How to Build a Man Cave Table

Use a Door

• Most man caves have a rustic aesthetic where function trumps flair, making them ideal for creatively sourced furnishings. Instead of joining boards into a tabletop, mount a wooden door on four legs and you have a large, sturdy table. To ensure stability, use L-brackets as well as wood screws to mount your door on the legs. For a more finished look and even sturdier construction, make a base out of two-by-fours, connecting the 4- by 4-inch table legs. Set the door on top and drive in screws to secure it.

Customize It

• Ideally, a man cave serves as a space for personal retreat, where every detail is tailored to the owner's particular eccentricities and interests. As long as you're building your own table, you might as well design it to reflect your particular tastes. Start by measuring the available space. If your room is oriented around a television, you may prefer to build a lower table for in front of the sofa. For a sectional sofa or an arrangement of multiple couches and chairs, build the table to size so that everyone has access to it, wherever he sits. You can further personalize the table with built-in coasters or by setting memorabilia from a favorite team beneath a glass top.

Specialty Tables

• If your man cave is the venue for your buddies' regular poker nights, build your table to accommodate card games as well as general use. For a basic poker table, cover the tabletop with felt and mount a padded border around its edges. An oval-shaped table is traditional, though circles and even rectangles can work too. If you require a table for regular entertaining, build it with a heat-resistant upper surface such as granite or slate so you can obviate delicacies like trivets and coasters.

Enlist Helpers

• A man cave may be designed all around the tastes of one man, usually the husband who's been left out of other decorating decisions. But man caves are typically social spaces, designed for male bonding over sports games, card games or whatever form of casual get-together most inspires the masculine half of the household. To give your man cave the spirit of a neighborhood pub and to reduce your work time, invite your handier friends to help with the table construction. You can throw a build party, culminating in a feast for the table to hold. Just wait until any paint, varnish or wood glue has dried completely in a ventilated place.