While not essential, it can be pretty handy to have a bathroom connected to your man cave. If you’re lucky enough to have one, you don’t want it to look like any old bathroom. You want it to look like it belongs, like it’s just an extension of the man cave. So, today, I’m going to run through some ideas that will help you make your bathroom feel like a part of the man cave.
Today, we’ll look at some lighting, some DIY projects, and some other bathroom accessories that will make your bathroom feel like a man cave in itself in no time. We all want a space that feels like our own, and the bathroom is no exception. If you’re wanting to make your man cave bathroom exactly how you like it, you’re in the right place.
Idea 1: Dark Colors Work Best
Let’s start with the paint in the bathroom. If you want to make it feel like a man cave, you need to go with dark colors. Why? Frankly, because you’re going to see lots of whites or bright colors in the houses of middle-aged women. It’s what’s in style right now, and it’s been in style for a long time. Housewives like their whites and their monochromatics. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it doesn’t fit the bathroom of a man cave.
Instead, go with a dark blue or dark green. Colors like this, with the right lighting, will make the space feel manlier. Even a dark brown will work well, just don’t be afraid to get something darker in there and make the room feel like a man cave. And, if the color doesn’t perfectly match with the rest of the bathroom, who cares? We’re dudes, not interior designers, and ultimately we’re just looking for a place to take a pee.
Idea 2: Filling Out the Bathroom
There are many different directions you can go when you fill out a bathroom, and for a man cave bathroom, a lot of guys will go for a theme. Most of the time, it’s something along the lines of hunting, mechanics, or whiskey. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it can look gaudy and overdone if you do it wrong. Instead of going with a theme, I want to use a general style for my suggestions for your bathroom.
There are many styles out there that would work in a bathroom fit for a man cave, including rustic, modern, and mid-century. Today, I want to focus on the industrial style for the majority of what I talk about. Industrial style features a rustic look, rough-sawn wood, black pipe structures, and early-1900s factory-style lighting. It’s cost-effective, and most of the stuff you need for this style you can make on the cheap or buy through Amazon.
Lighting
Lighting Idea 1: Factory Industrial
First up is this very industrial set of three lights, perfect for the bathroom. It features a baseplate with exposed hardware, a simple crossbar, and wireframe light covers. If you use vintage style bulbs, it will only add to the industrial feel, and it will provide plenty of light for your bathroom.
Lighting Idea 2: Modern Industrial
If the first light wasn’t really your style, then this is probably a better choice for you. It still fits the industrial style, but its profile is much more smoothed out. Rather than the wireframe light covers, it features simple glass ones. This one also pairs excellently with vintage bulbs and will still light up your bathroom just fine for a midnight pee break. Need more man cave lighting ideas? Check out my post here for some cool inspo.
DIY in the Bathroom
Some of you are DIY guys, and you may be doing some of the work in your man cave bathroom. If you are, this next section is for you. There’s nothing complex here, as I don’t have the space today for an in-depth guide. However, I have a couple of simple and cheap projects that you can do with only a few tools and knock out in just a little bit of time.
DIY Idea 1: Industrial Towel Bar
First up is one of these bad boys:
It’s a simple towel bar with an industrial feel that is sure to fit your man cave bathroom and match your industrial mirror. Better than that, you can pick up everything you need to make this for about $30-$40 at your local hardware store. It’s a simple towel bar with an industrial feel that is sure to fit your man cave bathroom and match your industrial mirror. Better than that, you can pick up everything you need to make this for about $30-$40 at your local hardware store.
If you want to make one for yourself, it’s pretty straightforward. Everything will be in ½” pipe. You’ll want two flanges (the parts that you put the screws in), two 2″ sections of pipe, two 90˚ corner pipe that have two female ends, and one 12″ piece of piping. As far as tools go, you’ll just need a stud finder, a tape measure, a level, a drill, and wood screws. Starting off, you’ll screw all your piping together. Attach the 12″ pipe to each 90˚ corner piece. Then attach the 2″ pipe to the corner pieces. After that, screw the flanges onto the other end of the 2″ piping.
From there, find a stud on your wall with your stud finder and mark it. Then, measure 16″ off of that to another stud, and mark that spot. Chances are the stud is somewhere around there, but not on that exact spot, so double-check with your stud finder. Find wherever the stud actually is and mark that spot. Then take your level and lightly draw a straight and level line between the two studs.
After that, hold your assembled towel bar up against your marks. Level it with your eyes on your line, and place each flange over the studs. Mark one screw hole on each flange with your pencil, then pre-drill with a drill bit into each stud. After that, hold the towel bar back up against your lines and put one screw in, tightening it up, but not so much that you can’t rotate the towel bar. Once you’ve done that, line the other flange up with the other stud, screw it in, and tighten both screws all the way done. Finally, put a screw in each of the other holes in the flanges, and you have an industrial towel bar for your bathroom.
DIY Idea 2: Industrial Toilet Paper Holder
Unless you’re a fan of bidets (European water-powered butt-washer, for those of you that are unfamiliar), I suspect you’ll want a place to put some toilet paper. This is another DIY project, in the same vein as the industrial towel bar.
This is an industrial toilet paper holder made out of the same kind of stuff as the towel bar. Thankfully, building one of these is even simpler than the towel bar, and you can get everything you need at your local hardware store for $10-$15.
The process for making this is straightforward. You’ll need a ½” flange, a 2″ piece of pipe, a 90˚ corner pipe that has two female ends, a 6″ piece of pipe, and an end cap.
All you’ll do is screw the end cap and the corner piece to the 6″ piece of pipe. Then, screw the 2″ piece of pipe onto the corner pipe and the flange. After that, screw the flange onto a cabinet or a stud, wherever you want to hang it. Just make sure that it’s going into wood, not drywall. Put one screw in first, level the pipe, then put the rest of the screws in.
Idea 3: Bathroom Decor and Accessories
The Manliest of Shower Curtains
If you happen to have a shower in your bathroom, it’s worth making the shower look just as much of a man cave as the rest of the bathroom. An excellent way to do this is with a shower curtain, and there are a couple different routes you can go. While a simple color or a geometric pattern are fine, they don’t really say ‘man cave.’ You can do better than that. Boy, do I have better for you. First up:
My Top Pick: Sharp Shirter Haymaker Shower Curtain
This excellent and absolutely ridiculous shower curtain is from Amazon. I mean, come on? Is that not the most man-cave shower curtain you’ve ever seen? There’s a lumberjack absolutely clapping a bear. What more could you need out of a shower curtain? If you want anyone who goes into your bathroom to say, “Wow, this is a man’s bathroom,” I’d go with this one.
Slightly Less Manly Shower Curtain
However. I do understand that some people don’t like fun or think this wouldn’t work in their bathroom. I don’t know why, but I don’t want to count them out. So, I’ve included this shower curtain, just in case you didn’t like the first one:
My Top Pick: Ambesonne National Parks Shower Curtain
I mean, it’s still manly. It is a cool shower curtain. It isn’t “man punching bear in the face cool,” but it’s still cool and will look great in any man cave bathroom, and it’s also an Amazon pick. If you’re the kind of guy that wants something a little more tame in his bathroom, but doesn’t want to lose that man cave feel, then I’d go with this one.
Industrial Reflection
When you have a light in your bathroom, you usually mount it over your mirror. If you want to do that in this bathroom, you’re going to need a mirror, preferably one that fits the industrial style. This mirror, an Amazon choice, is an excellent option.
My Top Pick: Industrial Metal Wall Mirror in Antique Black
This is a very industrial mirror that is sure to fit the man cave feel of the bathroom. It has all the staples of the industrial style, including piping, exposed hardware, and a rough wood finish. The mirror is something of the bathroom’s focal point, with the only exception maybe being the toilet. You want it to look nice, and you want it to fit with the rest of your bathroom because it’s one of the first things people see when they walk in.
This mirror checks all those boxes. It’s very industrial, it looks great, and it’s sure to catch the eye of anyone that walks in. Paired with one of our industrial lights from earlier, it makes a great addition to a man cave bathroom. Hang one of these in your bathroom, and you’ll be able to see your scruffy mug every time you go in.
Shower Drink Caddy
If you’re hanging out in your man cave, you’re probably drinking beer. And, if it’s the end of the day, you may want to take a shower. Sometimes, you’re not done with your beer, but you don’t want to chug it or dump it out before the shower. May I present:
My Top Pick: AmazerBath Wine Glass Cup Holder
I’m not terribly concerned with wine or coffee, and I have never heard of pastries being called “sweetmeats.” Considering that there is no meat in the pastries, I have to assume the British are responsible for that horrible name.
Anyway. It’s an adhesive cupholder for your shower. A place to put your beer when you’re not quite done with it, but you really smell bad and desperately need a shower. Best of all, it’s cheap! Can you really have a shower for your man cave without a place to put your beer?
Useful Bathroom Accessories
Finally, you’ll need some things to round out your bathroom if you want to make it usable. Amazon sells a general bathroom accessories kit that is a perfect choice to complete your man cave bathroom.
My Top Pick: CERBIOR Bathroom Accessories Set
This kit comes with everything you need to get your bathroom ready to go. You’ve got a soap dispenser and soap tray, along with a toothbrush holder and mouthwash cup. You’ve got a trash can for paper towels and the odd beer can, and a bowl brush for when one of your buddies trashes your toilet and doesn’t tell you. Best of all, the kit comes in a matte black, which is perfect for that man cave feel.
Idea 4: Toilets
For this section, I was going to make some kind of a joke about how when you’re a little intoxicated, you can’t pee straight. But, let’s face it: most of us can’t pee straight anyway. If we’re trying to aim and hit a toilet, chances are we are going to miss. Add some alcohol in the mix, and those chances skyrocket. However, there is a simple solution to this problem.
The Urinal
Some genius sometime ago came up with these. You know ’em; we all use
them in public bathrooms, and we never stand right next to each other unless we absolutely have to.
I mean, can you really say it’s a man cave bathroom without a urinal? If you walk into your bathroom, and you just see a toilet, it’s just a bathroom. However, you put a urinal in there, and suddenly it’s a man cave bathroom. More than that, it’s a lot harder to miss a urinal than a toilet. Best of all, you can pick up a urinal at your local hardware or plumbing store. It’s not like it’s hard to find, and a plumber could easily tie it into your current plumbing in the bathroom.
The Mega Urinal
However, while more difficult, we all know we can still miss a urinal. It’s possible, and if you miss a urinal, you really miss. It’s going all over your wall if you don’t hit that thing. There’s only one way to ensure that when you or your buddies have to use the bathroom, you go where you’re supposed to:
The mega urinal. Basically, a trough that’s hooked up to your plumbing. It’s stainless steel, it’s several feet wide, and, if you center up on this monstrosity, you’re not going to miss. If you walked into a bathroom with this in it, would you think, “Oh, I’m in a regular bathroom?” No! You’d walk in there and go, “I’m in a man’s bathroom.”
If you want your bathroom to feel like an extension of your man cave, you can’t pass up on one of these. You’d have to order this through a plumbing supply company, but it’s well worth it knowing that it will complete your bathroom and cement it as the man cave bathroom it’s supposed to be.
Make it Your Own
There you have it. Between dark colors, industrial lighting, a couple DIY products, some shower accessories, and some urinals, there’s more than enough on this list to help you make your bathroom the perfect man cave bathroom. Remember, whatever you decide, go with a style and a setup that fits you and how you want to use your bathroom. Stick with your gut, do the work well, and you’re sure to have a man cave bathroom that is exactly the way you want it.