Studio Apartment Decorating Ideas For Guys

bachelor pad mens apartment

In this post: Looking for ideas for decorating a young man's bachelor pad apartment? Here are affordable decor ideas with trendy masculine style.⇒

Here's an irony for you.

At least ninety percent of the time I post about feminine French Country decor, and yet my most popular post of all time was a post I did about my son's first apartment.

The style we worked with was a mix of urban classic with notes of industrial chic. Fast forward two and a half years and I'm delighted to say that my son just moved back to our area from halfway across the country. So, once again I find myself looking at bachelor pad ideas for decorating a young man's apartment.

Let me start by saying, much of this isn't new. If you've seen the initial posts (it was done in a 3 part series) you will recognize many of the pieces. Yet the setting is completely different and the challenge was adapting the furniture from a much larger apartment into a more urban environment. The new apartment is brand spanking new, with extraordinary views from the wall to wall windows.

When I revealed the first apartment, I was asked by many people how a young man would keep a nicely decorated apartment in good condition. But I know my son. Two and a half years later his white chairs are still in mint condition and nothing was ruined. So join me on this little tour as we look at the beginnings of his new place.

This will be a work in progress as many of the decorative items are yet to be added. But I thought it would be fun to share the journey, as decorating young adults' apartments has become a bit of a specialty of mine. (Upcoming soon is my daughter's first apartment. Be on the lookout!) At the end of the post I'll include links to the first apartment in St. Louis, so you can compare how the same furniture works in a very different context.

One of the biggest changes in this apartment is the omission of carpeting and wall space. Two adjacent walls in the living room are blessed with full windows overlooking the harbor with a view of the Statue of Liberty (which will eventually be blocked by ever newer buildings being built). The floors are rick dark wood and we had to work around a support pole in the corner. We went with a subtle patterned rug, in keeping with the neutral palette, as a means to balance the lights and darks in the room.

The cream linen chairs have not only seen over two years of use, but have hosted many a young guest as their sleeping quarters, so don't let anyone ever tell you not to get white furniture because of practicality!

Directly across from the leather chesterfield sofa is an industrial metal entertainment unit which really gives the space character. The lack of solid wall space, while lovely for the vistas and the light, makes it impossible to find much room to add personality via artwork. Instead we added coffee table books as the beginnings of personalizing the space.

The fourth side of the living room actually opens to the kitchen, with a wonderful marble countertop. Here we added wooden barstools with sleek clean lines and distressed edging.

One of the things we had to forego was the dining room table and chairs my son had in an apartment that had a separate dining room. Amusingly, I had forgotten that he also had a bistro set on his patio and the diminutive set worked well tucked into the corner of the room. We had originally planned on a third barstool, but the option to eat at a lower table is desirable and the bistro set fit the bill. I'm sure we'll be adding chair pads for comfort in the near future.

The brand new galley kitchen provides just enough storage and work space and we stayed classic and modern with the accessories to work with the urban feel.

A floor to ceiling window lends another opportunity for natural light.

Open and airy is the tone here, perfect for entertaining (and with Superbowl Sunday around the corner, you can be sure it will be getting use.)

As with many urban apartments, the biggest challenge in the bedroom was fitting my son's existing furniture in there. Again we added a rug, this time a plush and comfy shag in a light oatmeal color to again offset the dark woods.

We sandwiched the little desk into the corner – hardly ideal, but workable. This is the corner that's calling out for options for adding personality with decorative objects and art.

The subtle paisley comforter is soft as butter and the white sheets crisp and refreshing. The shams have hotel stripe edging and the grain sack pillow rounds out the look.

The end tables were tucked in with not an inch to spare, but they made it nonetheless. Mercury glass lamps reflect the generous light that permeates the room.

A quick peek at the bath reveals a clean and classic look. Accessories are in white and pewter again in keeping with the modern feel. There will be some additions to this space, as well, in shelving and perhaps a small table.

The moving truck arrived just two days ago and it's already starting to look like home. Have you got any bachelor pad ideas to share? Would love to hear then in the comments below!

To see how the first apartment looked and for more bachelor pad ideas, you can visit these links:

Part 1 – The Living Room | Part 2 – Dining Room & Kitchen | Part 3 – Bedroom & Bath

Bachelor Pad Ideas Resource List

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