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Many little boys grow up dreaming of being Batman and having their own Batcave hide out.  They build forts in their rooms and out behind the house.  Where do young, single men live?  (Besides with their mammies and daddies!)  Bachelor pads.  And then, most eventually share a home with a partner and children.  That home rarely looks like the Batcave, but the dream of a space devoted to guy stuff lives on.  You adore your wife and children so much it’s embarrassing, but be honest lads.  You occasionally think about putting a ‘No Girls Allowed’ sign up, don’t you?  Look, it’s understood that you don’t mean at work or at a golf club or pub.  It’s just that we all need a bit of private space, and if we don’t get it we can go a little batty.  So what’s a responsible partner and father to do?

 That home rarely looks like the Batcave, but the dream of a space devoted to guy stuff lives on.  You adore your wife and children so much it’s embarrassing, but be honest lads.  You occasionally think about putting a ‘No Girls Allowed’ sign up, don’t you?  Look, it’s understood that you don’t mean at work or at a golf club or pub.  It’s just that we all need a bit of private space, and if we don’t get it we can go a little batty.  So what’s a responsible partner and father to do?

You aren’t a caveman, but you might need a man cave.  Your home is your castle but it’s a busy kingdom and you share it with the rest of your royal family, which might include some very loud and messy little princes and princesses who have almost magical ability to destroy a remote control with a single touch.  So inside your castle, you need to find a way to carve out your own man cave.  (Or batcave.  Your call.)

Man Cave Basics

It isn’t easy to carve out a man cave in a modern Irish home.  Space is at a premium.  Maybe you have a box room that isn’t being used for anything important.  Perhaps you are in a position to convert your attic or you have a stone block shed that could be wired for electricity.  Many of us have space in our homes devoted to storage, and it is worth considering if you would be better off putting some rarely-used items into a rented storage unit.  And once you dig into what you’ve got stored, you might even decide what you really need is a skip.

Once you’ve picked the space, the next question is what you need to put in it.  A butler/ bodyguard such as Batman’s Alfred might not be realistic, but a nice big flat screen telly is.  Of course, you’ll need some superior seating for complete comfort.  Space will influence what you get.  And you need to decide if your cave is for solitude or if you’d like to have a few mates visit.  What about a gaming system?  A wall to wall bookshelf?  Mini fridge?  Whatever you put into your man cave, if you have small children and an awesome gaming system, you might also want a good lock.  And whatever you need to take out of the box room or attic or shed can go into a personal storage unit where it will be secure and easily accessed when you need it.