if you really want it to feel like a cave...

I don't think man "cave" is meant to be so literal. Make it an inviting place that a man (or anyone) is comfortable hanging out in.

Sounds more like a Goth Cave

Is this in a basement or just a room in the house. Rafters in a basement look masculine and cool painted dark gray or brown. Black is too heavy looking. If it is a finished ceiling I would do a medium color.

LVT will be easy to take care.

I had fun decorating my husband's man cave. Although I use it more than he does. Lol

What does the man of the cave want? My husband would love nothing more than a room that literally looks like a dark cave. He loves dark enclosed spaces.

If that's what he loves, make it all dark.

Dark is perfect for TV viewing, and really asking "designers" about a Man Cave defeats the purpose.

I love black ..with some silver gray sofas or ottoman ..elegant enough for a party but feels like a cave ..., a few great looking lamps ...for reading ....a large tv screen ...and his cave is cozy !

Thank you all for commenting. I am repurposing the current 1970s custom red fabric and dark wood blinds(4), adding a red small scale sectional couch with an area rug in front of it,, a wall of bookcase mural, updating/re-doing the gas fireplace, adding 2 large twin gold toned ceiling lights (and a black track light for the back area....this is the plan so far. BM Dragons Breath is going up on the ceiling tomorrow, followed by insulation and drywall. The paint on the walls will be a whitish gray, moldings will be BM Simply White. No worries I too will spend a great deal of time down there as well. Original carpet from 1974-hated to see it go.....

Then call it a "she shed", which is fine. But it is not a " man cave".

IMO leaving the beams exposed it a stop gap measure why not finish the ceiling instead of inviting spiders to have fun up there . As for the rest why are you asking us now since you have already planned it all. Get some good lighting in LEDs 4000K range with dimmers . We used dricore under out LVP to keep the floor feeling a bit warmer I also like to double insulate the ceiling for some sound deadening so again a finished ceiling.IMO a bookcase mural is just not attractive at all either get real bookcases or get a different mural . Where is the TV going. Maybe a floor plan and some pictures of the things you are repurposing would be good.