Thrifty Little Mom

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How to Create a Man Cave on a Budget

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As Father’s Day approaches, have you considered doing something a little out of the box?  What about converting a room he likes hanging out in into a man cave that will make him proud to invite his friends over?  (Or make you not so embarrassed to give people a tour.)  Our house has a finished basement by the garage.  In was really being used for storage but I felt my husband kind of needed his own area to chill in.  A few years ago when he was out-of-town for a business trip I decided to make it into a room he could call all his own.  Here’s how to create a man cave on a budget.

Pick A Theme

  • You know what your husband is into.
  • It might be hunting, fishing, boating, sports, music, billiards, video games or geeky stuff.
  • Find one decorative or collector piece that really defines them and build the room around it.
  • In my case…the hunting theme was built around a giant elk head that someone gave us.  I hate it and was happy to put it in his man cave.  I know…I know it’s terrible.  If you could see how stinking massive that elk was you would hate it too.  I couldn’t even get the full span of the antlers in my photo.  My husband however loves it and I do get the whole upstairs so I can’t really complain.


 Discount Paint-

  • If you need to paint the room, I found the dark khaki color paint you see in these pictures on the “Opps” shelf at Home Depot.  They had two gallons for $5.00 each.  Most home improvement stores have an “Opps” shelf, you just have to ask.
  • I have seen them in Home Depot, Lowe’s, Ace & even Walmart.
  • Sometimes you find extremely wild colors but usually I find great neutral paint colors for all my projects.

Use stuff you already have.

  • Pictures- I picked up a collage type frame and filled it with pictures of my husband doing hobby things and hunting.
  • Decorations– If you have collectors’ items, trophy’s, or other pieces that would fit, go ahead and use those!
  • My own decorations consisted of deer skins my husband had been storing, his turkey feathers & an elk head.  I also took all his awards and trophies out of storage and displayed them in the room.

Hunt at Thrift Stores & Garage Sales-

  • One thing my husband likes a lot about his man cave are the hunting pictures I found at the thrift store.  I spent around $15 for 4 pieces of artwork that matched the room and theme perfectly.
  • Don’t forget all the cool furniture you can pick up from garage sales and thrift stores.  Sometimes you can get it cheap and in good condition.
  • Then again, sometimes you can get some really ugly stuff that you put a little heart, soul, Pinterest & spray paint into to create awesome new furniture.

Hobby Lobby & Kirkland’s

  • If you want to go with new items at great prices try heading to Kirkland’s and Hobby Lobby.Man Cave Sign
  • Hobby Lobby seems to always have wall art and decor on sale from 40-80% off and they stock tons and tons of great man cave decor for all kinds of themes.  If it’s not on sale, they always have a 40% off coupon online that can be printed or presented on your smart phone.Kirklands Clearance Man Cave Art
  • Kirkland’s is an outstanding store for great priced home decor and they too carry a variety of man cave inspired art & decor.  Sign up for their emails or phone app to get additional discounts before you go.

Make It Yourself

  • Many of the rooms in my home have been decorated at one time or another with my $6 wall art.
  • This means that I either bought a record frame from the craft store for 50% off or used a 40% off coupon, grabbed some 12X12 scrapbook paper or fabric in my theme and made something simple that matched.
  • It took all of 5 minutes to make the moose picture above.  I already had the moose and tree stencil so I traced that on black card stock and cut it out.
  • Click the picture below to go to the step by step picture tutorial I made.

There you have it!  These are simple ideas for how to create a man cave on a budget.  With a little imagination, creativity, hunting and re-arranging you can create a space made just for the guy in your life that he will love!  Please share any tips or tricks you have for how to create a man cave on a budget in the comments section below.
Kim Anderson