If you’re a prototypical “dude” who
knows little about design and home decor, it’s possible your apartment is just,
well, an apartment. But in order to take things to the next level living as a
male on your own, what you really want to shoot for is a classy bachelor pad.
But you don’t quite need to have an
apartment worthy of the TV show Friends
to have a legitimate bachelor bad - it can be done simply and cheaply. Over at
ApartmentGuide.com’s blog, they offered up some practical tips on transforming
your apartment into a bachelor pad:
Age
up your furniture
The #1 bachelor pad botch is keeping
furniture from college.
Milk crates for bookshelves? No.
Puffy black pleather sofa? No. Cinderblock bed frame. No, no and absolutely
not.
You can class up your apartment
design affordably if you shop smart. The easiest way to transform your look to
a more adult, sophisticated style is to go for sleek modern furniture. Take a
look at the IKEA catalog. Now get that stuff.
Prep
a party-ready pantry
An accomplished bachelor is ready to
host a bash for 2 or 20 at a moment’s notice. You never know when your latest
love interest will decide to pop by — or an impromptu poker night will break
out. Bachelor apartment essentials might include pantry items like these:
12 beers (microbrews)
2 bottles of wine (red & white)
2 bottles of decent booze (Vodka,
bourbon, rum… your preferences are important.)
2-liter of club soda
The Cadillacs of snacks: peanuts,
M&Ms, potato chips, all your faves
Assorted frozen pizzas (California
Pizza Kitchen is an excellent choice.)
French Onion Dip
An assortment of take-out menus
Just make sure you are comfortable
serving what you can source from your bachelor kitchen.
Do
what comes naturally
Your initial apartment design urges
might make you feel like you must create a man cave. Resist those feelings and
one-up your friends by making your space special AND more universally-appealing.
Sure, “themes” sound like something
only interior decorators care about, but creating a theme for your apartment
makes decking it out easier. Pick a topic you totally dig, like baseball, comic
books, classic cars, vintage vinyl, folk art or whatever you might while away a
weekend obsessing over.
Add
an element of surprise
Any savvy bachelor keeps people
guessing. One of the easiest ways to add the unexpected to your bachelor pad is
to use color. Most guys resort to basic black when they are picking a palette —
but you can design a bit more advanced than that.
Try shades of gray (the ladies love
it!) and a grown-up red accent color. Dark purple, royal blue, and deep orange
are other manly shades that look great on pillows, rugs, chairs, artwork —
they’ll give your home a high-end feel.
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