When I ask “what does your ultimate bachelor pad look like?” What do you see?
Some of my friends laughed at the question. My language seemed retro double-oh-seven-ish. Bachelor pad, you say? City flat, perhaps?
Although everyone’s response was different, everyone summed up with “It’s got to be comfortable.”
This is Home, Baby
Unlike Austin Powers’ gadget-y space in which sleek options do suit the bachelor pad well, today’s men want to relax at home. They don’t want high maintenance furniture, appliances, friends, or lovers.
They don’t need dimmer switches, crazy fur-covered beds, or ceiling mirrors to get a woman excited. That’s just silly. We enjoy our personal space and convey its importance to others.
Brad, a friend since elementary school, said it best: “When I get home from work, I want to shut out the world. This is my home.”
A woman who enters Brad’s home might get excited about his furnishings and design or the color of his bath towels. He’s got good taste. Yet I suspect she’s also excited by the simple knowledge that he doesn’t bring just anyone here.
Functional Design
We’re all interested in making everything work with less effort. We want design that functions well, and we’re unwilling to trade design for furnishings that don’t suit us.
Our homes require functional design. Everyone in my circle of friends wants an organized, happy place to live. They don’t want to worry about anything at the end of the day or any time at all.
When we’re home, the rest of the world should just go away as I stretch out on an extra-wide, especially comfortable couch. I’d prefer extra pillows.
Color
When I think about people who go crazy for black and white, I suspect them of thinking in binary code. Yes, physicists say that color doesn’t exist at the quantum level, but that doesn’t mean decor should be fifty shades of gray!
No matter what design experts recommend this year, there are no right or wrong colors or patterns. Choose what you like. If you groove to red and black, that’s okay.
But why not spice things up with color? Paint one living room wall ochre and choose neutral tone furnishings in taupe or gunmetal grey. Brass or chrome finishing touches are great.
Beautiful Quality
The concept of quality confuses people. When I bought my first furnishings on credit after I graduated from college, I bought a whole houseful of stuff for a few thousand because the salesperson said it was quality.
But it wasn’t. It was poorly made and quickly became actual trash.
Worst of all, the furniture I bought looked time-stamped. It was livingroom in a bag ugly.
In comparison, quality furnishings last. Quality and beauty go hand-in-hand. Quality, says my girlfriend, looks good no matter how old it is. Keeping with my preference for sleek designs, Trade Furniture Company offer industrial items that combine the warmth of wood with metals.
It’s a look my girlfriend and I both love here at home.
Photos: Kiwithing, Max Sparber, Joe Benjamin, and Anthony Citrano
