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Simple décor upgrades can make your apartment more inviting, and your dating life a little easier.
You can have a decent job, a good sense of humor, and a dating profile that actually gets matches; however, when women come over to your place for the first time and see a bare mattress on the floor or a bathroom that looks like it hasn’t been cleaned this election cycle, you’re likely going to have some problems…
Welcome to the apartment ick: those seemingly harmless, small details that can actually have someone reconsidering whether you’re as put together as you seemed over dinner.
Of course, nobody needs a full designer apartment to be date-worthy and every woman will have their own unique tastes—but a little attention to your home environment can go a long way toward making your place feel mature, comfortable and welcoming.
Here’s where to start:
The College Dorm, Bare Mattress Vibe Isn’t For Grown Men
There’s nothing initially wrong with keeping things simple with your décor, but a bare mattress directly on your floor or a tangled pile of bedding can make your bedroom look like a temporary stop—as opposed to a place you actually live every day.
The fix to this common apartment ick doesn’t require a full bedroom makeover. Start with getting a basic bed frame, some clean sheets, a decent enough comforter, and some pillows that aren’t visibly past their prime. Maybe even add a bedside lamp or table so you’re not fumbling around in the dark every night.
These subtle changes will show that you genuinely care about your comfort and take pride in your bedroom space. And more importantly, you’ll likely enjoy sleeping in a room that feels like a grownup’s bedroom!
Your Living Room Needs A Lot More Than Just A TV & Couch
There’s nothing wrong with enjoying sports, video games or movie marathons. The ick here typically comes when entire living rooms seem as if they’ve been designed around one specific activity, because this typically inadvertent design concept often leaves little consideration for anything else.
A coffee table, comfy sofa, floor lamp, and some framed prints can make all the difference with your living room. Area rugs can also help define seating areas, introduce color, and make rooms feel less empty. The good news for today’s single guys is they don’t have to spend a fortune on these types of décor adjustments, because finding cheap rugs online that look great has never been easier and more affordable.
And you don’t need to abandon your hobbies by any means to create a more inviting living room space. Keep the sports memorabilia and gaming console if they’re a part of your personality, but just be sure to balance these things with a few other thoughtful touches that make the room more comfortable for someone who didn’t come over to watch you play yet another round of Halo.
Bathrooms Are Where Small Issues Balloon Into Major Icks
Your bathroom doesn’t need fancy marble countertops and fixtures to give off a good first impression, but it definitely needs to be clean.
Questionable towels, a dirty toilet, overflowing trash cans, and empty toilet paper rolls are tough to explain as an aesthetic preference. These types of details often give off the idea that basic household responsibilities aren’t anywhere close to the top of your priority list.
The good news here is the solution is relatively straightforward. Wipe down mirrors, clean sinks and toilets, empty the trash, and keep fresh hand towels ready to rock. If you want to take things to the next level, replace any worn towels with a matching set and use a simple soap dispenser.
Your goal shouldn’t be to create a luxury spa, but it should be to make your bathroom at least halfway decent enough so your guests don’t start immediately searching for hand sanitizer at first glance.
Your Apartment Shouldn’t Smell Like A Locker Room
Although you might be used to your own apartment’s smell without realizing it, your guests won’t be quite so lucky.
Damp towels, dirty laundry, old takeout containers, overflowing garbage, and generally neglected pet areas create unpleasant odors that linger—even when the entire place loks clean.
Start addressing this ick by getting to the source of the smell, rather than attempting to cover it up with air fresheners. This could mean washing your bedding, taking out the trash, cleaning your kitchen, and improving your ventilation.
Subtle diffusers and candles can also add a pleasant finishing touch, but fragrance isn’t going to do the heavy lifting in most scenarios. Clean apartments always smell a lot better than dirty ones that are reminiscent of an Uber driver’s obnoxiously expensive cologne.
Random Clutter & Empty Walls Make Your Home Feel Unfinished
No one needs to be an art collector to have an attractive apartment, but fully bare walls inevitably make homes feel impersonal. On the other hand, unopened packages, tangled cables, and randomly scattered objects can also make your home come off weirdly chaotic.
Get past this ick by first choosing a few things that reflect your personality, and then try to keep things simple from there. This could include a couple books on a shelf, a print you like, a favorite photograph, or maybe even some low-maintenance plants that you’ll be willing to take care of.
The main distinction between a simple space and one that looks unfinished is usually the basic fact that you’ve never, ever considered putting in even the slightest bit of effort toward make it your own!
Good Lighting Changes An Apartment’s Entire Mood
By far one of the biggest apartment icks in the modern dating era is harsh overhead lighting, because this can make even a well-furnished room feel like an office break room.
Consider adding floor lamps near sofas and table lamps near beds to avoid even being tempted toward using your ickworthy overhead lights. Warm-toned bulbs are known for creating softer atmospheres, and simply having a few different lights will make it easier to adjust your room’s mood based on various activities…
You don’t need an elaborate smart home setup to have good home lighting, because just a couple well-placed lamps can make your apartment noticeably comfier and ready for Netflix and chilling.
The Real Apartment Upgrade Is Simply Showing You Care
You don’t have to impress everyone with your apartment, because modern dating isn’t quite yet at the depraved level of becoming a competition between who owns the nicest furniture setup.
The point here isn’t to manufacture a personality through your décor, because it’s all about creating a space that feels comfortable, clean, and reflective of you. Some of the common ick culprits listed above can be easily fixed with a welcoming living room, a proper bed, a clean bathroom, and some attention to lighting.
Think of it this way: your bachelor pad doesn’t have to become a showroom. You just need to make sure it looks like somewhere an adult lives, and is just maybe somewhere another female adult might enjoy spending some of her time.
And when it comes down to it, these upgrades won’t just be good for your dating life— because they’ll be even better for you and your filthy-animal-of-a-grown-ass-man vibes!
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