The men’s room

The days of unmarried men happily cohabiting with stinking socks and decomposing pizzas are over. There are several reasons: for example, guys are staying single for longer, and living in a skip limits one’s pulling capacity; and, with so many style magazines and television shows around, even the laziest interiors laggard should be able to piece together a half-decent room.

It all means that men are starting to want to live in a stylish environment. It’s reminiscent of the time when wearing Prada shoes or having a wet shave at the Refinery became normal behaviour. “American Gigolo started the evolution,” says Alex Calderwood, the hip designer behind the fabulous Ace Hotel, in the indie-music hub of Portland, Oregon. “Finally, 30 years later, it’s okay for guys to pay attention to how they present themselves.”

The hotel counts Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beth Ditto, House of Horse, the Shins and a million other bands we’ve yet to hear about as regulars. The guests neatly sum up the hotel’s design ethos: Calderwood’s look is in tune with the current taste for a spirited rock’n’roll vibe. Deep, masculine colours and French army blankets sit alongside murals such as Kenzo Minami’s abstracted sheet music, and record decks replace trouser presses in the rooms – perfect for postgig parties. Its success points to that City-boy flash look at last having had its day.

Calderwood is highly evolved, however. For all the new men of his ilk out there, my husband is still adamant that the only thing a man wants in his living room is a wall-sized plasma-screen television. My brother concurs: “Without a woman around to say no, men will tend towards the excessive – whole-wall fish tanks and the like,” he says.

Looks as if it’s still down to us better halves to curb the worst excesses of blinging boy taste.

Make some noise

If you can’t help yourself with boy’s toys, you may as well go for the souped-up ultimate – a Ferrari Art.Engine wireless speaker system. They’re made from – bloke-fact alert – the same aluminium and carbon fibre as the car engines (imagine!). Not only that, just 1,000 are being made worldwide. They take two weeks to build and come in four classic Ferrari colours – or, at £18,000, any other colour you like from the Ferrari palette. From Sound Directions; www.sounddirections.co.uk

Buys for guys

1 Get the library vibe without fusty wood panelling and old stuff, starting with a modern take on the gentlemen’s-club must-have, the globe. Henrik Tengler’s chic Simplicity Globe is made of clear plastic and printed in silver. £99; www.twentytwentyone.com.

2 The Old Cinema is well known for its carefully selected retro gems, such as 1950s film-noir posters. It means the man in your life doesn’t need to spend hours picking through mounds of junk in secondhand shops to look impeccably tasteful. £475; www.theoldcinema.co.uk.

3 Rocking chairs aren’t just for grannies. Check out Habitat’s sleek blackened-oak and leather man rocker. £349; www.habitat.net.

BUBBLING UNDER

Try gypsy-caravan colours and a touch of rich Romany embroidery to brighten up dark days this autumn

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