A new TikTok trend has users filming their living spaces to show how they’ve split the decor to create a “boy girl apartment.” This means there is a fairly even distribution of girly and boyish artwork, books, and other decorative items so that the space represents both individuals in the couple.
This appears to be an extension of the “boy apartment” trend from January in which men showed off clean, slick living spaces decorated to give off a male vibe without the mess sometimes associated with dudes who live alone.
What is the ‘boy girl apartment’ TikTok trend?
Videos about “boy apartments” and “girl apartments” have coalesced into couple videos showing how they’ve decorated their homes with a mix of boy-coded and girl-coded items that complement each other and create a “boy girl apartment.”
In one such video, TikTok user @andoej shows how her choice of furniture and candles may be girly, but are accented by a boyish luxury item.
@andoej this is just our main floor but TRULY the perfect balance of girly vibes & rodeo finance bro aesthetic 🤪✨ #boygirlapartment #boyapartment #boyandgirlapartment #apartmentinspo #greenkitchen ♬ original sound – Andie
“This is boy girl,” she says. “We have the Jonathan Adler Gin decanter. Don Julio. Rolex book, right? Then we have this cute little setup here, it’s girly, however, that is a Rolls-Royce decanter.”
Another user, @annaredman, showed how she and her boyfriend compromised on the decoration of one wall by arranging her records in a style that is more often found in a boy apartment.
@annaredman I think it’s pretty good #girlboyapartment #girlapartment #boyapartment #chicagoapartment ♬ original sound – Anna Redman
“I think this looks a little boy, but it’s all my record collection,” she points out. “And of course Taylor is on there multiple times.”
The style of a boy girl apartment can change drastically based on culture. In countries like Japan, where decor gender norms differ from those in the U.S., a boy girl apartment like the one displayed by @fabtoast may look more like a girl apartment to American viewers, filled with pastel colors and cute plushies.
What is a boy apartment?
Starting in September 2024, TikTokers started filming the interiors of what they called “boy apartments.” While some of these appeared cluttered in certain areas, they largely broke the stereotype of men’s living spaces looking neglected and outright nasty.
These cleaned up apartments were instead dominated by dark, neutral tones, modern furniture, books, mood lighting, and a surprising number of house plants. Few of these include flowers, instead favoring the leafy varieties, but apparently the boys have started to appreciate plant life.
Jennifer Cohen, owner of JLW Interiors, spoke with Elle Decor on this new trend in January.
“We are no longer talking about slovenly, unkempt rooms,” she reported. “Now we are speaking of men’s needs, interests, and styles being included in the design of a home.”
What is a girl apartment?
After the boy apartment trend took off, the girl apartment videos were inevitable. These videos started trending last month and showed lighter neutral tones with plenty of natural light, fur blankets, and an abundance of cushy couches.
These living spaces are also more likely to include flowering plants and the color pink—something avoided like the plague in boy apartments—and focus more on the kitchen. Feathery decor was also prominent in some popular videos, as well as heart-shaped decor and gold tones.
Gender stereotypes trend on TikTok
The boy girl apartments and their single predecessors seem to be an extension of a TikTok trend toward gender essentialism. Concerns about the embrace of old gender norms among TikTokers began with the tradwife trend and continued with terms like “girl dinner” or “girl math” and statements like “I’m just a girl” in 2022 and 2023.
These trends kicked off a debate about whether they were feeding into stereotypes that harm women or whether they were harmless fun. Olivia Maher, who came up with the term “girl dinner,” told BBC that “there is something fun and light-hearted about being able to call myself a girl.”
“It’s, ‘I’m not cooking, I’m not functioning as a perfect role model of society, I just want my crackers and cheese because I’m not that hungry tonight – I don’t need the full protein and veg,’” she said.
However, in Grazia Daily, Alice Hall argues that terms like “girl math” are not so innocent.
“We need to approach the idea that women can’t be trusted with their money with caution,” she wrote. “These tropes can be used to justify financial abuse in relationships, a worrying practice that involves limiting someone’s access to money or exploiting their financial situation. According to the charity Surviving Economic Abuse, one in six women have experienced financial abuse by a partner.”
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