Bless this mess?
The latest buzzy home-tour web series isn’t showcasing quirky pads or idealistic dream homes but rather the nightmarish rooms of Gen Z and millennial NYC men who live in filth and squalor — and like it that way. The snippets are far from aspirational — think MTV’s “Cribs” meets Lifetime’s “Hoarders” with a hint of A&E’s “Intervention” — but people can’t look away.
“Wow, this is a lot to take in,” comedian Rachel Coster, the brave tour guide for “Boy Rooms,” said upon entering 30-year-old David’s grungy bedroom last week.
While young guys with messy rooms are nothing new, Coster, 28, is giving an honest, yet amusing look inside the chaotic, feral boudoirs of Big Apple Pig-Pens and offers them tips on how to clean up their act.
The Post joined a tour of David’s Brooklyn pad, shuffling around to find somewhere to stand on the bartender and indie filmmaker’s floor, covered in T-shirts, scrap papers, cash and other junk.
It was an interior designer’s nightmare: Everything from the random art posters to the concave bed was slanted, the TV was an inch from falling off the ledge and most items belonged in the trash.
“Sometimes someone else’s eyes are all you need,” Brooklynite Coster told The Post as she inspected the room, while asking David questions about the items strewn about.
“None of us are perfect, for sure, but the way some people are living is so crazy. And I think if you don’t put a light on it or take a picture of it, it’s hard to realize because you’re living in it. And then someone comes over and is like, ‘What the f–k?’ ”
Mancave madness
When asked what makes a “Boy Room,” Coster simply stated: “You know it when you see it.”
The featured rooms don’t have proper furniture — an ironing board for a desk and plastic bins for dressers are the norm. The closets are almost always overflowing with crumpled clothes, the floors are covered with dirty clothes and trash and the shelves are crowded with ridiculous knickknacks, like say a mug shaped like a butt. Dirty dishes are ubiquitous and a made-bed is simply out of the question.
Exhibit B: Jerome, a 34-year-old who adorned his sloppy space with sweat-stained pillows, three pairs of rusty nail clippers sitting on the windowsill, a steering wheel tacked to his wall and a loose tire on the floor — because he likes cars.
The clothing designer and content creator claims to have a $175,000 sports car collection, but has eschewed a duvet cover, horrifying online viewers. He tried one for two days and hated how the sheets tangled.
“Let’s go for a ride in my sports car. You won’t be complaining about the duvet in the car. So, yeah, I spend my money in some weird places,” the longtime Chinatown resident told The Post, insisting that his unkempt bedroom hasn’t hindered his dating life.
“Every girl who’s come once comes again way too quick,” he cheekily added.
A nightmare reimagined
For Coster, questionable boy rooms are definitely something familiar in her psyche: While Max Sundue, one of her three-person video team, is responsible for vetting all of the rooms, Costner never knows what mess she’s walking into until crew members Damion Bucenec and Grace Pamilla have the cameras rolling.
But she’s seen it before.
The comedian recounted a time when she went home with a date she was very interested in — until she stepped into his house of horrors.
“We went to this house and I was like, ‘I actually have to go,’ ” she said. “He had cat s–t and it just was like stinky and messy. And I was just like, ‘I can’t, like, let someone who takes such bad care of themselves touch my body.’
“It was just so shocking. And I was just like, ‘I don’t feel like my body is in good hands here.’ ”
Coster didn’t give any snarky commentary. She just left.
But to help other men come to terms with the reality of their room, Coster pitched the series to Adam Faze, who owns the production company Gymnasium. Thanks to how popular the series has become, men are submitted — usually by a friend or roommate — and willingly go along with it.
Take Jensen, a 30-year-old musician and oil painter who opened his doors to The Post — and thankfully didn’t offer anything from his mini fridge that had been unplugged and rotting for weeks. As for decor, he has a nude self-portrait depicting himself with a tentacle-like penis as the pièce de résistance.
“I know my room is a little f–ked up,” Jensen told The Post, sharing that his girlfriend submitted him as a prank. “It’s hard to let someone in your space and then slam you, but it’s for the greater good of comedy.”
‘He’s still just a messy boy’
But why would someone subject themselves to online scrutiny at a time when bullying is so rampant? As Coster explained, many of the men are “not seeing a problem with, like, anything that they’re doing.”
“Jerome’s room is like a beautiful space that’s extremely well-lit. However, he’s made it completely hostile,” Coster said in the most popular video.
“C’mon let’s get real, Jerome is a gorgeous man but he’s still just a messy boy,” she added.
The minute-and-a-half videos quickly became an internet sensation, amassing millions of views as people commented on how disturbing the rooms were while also noting all the trademarks of a “Boy Room.”
“Why is it ALWAYS navy sheets?????” a top comment reads.
“And then most beautiful girl u know is ripping her hair out cuz this man won’t text her back…smfh,” another says.
Coster believes the show has interested so many people because of it’s relatable, voyeuristic content. Aside from the actual mess, Coster said one of the things that seems to be most upsetting to viewers is the men’s ages.
“I mean, we all go through growth at a totally different time but I think [having a ‘Boy Room’] becomes concerning to the people you’re dating past, like, 28,” Coster said. “There’s no hiding who you are when you’re in someone’s room.”
