Lucid's Pimp Pad Post
Alright, so you are every other guy out there and have an average bedroom. It is always pretty messy (though you don't think so. You can always find things right?). Thee books on your desk, the unmade bed, the clean and dirty laundry on the floor... it just screams you, right?
Your room is actually one of the few windows in life where you can look into your life and see what type of person you are. As much as you can see stuff about people based off their rooms, changing the room can also change the person. This short guide should help you out with some things about any bedroom.
What your bedroom has and what it should be used for
Your bedroom is stuck as a defined space. It is your objective to maximize this space to optimize presentation and functionality. These things should be present in your room:
* Bed: Your bed is one of the key features of your room. You should always have your bed made. Simple as that. If you can, buy a comfortable bed that is preferably off the ground. The bed should always look clean, inviting, and it should compliment the room. A leopard print bed may be clean and inviting but it will not match your room. I suggest sticking with a nice solid color like dark blue. This will go with a lot of things (and should go with your curtains). The location of your bed is also really important. Try to have your bed in the center of your room coming off a wall. If your room is not big enough, then settle with it up against a corner. As much space as it takes up, having a bed at the center of your room makes an impression that your bedroom is comfortable and made for sleeping. When it is off to the side, other things can draw attention away from your bed and your room can be seen as your personal storage garage. Your bedroom should have the primary function of sleeping. This concept will also help you get out more and not hibernate in your room. Let me again emphasize that when you are not sleeping, always have your bed made. Try to go two weeks with making your bed at any point in the day. It will make you feel more organized and it is the number one way to keep your room looking clean. After two weeks, it should become habit.
Before:
After:
* Desk: Your desk is the one place that will show your personality. Do NOT confuse your desk with a storage unit. It is simply a place to work and hold few personal belongings. These personal belongings will be discussed in further detail below but make sure you are not cluttered. Ask yourself if you will use the item within the next two days. If not, put it away. If it looks tacky, put it in a top drawer of your desk so you can have a bunch of items that you use a lot (example: deodorant, multivitamin, and books). If you have your computer on your desk, make sure to follow the instructions below.
* Dresser: This is the motherload of storage units other than your closet. You should have a dresser with all your clothing neatly folded inside and organized. Make sure you can shut your dresser drawers. On top of your dresser, you can have a tv or items that will demonstrate value ONLY (like trophies and pictures)
* Closet (if you have one): Hopefully you have a closet. You are going to keep your closet fairly organized. No one is going to go in there though so you can be a little lenient on this one just don't let it get out of hand. Everything that is cluttered all over your room should go in here. There is no reason to have a bunch of crap out. Put it away! Also, put your dirty laundry basket in here so it doesn't stink up the room. Make sure to hang up all your clothing on hangers too. The door to the closet should always be shut.
Don't Let your closet get out of hand. Make sure to keep up on your laundry:
Personalizing Your Room
This is where your personality shines through and makes your room YOUR room. Our goal here is to leave some things out for personality yet not let the room get cluttered. The best way of doing this is to leave pictures out on frames. Having your friends and loved ones around your room smiling leaves the room happy and gives you a sense of familiarity. This is why model homes have pictures of people up. It makes a normal room more personable and friendlier.
Something else you can do plays off the concept of Demonstrating Higher Value (DHV). Find three things that you are proud of and can show off indirectly. Now think of items that you can leave out to show this. For example, I play guitar, am a certified bartender, am a fan of art, and have built my own computer. The only thing on my desk is a single pick, a book on bartending, and my computer with blue LED lights and dual displays. You are going to want to subtly leave these out of place. They will be contrasted against the organization and cleanliness of your room in a good way. When anyone walks into your room, they will immediately see these things lying out and ask you questions such as "do you play guitar", "what type of bartending recopies do you know", or "hey, I like Salvador Dali too! Where did you get that poster?" Your goal is to initiate a positive response from the person so in essence you are bragging about yourself and your taste without you bringing it up. You bringing it up would be boasting, right? The difference is in the subtle changes in presentation.
When it comes to your wall, you do not want to leave it blank. A large blank space will draw a lot of attention to negative space. On the other hand, you do not want a lot cluttered posters. Try to find a large poster to lay across your wall that displays something of interest to you (no women do not count). Try to keep it away from the stereotypical cars, women, and funny posters unless you have a great DHV story behind it. Stick with something that displays your interests or is pleasant to the eye and flow of the room. Flags are another way to take up wall space and show your patriotism.
Some General Tips
* Please, please, please open a window! Make sure to leave your blinds open. Let in light. You are not a hermit so stop hibernating in your room. The warm sunlight will keep your room bright and energetic. Also, keep a window open when possible. It lets in fresh air and keeps your room from smelling. No one wants to breathe musky air that smells like your b.o.
Look how an open window lets in light and all the bright colors of the outdoors. It changes the vibe of a room:
* Never have laundry lying around. This is beyond tacky and shows lazyness.
Do you want your company to walk in and see this?
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/ ... CF0209.jpg
* If you have anything like boxes or tacky furniture, throw it out or put it in your closet. No one wants to see boxes or tacky wireframe drawers. The only exception is if you need space and you don't have the money to buy quality furniture. Try to be less tacky as possible though.
Look at all this crap! though it is neatly organized, it is still crap. If you can see something and it has no use, throw it out or put it away:
* ALWAYS make your bed everyday! I cannot stress this enough!
* Try to hide all visible cords. Your room isn't a central command station so try to hide that stuff.
* Keep your room as odorless as possible. With laundry and not washing your sheets in a week, smells will appear in all rooms. Try to keep things clean and it will minimize smells. Do not eat in your room and make sure to take out your trash to minimize all smells. If you want to, buy some incense which is really cheap and light some of that. It smells good, makes the room more relaxing, and makes the room a little more sexy.
* Lighting is very important. Make sure the lighting sets the mood. During the day, you want blinds open and maximum light. This will make you a happier person when you are always in the sun. At night with a woman over, you want dimmer lighting which sets a more romantic mood. Candles are also necessary to set the mood along with some Barry White ;D
*I don't care who you are. There is no excuse to not pick up your bedroom at least once every other day. Once it is clean, it is easier to keep it that way. If you let it pile up, it can turn from a 5 minute chore to an hour long task. Keep your room clean (this means dust, vacuum, and order)
Romance
To make your room more romantic for women that come over, you are going to need a few things. First of all, make sure your desk chair is out of the way so she is forced to sit on your bed. You are going to want a lot of comfortable pillows on that bed of yours too (do I sense a pillow fight coming?). To further set the mood, look into light dimmers, incense, candles, and "mood music." The subtle things are what counts. Make sure you clean your bathroom too. No bigger turn off than a nasty bathroom.
The Pareto Principle
I read this in a business book but it relates to every aspect of life.
"For many events, 80% of the effects comes from 20% of the causes." -Wikipedia
You need to apply this to your room. Only 20% of your room is what makes your room your room. Therefore, throw the other 80% out or put it away. This is one of the major things that I and a lot of other people struggle with. We get attached to our things and we end up with clutter. Go through your room and decide what 20% of your stuff is useful and makes your room your room. Imagine anything in your room not being there. Will this make your room worse? If no, throw that item out or put it in your closet. There is no reason you need a million things out. This includes books, laptops, clothing, towels, or any other crap that you think you need out. If you use it a lot, put it in an easily accessible drawer. Simplicity is where your room will excel and look spectacular.
Final Notes
This is YOUR bedroom. Enjoy it. Sleep in it. Let it represent you. If you leave your room to rot, you too will rot. If you take care of your room, you will be taking care of yourself. Don't expect to get girls into your bedroom if you yourself can't live in it well. All in all: respect your things because ultimately you are respecting yourself