There are so many different types of man caves. Man caves tend to fall into different categories or “themes”. The theme I am going to talk about today is more unique than the “typical” choices. This article is going to discuss what a music lounge man cave is and this article will give you some ideas for building your own. There is nothing like having your very own music lounge in your own home.
When building your music lounge man cave, you are going to want to make sure that you: have seating with low profile arms, have acoustic foam or rugs to reduce the echoing in your room, unapologetically display memorabilia from your favorite bands, make sure you have a killer sound system, and if you play an instrument, display it. The things you are going to want to avoid are: completely wooden or overly soft seating, buying a dinky sound system, and spreading out your music lounge too much.
What Is A Music Lounge Man Cave?
When I say, “music lounge man cave”, I am talking about a man cave that focuses on your appreciation for music. This is an awesome and unique choice for a man cave. Whether you love playing music, singing, or just listening to it, you will be able to enjoy a music lounge man cave.
You are reading this article because you are considering a music-themed man cave. This type of man cave is for you if you love listening, playing, or singing. As you may have guessed, the focus of this themed man cave is on certain focal points. Whether it is vinyl memorabilia, or a guitar and amp, your music lounge man cave is going to have something in it that draws attention and starts a conversation.
If you are going to have decorations, they are probably going to be related to your favorite bands or albums. The feel of a music lounge man cave is going to be comfortable, relaxing, and quiet. It is going to be important that people have a good environment to enjoy music and hang out. You will also want to pay a lot of attention to the sound quality and characteristics of your room. You may want to consider buying some acoustic noise reduction foam.
Important Features Of A Music Lounge Man Cave:
When building a music lounge man cave, there are some elements that your guests are going to expect to see. That doesn’t mean you NEED to have these things. You can do whatever you want, but these ideas will at least give you a direction to start on.
Seating With Low Profile Arms:
This may apply to you, or it may not. If you enjoy music enough to be building a music inspired man cave, I guess that you play some type of instrument. You probably even have friends or acquaintances that play that you will want to jam with.
Not sure if you have tried or not, but playing guitar (or even other instruments) in a chair with high arms is nearly impossible! It’s so frustrating. If you aren’t careful, this may be overlooked. So I am begging you if there is any chance you will be playing an instrument in your music lounge man cave you are going to need to have seating that lets you comfortably play.
There are all kinds of seating available that lets you play your instrument comfortably while sitting. The exact seating you get is as always, completely up to you. If you still are looking for a couch, you will be able to find some that will work.
The biggest mistake you can make is getting a love seat for your music lounge man cave. I get it, I have one myself, but it is nearly impossible to do anything productive in the thing. It is nice and comfortable to feel engulfed by your furniture. I am not arguing that. That’s a fact and a half. I just don’t want you to be trying to play guitar while engulfed by your furniture.
Use Rugs and Acoustic Foam To Reduce Echoing:
Regardless if you are playing music, or just appreciating it over your sound system, nothing is worse than a room with awful acoustic qualities. Have you ever been listening to something in a room, and realized there was a faint echo? That is exactly what we are trying to avoid.
Above I mentioned getting acoustic foam. If you are serious about having the best acoustic conditions in your room, those are a worthwhile investment. But for those of us who aren’t looking to achieve perfection, there are a few tricks I have stumbled across that will help you out and be functional inclusions to your man cave.
The first trick I have for you is to include rugs or carpet in your space. Rugs and carpet do the same thing the foam does. They trap the sound waves and stop them from bouncing all around your room. Now, I’m not saying that you need to have wall to wall carpet.
A few space rugs would go a long way to cut down on your room’s echo. The other way to functionally cut down on your music lounge’s echo is to just include textile things. “Textile” means something soft and textured.
When I say to include textile things, I am not talking about hanging quilts on your walls. I mean including things that have fabric on them. You can be creative with this. Stuff that comes to mind is a textile couches and sectionals or even just putting a throw blanket on your couch.
Unapologetically Display Memorabilia From Your Favorite Artists:
If you are familiar with my content, you will know that I feel the most important part of designing a man cave is authentically showing who you are as a person. I don’t care if you listen to Taylor Swift, Slayer, Disturbed, August Burns Red, Twenty-One Pilots, or Drake. Whatever type of music you enjoy and are passionate about, display it!
This is your space, so I want you to display the things you enjoy. There are all kinds of memorabilia you can display. Figure out what type you enjoy looking at the most. For me, I enjoy signed publicity/show posters. There is something about how they look framed that does it for me.
You may just like to display your favorite band’s vinyl. Whatever it is, go for it! I can’t think of a better place to be showing this stuff off. I bet this stuff will also start up some awesome conversations with guests too.
A Beefy Sound System That Checks All the Boxes:
Creating the best listening experience possible is the goal while building your music lounge man cave. One of the most important parts of that is getting the right sound system. I’m not sure if you have done the steps I suggest for designing and planning a man cave, but you are going to want to allow for your sound system to take up a good chunk of your budget.
You are going to it to be loud enough and accessible. Why get a sound system if you need to call a professional any time you want to change it around? I always think that simpler is better. Because of this, I think you should seriously consider a Wi-Fi sound system.
One of my suggestions would be the Bose Wave SoundTouch wireless sound system on Amazon. It has everything you need for an awesome wireless music lounge set up. This is one of the best wireless sound systems you can find that is practically designed for the best music listening experience possible. I think the coolest thing about it is that it lets you use your phone as a remote, and it is even Wi-Fi compatible.
Another awesome wireless option for you is the Bose SoundTouch 30 on Amazon. Like the previous option, it is also Alexa compatible. This thing is the highest power wireless speaker Bose offers. That is some serious punch… This option is for you if your man cave is on the bigger side. The cool thing with both these options is that you can use them to start creating a hoe network of wireless speakers.
If You Play An Instrument, Display That Thing!
Do you play an instrument? There is no better decoration for your music lounge than an instrument you play. With some people, they feel the need to fill their space with all kinds of things that are only decorations. You have the chance to include something you use every day. I play guitar myself; I understand that connection with an instrument.
By hanging that favorite instrument on your wall, you are going to be filled with pride every time you look at it. Better yet, you will probably pick it up and play it more often. I don’t know about you, but when I see my guitar sitting there out in the open in a prominent spot, I can’t help it. I need to pick it up and play it.
For displaying your guitar, there are a bunch of options. First, decide if you want to hang it on your wall, or have it in a guitar stand. I would suggest hanging it. It becomes an instant fixture in you man cave’s feel that way.
Next, I want you to figure out how many guitars you plan on displaying. If you have a bunch, why not have them all in one place? One of the best brands for wall hangers you can find is string swing. If you have multiple guitars, the String Swing Guitar Wall Mount Rack is an awesome choice. It will easily display five guitars, no problem at all. If you are looking to only hang one guitar, the String Swing CC01KOAK Hanger is your best choice.
Things To Avoid When Building A Music Lounge Man Cave:
There are a few things you are going to want to avoid while building a music lounge man cave. Because this is a type of man cave that isn’t often built, there are fewer cardinal sins of man cave design you need to avoid. Here are a few that I feel are important
Solid Wood or Overly Soft Chairs:
At first glance, this may seem strange. Why is this guy telling to avoid all wooden chairs in my music lounge AND overly soft chairs? Well, the answer has to do with a few things mentioned earlier.
First, why am I saying to avoid wooden chairs? Well, they can be pretty uncomfortable. It’s not much of a “lounge” if you are uncomfortable sitting after 30 minutes. On top of that, if the wooden chair has an armrest, it will be difficult to play in with an instrument. You will likely also be endlessly nervous about whacking your instrument off of it… Been there, done that, not fun.
So wooden chairs are uncomfortable, hard to play instruments in, and can even damage the instruments. Doesn’t an overly soft chair solve these problems? Not exactly. Yes, it is going to be super comfortable, but it’ll be nearly impossible to play while sitting in it. Your back is going to hurt like mad if you try to play guitar in a squishy chair. A while ago, I tried this very thing in a bean bag… never again.
A combination of these types of seating is a good idea. But I would also suggest that you get another type of seating that is comfortable and allows you to safely play guitar. Like I mentioned earlier, there are all kinds of options, but the most common option is a comfortable padded barstool.
Don’t Buy A Dinky Sound System:
One of the worst things you can do is spend all kinds of time, effort, and resources on making an awesome music lounge, and then going with a dinky sound system. There are a lot of things you can save money on. If you are specifically trying to build a music lounge man cave, a sound system is the last thing you should be trying to save money on.
If the options I gave you earlier are not your speed, you can always go with a soundbar and an extra speaker or two. If you buy the higher end of these two things, you will be just fine. Just do your best to avoid cheap budget options. If music is as important to you as I think it is, just bite the bullet and buy higher quality speakers. I don’t want you to waste your money.
Don’t Overly Spread Out Your Space:
A lot of times, listening to music or playing an instrument is a solitary activity. But when building a man cave, it is important to remember that you are probably to be having guests over. Always plan ahead, try to future proof your space.
Instead of having one chair near your sound system or by a TV, and another in the corner, create parts of the room that are places for people to gather. This could be as simple as having sectionals/a couch and chairs in a corner of your room facing each other.
One of the best parts of music is its ability to bring people together. That is also one of the best parts of a man cave. You have an awesome opportunity to bring all kinds of people together with the universal language of music. Who knows, maybe you make a corner of the room the “jam” corner.
Listening to music can often be an individual experience. But make the effort in your man cave to turn this individual experience into a shared, collective experience. It will be an awesome feeling once you get people into your music lounge man cave.
Ideas For Your Music Lounge Man Cave:
Now that I have gone over the do’s and don’ts, I want to give you a few ideas for your music lounge man cave. If you are familiar with my writing, you will know I am all about authenticity when designing your space. So, take these suggestions and turn them into something that you can use. I hope that these ideas just get you thinking.
String Swing Guitar Mount:
I know I mentioned this earlier. But if you play guitar, there is no better decoration for your music lounge man cave than a String Swing Guitar Rack. Not only is it going to be an awesome conversation piece, but it will get you picking up your guitar and playing more often.
If you are like me, then that is well worth the investment. Something is exciting about displaying stuff that you are proud of. I really can’t think of many other things you could display that would make you FEEL pride. There are all kinds of guitar hanger brands out there. String swing is the gold standard, and honestly pretty affordable. But don’t be afraid to do a little digging of your own. I am just trying to give you ideas. It’s your job to make them your own.
CD Display:
I mentioned earlier the importance of proudly displaying your favorite band’s stuff in your music lounge. If you wanted to display a signed poster, you can just go to the local store, get the right sized frame, and hang it up.
Another cool option is hanging up some of your favorite CDs. You get bonus points if it is a signed CD! This is one of the coolest CD displays on Amazon I could find. It’s an awesome fit because it shows off the album art and the actual CD art. For what you are getting, this CD frame is an awesome deal. You are going to want more than just this CD display to decorate your music lounge. But I think this is a good way to start adding your personal touch to your space.
Remember, you are still going to need the actual CDs to display…
Vinyl Display:
If CDs aren’t your style, a lot of bands still release limited runs of their discography on vinyl. Since they are bigger, they have more art and can be an awesome piece to hang up. This is the best record display case on Amazon I could find. If I had to choose between displaying CDs and records, I would be choosing records.
They are just so unique. The combination of uniqueness and it’s extra focus on art adds a lot to your space. Having a handful of these on your walls is an affordable way to decorate, and an awesome way to inject your music lounge with your personality.
Smart Outlets:
If you have floor or table lamps, it can be worth it to plug them into a smart outlet. This will allow you to turn them on or off with just your voice and your Alexa device. The nice thing about these smart outlets is that they are super flexible. If you don’t want to use them to control your lighting, plug your air conditioner into it!
For the flexibility they add to your space they are honestly really affordable. They also add a good amount of wow factor to your space. If you end up getting one of the wireless sound systems I suggested earlier, you will be able to turn your typical music lounge man cave into a smart room.
Acoustic Foam Squares:
So this is kind of cheating. I mentioned this idea earlier. Acoustic foam squares from Amazon are an awesome way to reduce the echo of your music lounge.
But they do a lot more for your room than that. When someone comes to visit your man cave and sees that you have taken the time to install/hang up acoustic foam, they are going to know you are serious. Just hanging these up gives every guest the feeling that you are serious about music, and you have gone the extra mile in your man cave to ensure the best audio environment possible.
This is just how I feel about this. If you were to tell me I could spend $30 on something, and they would feel like I described, you bet I would think It’s a worthwhile investment. It’s the best of both worlds. They serve a functional purpose and add to the overall feel of your man cave.
Final Thoughts:
Building a music lounge man cave is an awesome choice.
My hope for you is that these do’s, don’ts, and ideas help in some way. If you are taking the planning process of your man cave seriously, and want a tool to help you budget, check out the free tool that I designed. To get it, just fill out the below form!
Until next time,