Editors Note: This is a guest post from Jacob Walker
If you’ve recently taken a look around your bachelor pad and realized that it’s time to join the adult world, you’re not alone. Many men hit an age where dirty socks on the floor no longer scream independence. Your decorating style may have been fine for your college dormitory, but there’s a good chance that it can use some updating if you want to make your home comfortable for guests of the female persuasion. Here are five ways that you can turn your dorm decorating style on its head:
1.Keep it Clean
One of the biggest turn-offs for guests visiting your home will be a living area that looks like a tornado has recently run through it. Dirty laundry, pizza boxes, beer cans and dust bunnies big enough to eat a cat will have your guests heading for the door. Keeping your house clean will guarantee that guests sit and stay for a while. Pick up the floor, throw away your trash and give your furniture a good polish. If candles aren’t your thing, hide a few air-fresheners around your place to keep it smelling fresh.
2.Wall Art
If your taste in art runs toward posters of your favorite ninja or band, it’s time to grow up and find something more adult to adorn your walls. Nothing says “immature” like a wall full of taped up, faded posters. If you absolutely can’t part with your ninja posters, buy poster frames to put them in. Frames will instantly take your living room from dorm-room chic to adult contemporary.
3.Take the Focus Off of Your TV
Women are well aware that men adore their electronics so they don’t need to be smacked in the face with them as soon as they enter your house. If you’ve turned your television, DVR, gaming systems and iPod dock into the focal point of your living space, it’s time to turn the focus elsewhere. While you don’t have to hide your electronics, you do need to make sure that they aren’t the center of attention. Cleaning up your space, adding accessories and coming up with a great color scheme will make sure that guests see more than your television when they enter your home.
4.Concentrate on Color
Making your home female-friendly doesn’t mean that you have to paint your walls pink and mint green. To make your home as inviting as possible, paint your walls in neutral, earth-tones and add splashed of color with accessories. A few pillows and throws, a couple of lamps and some art on the walls will give you all of the color that you need.
5.Think About the Bathroom
One of the scariest places of any man’s home is his bathroom. Men’s bathrooms tend to be dirty, smelly places where no one dares to venture. To make your bathroom easier to keep clean, make sure that you keep it as minimalistic as possible. Keep your hygiene items stored in a cupboard or drawer, lose any rugs around your toilet and add more storage space if you need it.
Just because you’re single doesn’t mean your home has to look like a landfill. If you want to make your home comfortable for women and men alike, make sure that you follow the tips above. You can easily turn your home from pigsty to stylish and be entertaining guests this weekend.
