SHOP vs Man Cave

[fartymarty]

I don't want to start a Man Cave bashing thread. I feel that if some want a man cave instead of a shop then they should have it, I mean it is their life after all. I would have a man cave as well as a shop if I could afford one.

So the discussion desired is more about crossing the line from one to the other. I installed a smart TV and a receiver with speakers in the garage so I could watch a race or listen to Sirius radio (TV APP) through the speakers or Blu-tooth headphones while I work.

However I recently hung a dart board out in the garage and my son snickered when he saw it. I inquired what's so funny and he said I had crossed over into man cave territory with that addition. I sort of have to agree with him about that. I could possibly make the argument that I need some away time from a project to think it through when I'm encountering a problem...but I have a smart phone for that...so no..there's no valid shop working logic for it.

So what "accessory" do you have in your garage that gives you pause making you think you too have crossed the line?

 

[lis2323]

Stripper pole

 

[FTWingRiders]

^^^for the win!^^^ HaHa!!

 

[Robby321]

Mines SAME spot! Who said says combine both? Just some it...

 

[nadogail]

None of the women who find their way into my shop would have any use for a "STRIPER POLE". I don't think I would want to have to explain what it was and why I put one up.

 

[Woodman920]

My son's hunting gear, my daughter's storage, my grand daughter's power wheels. None of which make it a man cave, all of which gets in my way of truck, tractor, boat and bike work. 1200 square feet reduced to half.

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[Miss the Pontiacs]

I’m shooting for more of a Shop Cave

 

[MattRMagnum]

So what "accessory" do you have in your garage that gives you pause making you think you too have crossed the line?

I've a full-blown bar, which probably puts it more into the mancave than bar. Functionally, it's only there because, while it fit in my old house, the doors on this house are strangely narrow (30 or 32"), and the bar is quite large (and couldn't easily be disassembled).

Is a "man cave" a derided term/thing? I'm setting my garage up to be somewhere comfortable for myself and others to come, hang out, work on cars, and enjoy. If you don't like that? Well, you don't need to come enjoy my beer.

 

[K'ledgeBldr]

No line crossing here-

It’s A Garage!!! And it’s a PITA that my wife’s car has a spot in it! Happy wife- Happy life...

 

[jsaw]

It should be however you want it. For me, When the man cave starts hindering work in the shop, then it could be a problem.
I have a friend who has a pool table in his shop. Just my opinion, but that pool table and carpeting and all the stuff that goes with it, right smack it the middle of the way. It makes his shop much less usable as a shop, but it is his place to do as he wants.
I still go and hang out with him, but don't enjoy it as much as I did before he turned it into a pool hall.

 

[ZRX61]

My 1000sq ft garage had a bar, tv & dartboard.

 

[James-W]

I look at it as my garage is my workshop. I don't really use the garage as a social gathering place, I work on projects out there. I have a little radio, not even a stereo one, but I can listen to NPR when I am working on projects that are not noisy. If I am using tools or equipment that is noisy then I don't even bother to turn the radio on.

I suppose it would be nice to have a building with a well stocked bar, several comfortable chairs, a big screen television set with high end sound system, a pool table, a poker table, maybe a foosball table, and a small kitchen area for making snacks. But I suppose I could remodel the house and do that in my basement.

I just happen to feel, right or wrong, a shop is just that, a shop where you work on projects. If you want a man cave, then set one up that way.

 

[niget2002]

Probably my recliner. I should probably redesign my shop layout a bit as right now it sits almost dead center of the shop.

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[mmb617]

One area can't really do two very different things well. Too many compromises needed. My garage is pretty much for working on and storing cars and the tools and parts associated with cars.

My basement is more my man cave if I have such a thing. It's rough with a concrete floor, old fashioned stone walls, and ceiling that's just the bare floor joists but it's also the place I enjoy spending time. It's where all my weights and lifting equipment is as well as my pool table and reloading area.

 

[harley jim]

I have my shop, right now it's about 2000 sq ft. It has everything I could want with the exception of more space. It serves as a fabrication/ welding shop. I have my signs on the walls my toys on shelves, some hanging from the cieling. There is cable tv and internet with alexia to bring me whatever music I want. There is heat and A/C and a wood burning stove( to make coffee on) it has a bench out front under the porch. I thought about building a man cave but then I would have to take all my stuff out of my shop to fill it. I am sitting in the fab stall this morning sitting in my favorite chair looking over my castle thinking how I should get up and clean some of this mess up.
I guess it's all about where you are comfortable spending your quality shed time at: wink.
Gratuitous photo shot.

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[lis2323]

. I am sitting in the fab stall this morning sitting in my favorite chair looking over my castle thinking how I should get up and clean some of this mess up.
I guess it's all about where you are comfortable spending your quality shed time at: wink.
Gratuitous photo shot.

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Agreed. This is the right answer IMO[emoji106]

 

[Jeffh40]

It's where all my weights and lifting equipment is as well as my pool table and reloading area.

Add a couch and a TV and this would be my basement too. Until I build the bar, but that will be a while.

 

[didit]

I never had the desire to have a "mancave". I have a lot of curiosities, antique tools and general garage paraphernalia covering the walls but no creature comforts such as padded chairs, refrigerator, TV, games. Nothing but what is needed to tackle the task at hand, whatever that may be. Just equipment and build tables. The only cars I've had in the garage were either projects or being stored temporarily. Other than a phone and a cheap radio there is nothing there except work waiting to get done and the tools needed to do so.
No storage of any kind other than tools and materials destined for current projects. no lawn furniture, bikes, toys, etc. If I want to relax, zone out, socialize. it will be elsewhere, not the shop/garage.
Most women wouldn't step inside. Most guys are intrigued on how much stuff you can fit and keep organized in a small garage.

 

[JasonMcElroy]

If I had a couch and a bar in my workshop I'd have even more trouble with procrastination.

I go there to do things, not to think about doing things.

Those of you with more discipline might feel differently.

Jason

 

[MrSurly]

I would think that the things that 'cross the line' as far as defining the place are things that meet two criteria:

A. takes of floor space and
B. serves only social purposes.

Example: a TV, decorations,signs, stereo, (little) fridge, these do NOT meet both criteria.

Recliner/couch/bar/(big) fridge/ pool table/ shuffleboard/carpet?/jukebox/old gas pumps etc...
those meet both.

 

[Steve W.]

I looked up the definition of "cave" and it said something about a hole in the ground.
My shop is entirely ABOVE the ground, so it simply can't be a "cave".

When they started construction, the first thing they did was dig a moat, but before I had a chance to order the alligators, they filled it in, saying it was just a foundation.

The building that was erected over that foundation is my "shop". It is not attached to the house. The other area that IS attached to the house is the "garage".

Yes, there are amenities in the shop. Cable TV, wi-fi router, heat, portable A/C (waiting on the mini-split), compressed air piping, small refrigerator, plenty of lights, stools and the few projects I might be working on. Nothing qualifies as "luxurious" or "man-cave" material.

There are times that I go out there to escape what is happening in the house, but if I want to watch (and HEAR) TV or a movie, I go back to the house and fire up the surround sound in the family room.

.

 

[MrSurly]

*thank goodness for the invention of Flat Panel Televisions!*
every time i think about the 35" CRT TV I had, my back just hurts sooooo bad.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I have a dart board but it has a planer sitting in front of it blocking it's usage. It's the one that was in my room at my parents house and I'm not giving it up.


My garage is comfortable but I still get it dirty and I'm not afraid to use it.

 

[1970W-30]

A dart board is perfectly normal for a garage...

 

[DeeDubz]

Beer fridge and throw knife board. I also have a tv.

 

[Jeff95TA]

I installed crown moulding. That probably wasn't necessary, but it was easier than dealing with an already swirl-finished ceiling when I hung drywall on the walls.

I'd be happy with any and all creature comforts, but I still wouldn't call it a man cave. There's something about that phrase that makes me cringe.

 

[CoogarXR]

I have a TV, stereo, heat and AC, but no real dedicated recreational items. Sometimes if we're bored, I'll park the car in front of the TV and we'll pretend it's a drive-in movie.

I've hosted football parties in there, but everybody else brought food and beer since I was providing the heated building and the TV, lol.

 

[Bolson32]

I fully plan on putting a fold up golf simulator in mine. IDGAF what you call it

 

[doverla]

Looking on the county assessor web site for our parcel number the shed is followed by the term man cave. Curious how they came up with that because nobody from the county has been there when we were home. Must have stopped and looked through the window. We will be following up on that this fall. By the way it is not a man cave it is a family room because that’s where the family and every one else goes instead of the house. Except the ladies wander in there occasionally. seems the third tree to the left doesn’t meet there needs. Mini fridge, tv, stuff hanging on the wall and a stand up work bench with appropriate height stools. And it doesn’t get in the way for wood working, mechanical repairs or any thing else that ends up in dads repair shop. If a man cave is where you do what you want to do, that is the work bench and tool boxes. To be honest the family room corner was my wife’s idea and she bought the appropriate height stools for me. A term doesn’t define a space you do. There are two dates in life with a dash in between. Make the most out of the dash.


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[softailgarage]

As long as the shop part remains intact it can't be considered a "cross over". I would call it an add-on. I've been in hundreds of shops, some with couches, tv's, bars, pool tables, etc. that could in no way be considered a man cave. If your like me (I'm pretty sure you are), the shop becomes a place of congregation at times making it almost mandatory for a proper shop to include some or all of these items. How many have a refrigerator and music in their shop? There ya go. A shopcave.

 

[fartymarty]

Mini fridge, tv, stuff hanging on the wall and a stand up work bench with appropriate height stools. And it doesn’t get in the way for wood working, mechanical repairs or any thing else that ends up in dads repair shop...... To be honest the family room corner was my wife’s idea...

There are two dates in life with a dash in between. Make the most out of the dash.

doverla, I think I could do more of the latter if I could see some more detailed photos of the former. Please?

Is this it?
View media item 97980
If that pipe made foot rail is in front of the standup work bench of which you speak, then I would have to guess that is one of the reasons the county person labeled it a Man Cave. I've only seen those in front of bars.
View media item 97468

 

[softailgarage]

I installed crown moulding. That probably wasn't necessary, but it was easier than dealing with an already swirl-finished ceiling when I hung drywall on the walls.

I'd be happy with any and all creature comforts, but I still wouldn't call it a man cave. There's something about that phrase that makes me cringe.

Crown molding? Now thats where it gets "borderline"

 

[doverla]

That’s it. I guess if the determining factor is left over galvanized pipe from another project I don’t know what to tell you. Of course it’s a bar.


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[doverla]

Here it is.

We enjoy our time in the shed wether it is working on projects or spending time with family and friends.



Here is the work bench area. Cleaned up for something.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

A dart board doesn't make it a man cave. I have more than a few friends thay have a board in their garage and none are man caves, they're 100% garages. No furniture other than a stool or a chair or two, no fancy finishes, bare floors, oil and grease stains. One guy I know has one bay of his two car set up for his weekly "Happy Hour" (dart board, couch, pool table and some chairs) but that will eventually go back to workspace after the NJ COVID restrictions are lifted.

No disrespect to anyone who terms his space a "man cave", but I just don't like the phrase. Makes me think of "wannabe" guys who have zero aptitude for anything other than sitting behind a desk for a living, whose wife allowed them to have an area in the house that she most likely contracted someone for a design and decorating, where he keeps some trinkets representing some sort of mechanical, racing, woodworking, hunting or other interest that he really doesn't partake in.

Tommy

 

[racinfarmer]

What if I'm using my shop to make stuff to make my shop more like a man cave?

 

[lis2323]

I'd be happy with any and all creature comforts, but I still wouldn't call it a man cave. There's something about that phrase that makes me cringe.

Exactly how I feel.

 

[rburke65]

It’s my shop. Period.

 

[harley jim]

Exactly how I feel.

X2

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[Jim 68 cuda]

When I had my garage built, I envisioned a "Man Cave", and included, a TV, lounge chairs, a round pub table and matching stools, and even a slot car track, with that in mind. But, in practice, its perpetually in a crowded and messy state as a never ending assortment of automotive projects always make it look like a tornado went through.