My friend Kevin is in the process of finishing his basement with his son.  They have a blog that updates the progress and shows off the work they’ve done.  They’ve named it Men’s Land.

What a cool project for a father and son to do.  At my house, I also have full rule of the basement.  My wife gets to do whatever she wants with the rest of the house, but the basement is mine.  At first, I crammed as much stuff to do as possible down there.  On one side I had a pool table, a dart board, a pinball machine, a shuffleboard set, and a crammed TV/record area on the other side.  Since then, I’ve bought a sectional coach and a Lazy Boy rocker-recliner to replace the gaming area, and dedicated the other side to my record collection and my computer, where this blog is operated from.  Along the wall is my small fridge and bar.  The walls and ceiling are drywalled and painted red, and the floor is black and white checkered tile.

 

  

My next big purchase will be a big screen, or a projector as Kevin has, pictured above. 

There must be something about basements that make it feel comfortable for a man.  For the music collector, a good basement is essential for storing big collections and having a good environment to play them in.  And for watching sports, there’s no better place than down in the basement.

My friend Isaiah has a music cove set up by the bar in his basement, where he’ll sit the whole time when he has parties and just play music.

Here’s to Men’s Lands everywhere: long live the one place where men can relax, drink a beer, listen to music, and watch the game.