Do You Have a ‘Boy Room’?

For years now, one stereotypical image of the young single man’s living space has dominated. You know the one: It centers on a mattress laying on a bare floor, accentuated with a flat screen television, plus maybe a gaming console and controller or a metal folding chair. This minimalist tableau, enshrined on Reddit and Twitter, has recently been challenged by a new TikTok archetype: the Boy Room. If the floor mattress is the symbol of an austere (if fulfilling) life, the Boy Room is the product of a more indulgent lifestyle, one that produces a clutter of empty beer cans, crumpled tissues (overflowing a rarely emptied wastebasket), and bunched-up bedsheets.

Comedian Rachel Coster took this concept—that men neglect their living space in a way that could be described as “harrowing”—and brought it to Adam Faze, head of the short-form video production studio Gymnasium (formerly known as FazeWorld). What resulted is the social media sensation “Boy Room,” which has racked up millions of views on TikTok and Instagram for taking an anthropological look at the modern male bedroom, with its movie poster decor and—in one case, at least—dead crab on the dresser.

We asked Coster (who works with producer Sky Saffer, PA Max Sundue, editor Grace Pomilla, and director Sexydamion) what it means to have a Boy Room and how men can avoid falling prey to these tropes.

Rachel Coster: The Supreme stickers on stuff, a bunch of discarded things that could be thrown away into a real garbage can, empty water bottles, water bottle full of Gatorade or Gatorade full of water, no duvet cover—everyone's obsessed with that [last one]. The fleece-y Costco blanket that everyone has, brown. Just nothing on the walls or a really shitty poster. No intentionality in the design of the space. When you are like, “I guess I have to live somewhere.” But you don't have any pride in it or want it to be nice for yourself.

I am a comic and have a background in film production. So I was looking for a job in the winter, and Adam Faze was starting his new company, now called Gymnasium. He posted it on his Instagram Story that he needed producers, directors, and PAs and stuff, and so I applied. I don't think he really wanted me as an employee, but he was like, “Send me any ideas you have, shoot them my way, and no promises, but I'll look at it.” And he really liked “Boy Room.” So we shot a pilot with our friend Peter and it was totally chaotic because we showed up at his house unannounced because we knew where he would be. We're never gonna release that one. It's so funny. And [Peter] agrees that it's so funny, but he's so embarrassed that he said we can't release it, which is no problem. [But] I hope he changes his mind ’cause it's so awesome.

And then we just kept making more, and now we don't surprise people, but we still try and keep it as real as we can. It's tough when we get to a room and I'm like, “Oh, it's clear you changed stuff for us,” ’cause that's disappointing. Recently, we went to a guy's house and he had some stuff on his bed and I was like, “Did you put that there so I would see it?” And he was like, “Yeah.” I don't really like that.

They've been DMing us, and the production assistant at Gymnasium has been [going through the messages], and he's doing a great job so far. But it is kind of a risk 'cause it's like, are these people who are making stuff up for the show? Do they just wanna be on the show or are they a bad guy? That's a real concern, is if it's a really bad guy.

The boys who are reaching out to us are proud and excited and wanna be on the show. Or there was a guy who we did last week who his friends told him about it and they're like, “You have to do this, you have to do this.” So he was more trepidatious.

Girls, we're forced from such a young age to care about the house and our space. “If your room is nasty, no one will ever date you.” Everything is from the point of view of, if you're gross, you're unlovable. I remember when I was a little kid, I had really short nails ’cause I would bite them and my grandma was like, “No one's ever gonna hold your hand if they're shredded.” Everything about girls is scrutinized so highly and boys don't get that same treatment. Boys are like, “Yeah, girls will still date me if my room is nasty.” Girls, it's like, if you have a nasty room, boys are immediately like, “You're disgusting,” and never come back, which sucks.

I think girls should be able to own whatever. I also think boys should be able to own whatever they like about how they keep their space. If you like having a nasty room, [that’s] legit awesome. And as long as the people who love you are still down to hang out with you because you don't smell bad, no problem. And if you're extremely mentally ill and it's just not happening right now—that's another [thing], especially with girls, I feel like we beat ourselves up so much if our spaces are nasty or we're falling behind in any way because we're depressed or something. And I think that's something that we should really stop punishing ourselves for. There's nothing helpful about feeling horrible about yourself.

Put up art on your walls. Frame it if you can. Clean your sheets pretty regularly. Have a duvet cover, have a bunch of pillows, and curtains that match each other. The biggest thing is lighting systems that are adjustable, because it sucks when it's really intense overhead lighting. It feels like you're in a Target.

I was in LA one time and I saw in this boy's room an enormous painting of war—it was like a war scene over his bed. That was crazy. And a bunch of just drug paraphernalia sitting out. I was like, It's no problem, but nuts to just kinda leave it out. Let's put it in our underwear drawer just for daytime so you're not tempted to rip a bunch of lines first thing in the morning.