When it finally comes time for you to get your own place, you're going to want to have people over every once in a while. In order to keep them coming back, you'll need to keep them entertained while they're there.
We all know that true friendships are based on the cool shit our friends have, so unless you want to be lonely for the rest of your life you'll need to make your bachelor pad the cool place to be. Whether you're entertaining your buddies or that girl at the gym, these are the five essentials every guy should have in his apartment.
Furniture 
In college you can get away with having a disgusting broken-down futon in your room and calling in a legitimate piece of furniture. You can't do this once you actually have a job and can afford to buy something decent. Granted, furniture is expensive, but it's definitely an investment worth making considering how much time you're going to spend on your couch or how long you're going to have it.
Think about how much you're willing to spend on a car and then remember which one you're more willing to spend all day sitting in. Besides, you'll probably keep your couch longer anyway. When picking out your furniture you don't want to choose something ridiculous, but don't make it too simple either. You're buying furniture that reflects your personality, not something for your grandma's house. Something comfortable and fun-looking will draw people (especially ladies) to sit and stay longer.
A Giant Television
When I think America I think fast food, Viagra, Monday Night Football, and ridiculously large televisions. Interestingly enough, almost all of these things will eventually find themselves in your bachelor pad at some point. The most important for impressing your friends (when combined with Monday Night Football) is the TV. Ladies probably won't get as giddy as your buddies when they walk in and see the monstrosity hanging on your wall, but they still know how to appreciate tons of pixels and a high refresh rate. Besides, you'll look like quite the gentleman when you invite them to a high-def viewing of The Notebook. Just make sure that you don't double-book your Monday night - especially if your TV is the biggest out of all your friends.
Video Games 
This will sufficiently solve the problem of what to do with your friends when there's nothing good on television. I mean what else are you supposed to do? Talk? Yeah right. You'll want a good mix of sporty/violent games for the guys and, just in case some of your lady friends want to pretend they can play too, some cute ones like Mario Kart and Nintendogs and Hannah Montana: The Movie (or whatever girl games are out there these days). Of course there are some girls out there who will cry foul and say they love video games just as much as guys do. You should never trust these girls. They are robots.
A Sound System
Have you ever gone to a party that didn't have any music playing? Did you stay? Well would you have stayed if your cute lab partner wasn't there? Fine but you wouldn't have stayed very long. Trust me, parties with no music are super boring. That's why you should get a kick ass sound system for your bachelor pad. During parties you can play all the current hits for your friends to drunkenly pretend to know the lyrics to, during movies you can make the explosions shake the building, and when you bring your ex-lab partner back to your room you can set the mood. You can't go wrong with amazing sound.
Booze
Let's face it - young people love to drink. Benjamin Franklin said it best when he said "work hard, play harder" and drinking heavily is the epitome of playing harder. Much like college parties, if you expect people to show up to your bachelor pad party you're going to need a fully stocked fridge. They may be your friends but that doesn't necessarily mean they won't ditch you and head to a bar. Oh yeah, and you can't get away with buying the cheap stuff anymore. You're an adult now, so you have to pretend like your tastes have refined and that Sam Adams tastes so much better than Bud Light. The point is, a full fridge means happy guests and happy guests means something equally as positive. Just make sure your buddies save some booze for the girls. You'll want to make sure they have all they need.
What do you think should be essential to a bachelor pad?
Comments (14)
I agree booze is essential the rest is up for debate :3
killed .........
booze definitely
Booze pretty much covers it...and rope lights don't hurt either, just throwing it out there.
I agree with all of it..
Another thing is a big comfy bed.. That is made every morning, and doesn't look trashy.. (ie: it matches, not just some left over sheets and pillowcases thrown together.)
You can't really expect a girl to get into a broken down mattress that you call a bed, or something that isn't made and you don't know what's hiding under there..
I gotta agree with the bed. And don't skimp there either. after all, you spend 8 hours of every day there, and nothing gets a girl to lay back faster than a pillowtop, ultra soft matress, with HIGH threadcount sheets. Remember to spray down with febreeze BEFORE leaving for your date and it will even smell good and be dry by the time you get home.
actually i'd rather replace booze with girls. a guy with a huge pad and nothing but booze = loser, but a guy with a huge pad with girls = he da' man, whether there's booze or not
Well, I already knew I had an awesome bachelor pad and now it is mancouch certified; I have all of the above and some!
ooh i know wt the smelly student guy room is like
Bed, something to be entertained by [music, movies, video games, etc], and some healthy things to eat is all I need for a guy to have haha.
I think you can pretty much just suffice with booze.
"You should never trust these girls. They are robots."
HAH
Okay, you mentioned five things:
1: The sofa [the MANcouch] - nice.
2: The giant TV - workable.
3: Video Games [including a couple of cutesy titles for her] - cool.
4: Sound System - yeap.
5: Booze.
An alert reader piped in with:
6: Bed [adds to effect of 1] - good one.
Couple things to add...
7: Cooking arsenal
Having a few cooking tools, pots, pans - especially if they appear to be used fairly regularly - is far more appealing than empty cupboards and an arsenal of nuke foods and takeout leftover containers. Few - if any - girlis go in for the undomesticated junk foodie.
8: Computer/Laptop/calendar with girli-free screensavers and wallpapers - she already knows what you're about and after; she wants to pretend otherwise. Let her. Put stuff that you don't think you'd show Ma into a flash drive. This brings me to:
9: Locked cabinet - to keep stuff in. This is a good investment - don't go cheap [you would be surprised what a nail file can open].
10: DVD Player [and DVDs]- you're *done* with Halo3 [or she's done with Spore], there's nothing but reruns and unreality TV on - and you have empty silence and too many 'ccino's in the bloodstream. Saw/Underworld marathon for the guys. Something chickflick for the girlis.
Note: on the shelf where you display your DVDs, DO NOT ADD your collections: i.e. : The Complete,3-Pack Star Trek TV Series [79 episodes of the show, including "The Cage" in both a restored color
version and the original, never-aired version that alternates between
color and black and white.], your Stargate series, your Home Improvement collections [Seasons 1- 8] - in a separate case [don't want to extoll your geekiness...] Store these exhibitions elsewhere.
Secondary note: "blue" material - even if it is Seka classics, or Mitchell Brothers classics: seriously, review 8-9. Trust me on this. Girls are not impressed by the AVN Hall of Fame. Pull these out on Porn and Popcorn night, stow before bringing in that hottie from the gym. Trust me.
11: Laundry bin. Not a laundry basket - do you honestly want the state of your underclothes *seen*? An opaque bin with a lid - actively in use - is a definite worthwhile investment - especially if you manage a hookup with the girl from accounting, but that aforementioned gym girl left her bra behind...can you say, "awkward"?
Yeah....those are the final notes, I think...cheers!
More like loser pad.