In a previous post I alluded to expanding the boundaries of this blog beyond clothing. Style is so much more than what we put on our bodies and it needs to be present in every facet of our lives as a way to demonstrate that same respect and taste that is communicated in our dress.

I’ve added two new categories to the site: Home and Lifestyle. In a future post I’ll address what the Lifestyle articles will consist of, but for today we’ll focus on the home.

A man’s home is his castle and should reflect that. Whether it be a Spartan bachelor pad or the home base of a family man who’s been married and with kids for years, a home should reflect the presence of a man in it.

We are all too aware, whether it be from the homes we ourselves grew up in or those of others we visited, of the home that is geared entirely around the tastes of the women therein. If the men in the household were to pack up and leave, there would be little or no noticeable difference in the overall aesthetic and feel of the home.

No man wants to live like this.  It makes him feel that he is a guest in the house of his wife. It makes it seem like he has no life story to tell and no concern for the material things with which he surrounds himself. While I don’t believe those materials things define a man, they can help him remember who he is and what he’s been through, what he wants to do and what his goals are. Not only will these things communicate this to the man himself, they will do the same for his family and the guests in his home.

The equivalent to the stylistically henpecked husband in the bachelor world is the single man who equates the emptiness of his home with a strict utilitarianism. There is a large difference between minimal design and a lack of anything in your house. When you have guests in your home, you want them to feel that you have a regimented sense of taste that is reflected in your minimalism, not a complete lack of any taste whatsoever.

Getting your place to look good isn’t as difficult or as intimating as it seems. Focus on things you like and then find a way to integrate them into your home. Stick with woods, leathers and metals. Older is almost always better and you want things that are traditionally associated with men and masculinity.

Do you hunt? Then why not have that massive buck mounted and make a bearskin rug? You killed the damn thing; you should make a trophy of it. Keep your weapons displayed.

Are you a sports fan? Then implement some of the items from your favorite sport into your house. Vintage sports gear always looks classy. Keep an old-school football helmet on the end table by your couch, or hang up your set of autographed baseball bats.

How about a musician? Are you guitars displayed prominently in your living room? Replace the pinned up posters of your favorite bands with framed vinyl covers or a headshot of your favorite front man ala Warhol and Marilyn Monroe.

It really doesn’t matter what you’re into. You can find a way to make it appear in your home and look timelessly masculine.

And although a man’s presence should be apparent throughout the entire home, you do still want an area that’s all yours. The thing that always comes to my mind when I think of a man cave is the trophy room in the movie The Sandlot. Smalls wasn’t even allowed to go in that room without his dad being in there. When you establish boundaries with your things, it begets a respect that every man should have in his home.

It doesn’t matter if that room is your study and filled with wall-to-wall bookshelves or is your gaming room where you have two massive TV’s, full Xbox set ups and a life-size suit of Master Chief armor from Halo. Have an area that’s your own and make sure that the only presence there is yours.

By surrounding yourself with your own presence in your home, it feels like it is yours. You will take a greater responsibility for what goes on there and you will also be more comfortable when you’re home.