool you would like as part of your man cave idea. Consider the following when choosing bar stools:
- Height: the height of the bar stools in relation to your bar height
- Comfort: whether you’re OK with hard wooden stools or want some padding
- Backrest: is it more comfortable to have a stool with a backrest?
- Decor: do you want your stools to closely match your bar or the rest of your decor?
Once you’ve assessed your criteria for bar stools, you’re ready for the fun part – choosing the bar stools. Bar stools today come in various designs that can go well with whatever decor you choose for your man cave.
Basic wooden bar stools are great if you want to keep it simple, and even give off more of a classic pub feel. If you want to go even more classic, there are a number of vintage industrial bar stools that work well with a more old school decor (think: prohibition-themed bar).
You can also get creative with your seating and find more quirky bar stools that may go with the theme of your man cave. If you look up creative bar stools, you may encounter options that you had never thought of before.
2. Liquor Cabinet
If you plan to stock your man cave bar with more than beer, you may benefit from having a liquor cabinet. Liquor cabinets are a great way to safely store your liquor, especially if you have curious kids who like to snoop around when daddy’s away. They are also a good way of keeping track of your liquor, and the right liquor cabinet can make your liquor collection look even more impressive; you can even feature it as the central piece of your man cave bar.
Liquor cabinets come in a variety of sizes, and they can be regular storage cabinets or wall-mounted cabinets.
If you don’t want a wall-mounted liquor cabinet, if you don’t have a lot of space in your man cave, or if you want something more mobile, you may want to consider getting something that you move to the couch while you watch TV. Bar carts are a great alternative to liquor cabinets. Not only are bar carts a more convenient option, but they may also emphasize the classic bar feel of your man cave bar.
This bar cart from LVB has an arch-shaped design that will complement any man cave bar. Not only does it have two shelves, but it also has a wine rack that holds up to three bottles, meaning it can handle all of your liquor!
3. Wall Decor
Wall decor can make your man cave, including your bar, much more interesting. The options are endless when it comes to decorating the walls of your man cave bar. Be as creative as you would like!
Wall decor for your man cave bar can include posters of anything you like. Drink posters, which contain recipes of several different drinks, are a popular option among home bars, and will help bring out your creative bartending skills.
Your liquor bottles do not have to be sitting on a standard shelf – there are a number of different options to creatively display your bottles on your wall. One interesting idea is to hang your liquor on the wall of your man cave bar. There are a variety of wine racks that you can use to display your liquor in a creative fashion.
This set of wine racks from Hipiwe lets you hang your wine or other liquor upside down on your wall for a more eye-catching display, and it allows for easy access for when you need a drink!
4. Glassware
Drinking your beer straight from the can or the bottle may be convenient, but if you have a wet bar, why not take advantage of it and drink out of proper glassware? It’s even better if you prefer draft beer and have a kegerator.
If you want to set up an impressive man cave bar, you will need glassware to drink out of. While you can probably borrow some glasses from your kitchen, this is an opportunity to get creative and seek out glassware that might be more in line with the way you want your man cave bar to look and feel.
You can get an assortment of glassware – beer glasses come in a variety of shapes and designs. You can also get different types of glasses, depending on what you plan on drinking while you are in your man cave. If you’re a wine drinker, it may make more sense for you to have wine glasses in your man cave bar than any other type of glass.
If you think that you and your friends might want to kick the drinking up a notch from time to time, consider adding shot glasses to your collection of man cave glassware. Not only are they convenient for taking shots and making drinks, shot glasses can also be decorative and be displayed along a wall of your man cave bar.
5. Good Refrigeration
Having a good beer fridge is almost non-negotiable as part of a man cave, let alone a man cave bar. Whether you have a wet bar or a dry bar, everyone likes a cold drink, and it’s inconvenient to leave your man cave to go to the kitchen every time you need a refill.
A beer fridge makes it convenient for you or your friends to grab a drink while watching the big game or if you decide to play an impromptu game of beer pong. Depending on the design of your beer fridge, it can also be a sleek and stylish edition to your man cave bar. A beer fridge with a glass door looks professional and lets you easily keep track of what you currently have in stock.
If you prefer to drink draft beer, you should invest in a kegerator in order to store your keg and keep your beer cool and fresh.
If you intend on also keeping snacks that need to be refrigerated in your man cave bar, or you want more space to keep extra ice for your drinks, you may want to consider getting a mini fridge instead of a beer fridge. A mini fridge will hold extras such as your favorite salsa for your chips and extra citrus for your drinks. A mini fridge with a built-in freezer is especially useful for making ice or keeping chilled glasses stocked at all times.
6. Dart Board
Does your man cave have a wet bar and a TV? If so, then it may begin to rival the bar that you and your buddies are used to hanging out at on Thursday nights. To elevate your man cave bar, you will want to add some additional entertainment. As with any regular bar, you’ll want to have some options for games and fun activities in your man cave bar, especially if you plan on having friends over often.
Dart boards are an easy activity to set up anywhere in your man cave. A game of darts is a classic bar activity that can be done while entertaining a few of your friends with some drinks. Dart boards are not only a fun activity to do, but they can also be decorative and give your man cave more of that bar feel.
7. Pool Table
If you have the space, a pool table can be the ultimate investment toward making your man cave bar the best spot to hang out in town. Once you get a pool table, word will soon get around, and you will have all of your friends calling your man cave the spot to be.
Pool tables can be pricey, but it’s possible to find a used one at a more affordable price. However, the money you and your friends save playing on your own pool table rather than paying to play at a bar every week can pay off in the long run!
8. Personalized Sign
A sign that lights up can be a fun addition to your man cave bar, and even make it feel like you’re at a real bar. There is a variety of different signage that can be suitable for a man cave bar, whether it is a sign that simply says “bar,” or one that has a more creative saying such as “It’s 5 o’clock somewhere!”
Even though you already know that your man cave is yours, there’s no harm in having a sign to mark your territory. An interesting way to spruce up your man cave bar is to put a personalized sign with your name that is reminiscent of classic bar signage (i.e., “Paul’s Bar”). This is a fun way to remind anyone who comes into your man cave that they’re now in your territory.
ADVPRO designs custom wall-mounted neon signs that can brighten up any man cave bar to help ensure a good time.
Takeaway
There you have it: several different ideas to make you man cave bar the topic of all of your friend’s conversation. Having a man cave bar that is well setup, properly stocked, and equipped with entertainment will help ensure that your man cave is the most popular spot in town. Once you’ve figured out what you want included in your man cave bar, all that you have to do is sit back, relax, and have a cold beer with friends!