As legend has it, the Bedrooms With Threatening Auras group emerged in October 2020 and has since flourished, amassing a community of 48,617 members so far. The group welcomes individuals from all walks of life who are interested in sharing images of exceptionally dreadful bedrooms - a colorful addition to the already vast family of 'cursed' things, ranging from cursed commodes to t-shirts.
The Bedrooms With Threatening Auras group garnered its success by refusing to tiptoe around its content for newcomers. As soon as you enter, the first and paramount rule clarifies the group's purpose: "It's called 'Bedrooms with Threatening Auras,' not 'Pleasant bedrooms from Google'." Unsurprisingly, their content might not be for the faint of heart.
In order to learn what it takes for our own bedrooms to not appear on one of these lists, Bored Panda reached out to Lisa Gilmore, an award-winning interior designer, who was happy to list the deadly interior sins people commit when planning out their bedrooms.
According to her, choosing a rug that's too tiny for your bedroom is a big no. "A general rule is to have your area rug at least as wide as the total distance of your bed, plus your nightstands, then to extend out from the footboard at least 12 inches," Gilmore explained in an email. "You don't want a rug that is out of scale for the room, an area rug is a great tool to ground a space and make it feel more comfortable. It's also a trick for making the room feel bigger too!"
Speaking about that Twin Peaks color palette (an average bedroom consumer will most likely try to steer as far away as possible), Gilmore suggests going with a color or a combination of some that are closest to your heart. "I always suggest people pick colors or patterns in their spaces that they truly love, if you follow your heart with those two items, you likely can't really go wrong."
She also adds that if choosing a color mix is too much of a commitment for your nerves - it's not like we spend one-third of our lives sleeping, right? - you can always rely on a monochromatic palette. "It could be a room with varying shades of white, but you don't have to be limited there, varying shades of blue, green or pink could also be really lovely for a bedroom," Gilmore said.
Of course, you should always consider that some interior design choices, like zebra print rugs or sliding barn doors, won't age that well. Not that we're asking you to turn to an 8-ball for those interior design future predictions. According to Gilmore, however, using pendant lights instead of your regular nightstand lamp is a pretty trendy trick that can "add some visual interest" to your bedroom design.
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While we, at Bored Panda, could be giving you interior design tips all day long, there's a special guest we'd like to introduce you to - Sylvia Black, a member of the US Navy, who is also proud to serve the Bedrooms With Threatening Auras community as its main admin.
According to her, it began as a spin-off group after Black's main page Bathrooms with Threatening Auras started receiving cursed bedroom submissions.
"After talking about it with my moderators, we decided to do a few spin-off groups," Black explained in a Facebook message sent through her partner, Devin Black, who also helps to keep the community on track. Today, you can find Sylvia's touch of 'curse' in all parts of "the house", starting from the bedroom, going all the way to the kitchen.
While one might imagine that most community members are in it for kicks and giggles, Black points out that the reality can be quite different. "You'd be surprised how quickly people can really attack each other over opinions on the bedroom in the picture. People will really project a lot of personal and political beliefs on a picture of a bedroom, and the picture could literally just be a dirty bedroom, or a bed on the side of a cliff in some exotic hotel."
However, we can't be the only ones who wonder why we are drawn to haunted bedrooms, lavatories, and kitchens repeatedly. What makes this type of content so captivating? According to Black, it all boils down to the element of shock.
"People love to look at something incredible or scary and say 'I would never...' and send it to their friends," she said, "but I think people stay for the community. People really get into sharing pictures they've seen themselves and looking at new ones [they get in return]." A bit like trading Pokémon cards, then, if they came from Stranger Things' The Upside Down dimension.
Since she's the OG aficionado of cursed bedrooms, we couldn't miss the chance to ask Sylvia what gives all of these bedrooms the 'threatening aura' stamp of approval. "It can't be just a dirty room or just a creepy room - sometimes it's a little of both. It's a vibe," she explained. "I can't describe every type of 'Threatening Aura' of a room, but you know it when you see it!"