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The framing is up, the electrical has been wired, the drywall’s been hung and the taping is done.

Now the real fun begins.

I’ve been spending most of my free time over the last couple months building a man cave in my new home. The basement was unfinished when my wife and I bought our house, leaving an empty canvas with plenty of possibilities.

It’s not the biggest basement in the world — about 550 square feet. Some of that got eaten up by the laundry room, while we managed to squeeze in a small bathroom and office area along the back wall.

It’s left a main area of 16 feet by 16 feet, which is still large enough to have some fun.

The home theatre portion of the project has been taken care of. We’ve got a projector that gives us a high-definition picture of up to 100 inches on the one wall, and wires for the surround sound have been run inside the ceiling and walls to each corner of the room.

The PlayStation 3 will be our DVD player, since you can connect it to your wireless network and play movies off your computer. It’s also handy for some pretty sick games of Madden.

For lighting, we’ve got pot lights in the ceiling and one large light in the middle of the room, on different switches and with a dimmer for the pot lights.

The next steps are painting and decorating, so I’m looking for ideas.

I’m shooting for a sports bar look with a few photos and an autographed Gretzky jersey on the walls. A picture of the Las Vegas strip is also in the plans, and maybe we'll work in a couple photos or posters from a few classic movies.

We’re going to squeeze in a small bar along one of the walls in a different area of the basement, but still within view of the projector screen. There will be enough room for a beer fridge, a ledge for drinks and maybe a couple bar stools.

We’ll throw up a dart board on one of the walls as well. I’ve been scouring ebay to try and find a decently-priced darts cabinet with a beer logo on the front of it.

For paint, I’ve talked my wife out of going with a dark colour in the basement, since it will suck all the light out of the room and make it look smaller. I’m leaning towards a tan brown and maybe an accent wall that will frame the projector screen.

What does your man cave look like? What would you suggest for decorating a basement home theatre to look like a sports bar? I’m curious to hear what other ideas are out there.

Sports memorabilia and a cool fish tank plus the usuals.

And as Messier said, screw the dart board for the very same reason about drunks putting holes into the wall, if not something more serious.

Big couch, recliner, 2 swivel chairs with foot rests , big screen facing recliner, 40 inch facing opposite towards poker table but can be pulled out an turned around for college football saturdays and march madness. Full bar and full size refridge. All sports stuff on the walls (mostly mizzou and stl cardinals stuff) and liquor stuff inside the bar area. Of course a urinal in the bathroom.

Dont get it too crowded. Get the basics and use it a few times. Then you'll know what you want/need to add.

Keep the nice aquarium upstairs and far away from drinking buddies..Somebody bumps into a tv and breaks it it not gonna release 50 gallons of disaster..