Want to build your own DIY sex dungeon to play in? Looking for some home BDSM room ideas?
Hiring a BDSM studio or sex dungeon for playtimes can get pretty expensive and is not always convenient unless you live in a city where there are a few to choose from.
How many times have you wished that you could just have your own sex dungeon at home?
Well, what’s stopping you? For most homeowners, converting or transforming a space in your property to become a dedicated play space is well within the realms of a reasonable budget. Of course, if you have more money to play with then your ultimate sex dungeon could also be within your reach.
In this guide, we show you how to build a sex dungeon. We talk you through the practicalities of building your own BDSM room; from the basics of planning and designing the right space, to fitting out with the best sex furniture and bondage accessories.
Let’s get building!
How To Build a Sex Dungeon in Your Home
For the purpose of this guide, we have taken ‘Sex Dungeon’ to mean a personal space rather than a professional studio.
If you want to equip a sex dungeon in your home that you mean to operate from as a business then you may need to look into some additional factors such as insurance, planning and making sure that the equipment, fixtures and fittings are all of a sufficiently suitable quality.
Choosing The Right BDSM Room
Whilst your ideal BDSM dungeon might be a contemporary but medieval style subterranean basement conversion, not many of us have that kind of room in our homes. If you are lucky enough to have a basement (or cellar), then great, but if you don’t then there are plenty of other options available, including:
- Spare bedroom
- Loft space
- Downstairs room such as an unused dining room, study or hobby room
- Garage
- External building
The choice is both a personal and a practical one. The key things to consider when choosing a space to fit out as your own personal sex dungeon are:
- Noise – will the space need to be soundproofed or is it sufficiently far enough away from the neighbors to allow you (and your dungeon guests) to be uninhibited when it comes to noise.
- Climate Control – given there is a distinct probability of some nudity occurring in your sex dungeon and/or elaborate dressing up, you will need to consider how warm or cool the space you are choosing is likely to get. This will depend very much on the kind of activities you are going to be undertaking in your sex dungeon as well as where in your home the room is situated. Attics are often very warm in the summer and very cool in the winter which may demand both heating and air-conditioning whereas garages are generally quite cool and may only need heating.
- Space – having enough room to be able to accommodate the kind of activities you want to undertake along with the required furniture and equipment.
- Duality of Function – if you don’t have a spare room you can give over to making a permanent dungeon then you may need to consider how you can ‘transform’ an existing space to be dual-purpose. A rarely used spare guest bedroom might be the perfect space for your BDSM room and incorporating a fold-away bed could mean it serves both functions….just be sure to lock away all your tell-tale toys when you have the in-laws staying over.
It may well be that you need to convert an existing room or even have a space made. Outbuildings for the garden come in a wide range of sizes and can be readily modified to suit your needs.
If you have a large enough back yard with good privacy from your neighbors, then this might be a great solution and does keep the space a separate one from your home.
Planning the Space
Whichever room or space you choose, planning is the next step before you start hitting the online stores.
Measure up the space you have, draw up a scale plan and make several copies.
Once you have this, you can start planning what you can fit into the space.
Start with the largest and most important pieces of furniture and/or equipment that you are planning and play around with how these can best be fitted into your dungeon before deciding on the peripherals.
Suspension play, for instance, will be limited to where you can either fit a frame or from where you can safely fit your own suspension points.
Tall items such as a St Andrews Cross might only fit in certain areas of the room.
It is always helpful to mock up some miniature (to-scale) pieces of card representing each item in the room so you can shuffle them around your plan before settling on a final position.
As you play with the design on paper and begin to visualize what your room can accommodate and where it will go, keep asking yourself these key questions:
- Is there enough space to move around the objects in the room?
- Will things be easy to clean?
- Are the floors, walls and/or ceiling strong enough to take the weight?
- Can things be moved around to be flexible…you might want to have an open space on occasion.
Make sure that you don’t overfill your room with so much equipment that you don’t have enough space for you and your guests.
If you have a large bed frame for instance, will there be enough room for it to be accessed from all angles?
Planning Storage
Often an overlooked element of any dungeon is accommodating the storage of all your toys and equipment.
Even minimalist sex rooms can have accumulate a surprising amount of peripheral equipment and it is a good idea to have some form of storage in your DIY sex dungeon.
This can either be a dedicated piece of furniture such as a chest or cupboard or even a piece of furniture that has a dual-purpose function (e.g. spanking bench with lift up storage).
You might even be able to plan a closet space within your designs. However detailed your plan, it is well worth considering storage as a messy dungeon isn’t a safe dungeon so keep toys and equipment stowed away.
You can easily make storage a central part of your design with clever use of hooks or creative cupboards to enhance the theme of your dungeon space. We’ve seen dildo hooks and coffin cabinets that are just as much a part of the decoration as they are a useful way to stow personal items.
Remember that you will have a selection of toys, restraints, spare hooks and rope as well as any and all other accessories including canes, floggers, blindfolds, handcuffs, costume, lubricants and oils.
It’s surprising just how much stuff you need in a home sex dungeon.
Planning Power
It is also worthwhile planning ahead around your power requirements.
Your choice of existing room may well have power sockets but running extension cords can not only be a trip hazard, they also look ugly and out of place. If you are trying to create your perfect sex dungeon then trailing power cables can spoil the illusion of your ‘medieval’ room.
Consider where your power needs are likely to be and, if you have a requirement for power in the middle of the room for something like a fucking machine then, consider having a socket placed in the floor or overhead.
Getting these installed and fitted in advance of the room coming together is very easy and cheap to do. Getting an electrician to do this after you have fitted the room out could pose a lot of awkward questions so it’s best to plan ahead!
Planning the Floor
It might seem obvious but sex dungeons need to be a hygienic space and, by this, we don’t mean they have to be designed like a hospital room with clinical fixtures and fittings.
However, there are often a lot of bodily fluids being expelled in play sessions and it is important that the floor covering is considered.
Often overlooked, many people forget that the floor should be easy to keep clean and sanitized.
Depending on the style and theme you are opting for (see Decorating below), you could consider wood, tiles or vinyl flooring but definitely not carpets. With the amount of sweat, drool and other bodily excretions (and that’s not including messy play or blood play), you will thank us for bringing this up at the planning stage.
If you do want something soft underfoot then rugs could be a solution. If your budget allows (see below), and depending on the room, then you could even opt for underfloor heating.
Setting the Budget
There are four key elements to where you spend your money in your dungeon and deciding on what factors are most important to you is essential to determine up front. If you don’t do this in advance, you could end up running out of cash before the project is finished.
Firstly, the room itself; if you already have a perfect space, great but some of you will need to set aside part of your budget to make adaptations or conversions to an existing room or the building of a new space.
The second consideration for your budget is the essential facilities such as heating, air-conditioning, lighting and power. It can also cover important fixtures and fittings for things like suspension points.
Basically, this is the hardware element of your conversion/build. These are items that are fundamental to the comfort and safety in your sex dungeon.
The third element is the decoration and covers all those expenditures which are considered to be ‘form’ over ‘function’. This includes paint for the walls, decorative features such as statement art and lighting etc. It can also include any additional features that are not essential such as a sound system or other AV equipment including TVs, projectors etc.
The fourth and final part of your expenditure is the most exciting one and where you really get to turn a space from a garage or bedroom into a sex dungeon and that’s the furniture, toys and equipment.
Most of us don’t have huge pots of cash to throw at this kind of project so there may well be certain aspects of our dream dungeon that we have to compromise on.
However, you might want to consider this as a work in progress and more of a long-term project. In which case, setting aside a larger budget for the first two elements will save you money in the long run.
If you absolutely have an upper spend then it is worth considering planning and building your sex dungeon around just a single showstopper piece of furniture such as a sex swing, spanking bench or St Andrew’s Cross.
If this is the case, then plan your design (see above) to focus on this one piece and make it the best one you can afford. You can use lighting and decorations to really make this into something more special.
And, if you are lucky enough to have a healthier budget then you can splash out on more toys, a bolder conversion project and wild decoration.
Whatever the amount of money you have to spend, it is a good idea to have an idea, in advance, of the kind of budget you have for each element of your project; that way, there are no surprises
Decorating
After all that planning, now comes the best part; interior design and decorating.
Style and Color – BDSM Room Ideas
Black and red are very traditional choices of color for a sex dungeon and remain one of the most popular styles – often seen in kinky hotel rooms, too. Whilst there is nothing wrong with either, or both, of these colors, there is nothing to stop you from breaking the mold and reinventing your sex dungeon the way you want.
If you are very interested in medical play then something more austere with clean lines might be more appropriate.
You could just as easily go ultra-purist and decorate your sex room in a much more traditional style and model it on the stone and wood of old castle dungeons. Fake stone or brick effect walls are not that expensive to achieve and wont require you remodelling the house.
There are some fetishist that have chosen to go to the other end of the spectrum and embrace a more contemporary or modern style.
Some other alternative suggestions for your home sex dungeon include:
- Urban Decay (think rust effect metal, crumbling stone and graffiti)
- Industrial Chic (concrete and metal)
- French Boudoir (reds and golds)
- Regal Majesty (purples and golds
- Minimalist (clean lines with a single pale color and accents)
- High-Tech (blacks, silvers and whites)
- Futuristic (sci-fi)
Don’t be confined to the ‘norm’ and let your creative flair run free with this; after all, this is your home sex dungeon, so it should reflect your style of play and personality. So, if you are into hentai or furries as well as bondage then incorporate this in your design.
Lastly, if you are not confident with color and design then maybe just stick to one strong color with one or two accents.
Setting the Mood
Lighting in a dungeon can really bring the whole design together and is a key element to establishing the right atmosphere.
The temptation with a sex dungeon is to go with a darker mood and to have very minimalist lighting or just candles. Just as the color of your dungeon doesn’t have to follow the norm, neither does your choice of lighting. Soft and subdued, hazy lights can also be an effective way to light a space.
Try to keep the lighting consistent with the style so maybe combine stark spotlights in a modern (or industrial) design, warm, golden lights for your regal dungeon or traditional candelabra for your castle dungeon.
If you choose to go for candles then always consider the safety of using a naked flame in your dungeon setting. Any fabrics that are used in your design should be made from (or treated with) flame retardant material and it is recommended that you have a fire blanket or extinguisher on hand, just in case.
Battery candles can be a pretty convincing alternative and might be perfect for mood lighting without the danger of setting your brand new sex dungeon ablaze. Always best to avoid the awkward questions when fire department show up and you have to greet them in a gimp suit!
Of course, if part of your playtime incorporates wax-play then battery-candles will be a no-no!
Anything goes when it comes to lighting styles but remember that, as well as setting the mood, they also serve an important purpose…..illuminating the space for practical use. Whatever you do, don’t compromise the need for light to achieve a more effective look.
For this reason, spot lights on dimmer switches can be very effective at offering flexible light levels.
Accessorizing
Beyond the specialist dungeon equipment (see below), you can add style to your dungeon in a number of ways and it doesn’t have to cost the earth.
Depending on the kind of theme you are going for in your home sex dungeon, you can find hidden gems in yard sales or vintage stores and even at auction houses. Interesting statement pieces such as cages, mirrors, frames and rugs can all complement the style you are going for.
If you are a keen crafter then you can even customize items found at thrift stores etc including repainting and repurposing.
Fitting Out
Yes, the fit-out is an exciting part of your home sex dungeon project but not all of us are capable of doing the manual labour required and you may need to employ the services of some handymen to get some of the work done.
For instance, installing suspension points that need to bear the weight of a human body should be fitted to a suitable stud within the wall or ceiling and not in plasterboard. Getting this right is essential to ensure the safety of whoever is going to be using this kind of equipment.
You can spare yourself some blushes by getting these elements fitted before any of the rest of the decoration has been done.
There are plenty of reasons why you would need to hang a heavy weight from the ceiling so don’t worry too much about being embarrassed. We’re sure you can come up with a creative reason as to why you need those industrial hooks in your attic.
Also, consider asking around your fetish community (either online or in person at BDSM clubs) as there might be recommendations of companies that are ‘fet-friendly’ who can do a lot of the work for you.
When ordering dungeon equipment from a supplier, they will often offer a supply and fit service or can assemble items on site for you.
Lastly, whether you are making or buying your dungeon equipment (see below), it’s important to make sure that all your furniture and equipment can easily be cleaned and sanitised after use.
Buying BDSM Dungeon Equipment
Always buy your equipment from a reputable supplier and, preferably, one with some good recommendations.
Although there are companies out there that sell cheap products, anything that is designed to bear weight should be sourced from a company that has experience in what they are producing and, more importantly, how it is going to be used.
Consider buying commercial equipment if your budget allows. Play pieces built for professional use are often made with durability and safety in mind as well as just to look good. Although this kind of equipment is usually more expensive, it is likely to last longer and can come with some good warranties.
You should always buy the best you can afford. There is nothing worse than a piece of play equipment falling apart in the middle of a play session. As they say, you buy cheap, you buy twice so save yourself the aggravation, expense and bruises by getting it right first time.
When it comes to other items in your dungeon that are less specialist, you don’t have to go to the professionals for everything (see below) and you can find some used furniture or equipment that is perfect for the job.
However, it is best to avoid second hand sex-specific dungeon furniture as you don’t know how well maintained they have been kept and how sterile they are.
Making Dungeon Equipment
Not all of us are any good at DIY but you should never think that homemade products (or repurposed furniture) are inferior to commercial products.
In the hands of the right DIY enthusiast, reclaimed gems from auctions, thrift stores, yard sales and vintage stores can be put to ideal use in your dungeon at a fraction of the cost of specialist equipment.
Obviously, anything that is going to be used to bear weight or force should be particularly sturdy and may mean some specialist reinforcing. However, items like spanking benches can be made quite easily from a solid coffee table or, even better, storage bench.
The beauty of custom-built dungeon furniture is that they can be made to serve a dual purpose; a sex throne with added storage can be great for small spaces where keeping your toys tidy is a consideration.
For some ideas and shopping opportunities, check out Etsy’s BDSM Furniture selection. Again, as per our comments on buying dungeon equipment above, if you choose to buy through one of these sellers, always check their feedback and reviews to ensure you are selecting a reputable supplier.
If you do decide to make something instead of buying it then just ensure that it is well made and that it is structurally safe to play on. Obviously, all wood furniture should be well sanded to avoid splinters in your unmentionables!
Playtime
With all of the decorating done and the equipment and furniture in place, you can finally break out the toys and stow them in your carefully planned storage (see above).
So, all that’s left to do now is to take your sex dungeon for its first test drive….enjoy, and play safe.
