Congratulations! You’ve already done the hard part and convinced your wife to let you turn a little bit of the home into your own personal man cave. Whether it is in the basement, a spare bedroom, a dusty attic or out in the garage, the man cave is your retreat and escape. Your man cave may be the only area of your home where you have complete design control and the freedom to truly express yourself.

This is by no means a comprehensive list of everything required for your Man Cave, this is just a short list of what we consider the Man Cave essentials.

1. Large TV or Screen & Projector.

I feel like this one is obvious. Whether you’re watching Sunday Football with the boys, Binge watching Netflix or playing video games, Bigger is better. A 1080p Projector, 100″ screen and a nice surround sound system is a great way to watch anything. You can even score brownie points with your wife by inviting her in to watch an episode or two of the property brothers on HGTV.

2. Comfortable Seating

You can’t expect to relax and watch the game or entertain guests without some comfortable seating options. We recommend starting with a comfortable recliner for yourself and a large couch so there is plenty of seating for all the friends that your wife can’t believe you still hang out with. Tiered stadium style seating is a great option if you’ve got the space and resources available.

3. Man Cave Bar & Beer Fridge/Keg

A home bar is essential for any man who enjoys the occasional (ha!) a beer or cocktail. Life is much better when you and your friends don’t need to stumble out to the kitchen and bother your family whenever it is time for another cold one.

You can get by with a couple of shelves for liquor and small fridge for beer & mixers but if you’ve got the resources it is tough to beat having a bar to sit at with a keg of your favorite beer on tap.

4. Video Games

Some guys love playing the latest Call of Duty or Madden on Xbox and Playstation , but I still love the classic arcade games. Not only do arcade cabinets look extremely cool, they are still a ton of fun and challenging. Getting your own arcade machine has never been more affordable and accessible.

Arcade 1Up is releasing 3/4 sized cabinets priced at a very reasonable $399 featuring classic games such as Street Fighter 2, Rampage, Galaga, Centipede, Asteroids, Joust and more. Available at Walmart, GameStop, Frys, Target, Best Buy, and Bed Bath & Beyond.

If you have a bunch of money to spend, X-Arcade has full-sized cabinets that come loaded with 250+ classic games.

Amazon has all-in-one arcade systems with thousands of games that connect to your TV via HDMI. These have mixed reviews so I’d recommend checking out some reviews on YouTube prior to buying, but it is hard to go wrong for less than $200.

You can get a Raspberry Pi 3 kit from Amazon.com for less than $100, install Retropie and be playing all your favorite classic games in almost no time. If you have more time and some old computer parts collecting dust in a closet you can look into a more complicated emulation setup using Hyperspin, RocketLauncher and Retroarch. Simply place the Pi or Tower in a cabinet from Rec Room Masters and you’re good to go.

5. Bar Games Room

I’m a big fan of the classics that you see in bars across the world and you can’t go wrong with a Dart Board, Foosball Table, Shuffle Board or if you have the space for it, a Pool Table.

These games are perfect when hosting parties and get-togethers, but also easily enjoyable for the whole family.

6. Poker Table

We don’t all have the time and funds to make it out to Las Vegas to play in the World Series of Poker but that doesn’t have to stop you from getting the guys together for a regular card game. If you know what you’re doing, the table could even pay for itself!

For poker chips, we recommend a high quality set of clay poker chips. Pokerchips.com has custom sets available but more affordable options are easily available on amazon.

For playing cards, we recommend investing in a couple nice decks of plastic playing cards. You can’t go wrong with KEM or Copag cards. Both brands are available on amazon.

7. Movie, Music & Sports Memorabilia

You can’t go wrong with a framed jersey of your favorite athlete, a signed game ball, or some prints and memorabilia from your favorite movies to set the mood.

Your man cave is the area to put your hobbies and interests on display!

Have a collection of super hero action figures? A life size Darth Vader or Storm Trooper statue? Autographed records or a guitar from your favorite band? All great options!

There you have it. 7 must have items and ideas for your man cave guaranteed to create the perfect getaway spot.