Use Color and Texture to Inform Every Design Choice
When it’s time to design a room with a masculine twist, start by selecting a classic color palette that reflects your taste and style. Then introduce a variety of materials with different textures that will give your room depth and a touch of sophistication.
Dark colors are trending and can help you achieve a moody vibe. Start designing your room with bold shades of black, brown, or gray, and then add a pop of green or purple in the form of a rug, centerpiece, or artwork that can set a more playful tone. You can also lean into the moodiness and paint your bookshelves, walls and moulding all the dark same color.
For textures, it’s best to mix things up. Use a white shag rug on dark wood floors or introduce a classic wood desk to a tech-heavy gaming room.
Don’t Shy Away From Leather but Use It Sparingly
Dark leather couches are the go-to choice for bachelor pads everywhere, but you can design your home without looking like a James Bond set by forgoing large leather-clad sofas for smaller leather-covered chairs or pillows.
Brown leather is a safe traditional choice that suits a wide range of decor choices, but gray, black, and white leather chairs stand out from the crowd. For a truly unique look add a leather-covered end table to any room and you’ll be surprised at how many people take notice.
When decorating with leather pieces, don’t shy away from a western vibe which remains a timeless trend, but too much leather and your room can start to feel heavy and old.
Wood Is Timeless
You can’t go wrong with introducing natural-looking wood into any space. This can be done in the form of furniture, such as a bar cart for Mad Men vibes, or built-in details like fireplace mantels and beamed ceilings.
Think beyond oak and consider other wood species like cherry, maple, or teak that will modernize your space. A room imbued with a nice balance of wood and other materials will feel distinguished and properly finished.
Raw wood and live edge tables and mantels are trending and provide the ultimate organic element to any room.
Metal and wood are the ultimate material pairing and can be used together for an on-trend industrial look or more edgy steampunk variation. Both designs are popular when searching for men’s décor ideas, but certainly extend to everyone.
Wall Decorations are Low Risk But Big Reward
It’s time to retire the Scarface poster and replace it with…well just about anything. But seriously, your walls are a blank canvas that can be adorned with large mirrors, framed photos and artwork that has a special meaning to you.
Be bold when designing your walls. It’s a low-risk way to express yourself and define your style without a large financial commitment--unless you’re talking about a fine art piece. Now, if you can’t live without your signed NFL jersey, at least have it properly framed.
Don’t forget to use gallery lights to highlight your artwork and remember wall decorations can be easily moved or rearranged so go for it!
Lighting Is Everything
An immaculate room can be sullied by poor lighting choices. Nothing looks good under cold, bright lights, so save fluorescents and CFLs for the garage and avoid bluish-white LEDs in favor of warm yellows and natural-colored lights in the 3200K or lower temperature range.
A vintage-looking silver or mid-century lamp can serve as a great source of light as well as an intentional design piece that can enhance a room.
But when it’s your turn to host a guy's night, fine-tune your lighting with color-changing LED bulbs that will alter the mood or enhance a game of Monday Night Football with LED TV backlights.
Plants Can Soften Any Room
House plants can soften the vibe of a rugged man cave or home bar. Start with a small cactus or succulent as a centerpiece and then graduate to a snake plant or parlor palm to lighten up any room that is heavy on the dark woods or paint. If caring for a real plant intimidates you, there are plenty of faux plant options that you’d swear look like the real thing.
Choosing a pot to match is a great opportunity to infuse color or texture into your room. Terracotta and painted ceramic pots are always popular, but you can also find metal and wood planters that will complement a room.