Blog - Page 6 of 6 - Man Cave Retreat

One of the hardest choices I had to make when building my man cave was what colors to paint the walls of my man cave. This is something that I spent a lot of time on. It is another one of those decisions that are hard to backtrack. There are so many different things to consider: what feel do you want in your man cave, what colors do you want to use, do you want an accent wall? I have found that contemporary colors (base grey with sand, green, or blue accent wall), or rustic colors (greys, browns, and other earthy colors) work best in man caves. A contemporary style will focus on the space itself, and the rustic man cave will focus on natural woods and the warm feel of the furniture/elements. The three brands you should start looking at for colors are Behr, Benjamin Moore, and Glidden. Like I have mentioned in other posts, I enjoy darker rustic browns. This is because that rustic feel is what makes me feel the most at home and comfortable. This will not be the case for everyone. Some may feel this more rustic feel may darken their man cave too much. It is all up to personal taste. That is why this article will be providing a lot of information to let you come to your own conclusion. What Is An Accent Wall And Do I Need One In My Man Cave? The purpose of an accent wall is to break up the pattern and colors of a room. It can be especially beneficial if the walls are all a single color. Typically, the accent wall that is painted is the one with no openings. By openings, I mean windows or doors. One option for you to consider is using a dark color on the wall behind your TV.This can have many benefits. It helps serve as a typical accent wall for your room, breaking up the one solid color. If you use a darker color behind your TV, it can hide it while it isn’t on. It can help keep the focus on the other things you are showing off in your man cave. Personally, my accent wall is a dark red/maroon. The other walls are a lighter brown. This works well because it helps to make everything on my walls more noticeable. At the same time, the accent wall is keeping the focus off of the TV while it isn’t on. What Types Of Color Aesthetics Are There For A Man Cave? When I was picking out the colors for my man cave I took a dive into what color schemes and colors are most commonly used. Here is what I found. The two ascetics that I found that felt best suited for a man cave were the contemporary feel and the rustic feel. I am going to spare you the pointless details and give you what you need to know. What Defines These Designs? “Contemporary” means that the overall feel and focus of the room is on the space it’s self, and not of the things in the room. Typically, in a contemporary man cave, less is more. “Rustic” means the feel of the room is natural and rugged. In a contemporary man can, you would probably want to start with a nice shade of grey for your walls. If you were to use an accent wall, as we discussed earlier, there are a few colors that would go best. Traditionally, the colors that are suggested for a contemporary accent wall are sands and greens. Also, don’t underestimate the power of a nice blue in a contemporary room. Rustic man caves are by far the most common. I tend to prefer this type of design. A rustic man cave is going to use earthy colors. Typical examples of this are greys and browns. Where contemporary man caves are going to focus more on the features of the space it’s self, a rustic man cave is going to focus on the natural raw look. You may have a lot of exposed wood or a raw wood bar and stools. In a rustic man cave, being picky about what you are using for furniture or what you are displaying can be rewarding. If you are able to, using raw wood as an accent wall would look awesome. Like I am always saying, use this design information as a starting point. Don’t choose your designs only from what trained designers are telling you to do. One of these is probably appealing to you more. Go do some poking around on Pinterest for more ideas, and keep building your man cave into your own creation. My goal is to get you to the point where you know enough to be dangerous. If you want to know more about these designs, take a look at this article where I go in-depth on how to create a contemporary man cave. What Paints Are Best? There are so many types of paints out there. All kinds of brands are trying to get your business. There is no way I would be able to give a comprehensive list for every brand out there. So I am just going to give you the top three brands I feel you should pay attention to. This information was gathered from Consumer Reports. They are a great resource to utilize and I highly recommend you get acquainted with their website. The first brand that is worth your consideration is Behr. The Behr brand can only be bought at Home Depot. The way I look at it, for an exclusive brand of paint to be praised so highly, it is worth listening to. Because it is a Home Depot exclusive, the nice people at Home Depot will be more than happy to guide you in the right direction or fix paints for you. The second brand that is worth looking at is Benjamin Moore. Benjamin Moore has placed itself at the top of the painting hierarchy. Like Behr, it is fairly limited where you can get it. They have multiple independent stores that sell them. The benefit of it only being sold from Benjamin Moore stores is the employees will be more knowledgeable about the product they are selling. They will be better able to help. My final suggestion is Glidden. This brand is more common than the previous two. You will be able to find this brand at most hardware and online stores.Yes, not all paints are created equal, but if by narrowing your search to these three brands, you are SUBSTANTIALLY minimizing your headaches later… trust me, I have been there… Until next time,