When I last visited an old pal of mine in Miami in the apartment where he lives alone, I was stunned to see some furniture pieces I remember he used at a time when we were both at college. I am not too sensitive about home decoration and the idea of hiring an interior designer to come and splash ideas around my place sounds alien, but I think I try to keep some standards in this field. The same way one wouldn't wear old or worn out clothes to work at the risk of making a negative impression on clients and coworkers, an overused, threadbare and dirty piece of furniture is also a bad choice. It isn't comfy, it looks bad and it doesn't make you look house-proud.

Imagine a Friday evening where you meet a fun girl who you have a great time dancing with. She appears to be a really fun person and seems to think the same of you. You sip some wine, chat a little more, go back to the dance floor to strut your stuff. You are both comfortable about making this evening last much longer and it looks like your place has the best logistics from the venue you are at. Also, she's living with some friends who she doesn't want to disturb, and your apartment would be a nice place and so on.

Are you willing to take the risk of mortifying yourself by showing your date your threadbare sofa? Are you OK about this table with a rather tasteless design from the early 2000s, complete with a set of equally uninspiring chairs? Is the fact that poor storage in your room has resulted in something your parents used to describe as gale-force mess of clothes, papers, cups, books and CDs? And what in heaven's name is she going to think when she sees a bike in your living room?

So there I was at my friend's place which needed some solid dose of modern furniture Miami to start looking remotely livable. I tried to keep my thoughts to myself but I did finally work up the courage of talking to my friend about it and he wasn't too pleased. The talk led to an insightful discussion about how most men don't find the inspiration or enthusiasm to regularly redo their apartments or replace furniture. Unfortunately, what we both came to agree upon was that bachelors are satisfied living just about anywhere- dens, caves, mud shelters, anything! I suppose the main causative factor behind this is that most men are still young boys at heart at this stage and living without a family gives rise to a bit of a wanton, unstructured lifestyle. Needless to say, things change beyond recognition when you are in serious relationships, especially marriage. Your partner girlfriend or wife slowly, or quickly, weeds out this Peter Pan kind of thinking about your place of residence and the demands of family life ultimately kill it.