Today's article is about planning out your BDSM room in your house. We will examine the space required for objects and equipment as well as the importance of ergonomics and comfort.
First of all, carefully consider what you want to do in the room to prevent any trouble later on.
Think about where everything should go. In this example, we are planning the following activities: Bondage, spanking and clinic games. Now let’s calculate how much space is needed for each activity:
You need about eight to nine square meters of space for spanking.
The reason for this is the following: Imagine you want to spank someone and the person is standing in front of you. Each of you needs a standing area of about 80 cm in diameter. If you strike out with a tool, e.g. a flogger, you need to allow 30 to 40 cm for the arm movement. Another 30 to 40 cm for the flogger or striking tool (bull whips require considerably more space. A paddle is usually shorter than a flogger). Don’t underestimate how much space you need to spank someone. Sometimes St. Andrew’s crosses are placed in the corners of the room, which restricts the freedom of movement when spanking. If you have no other option and have to place the cross in a corner of the room, try placing it diagonally. This will give you a little more space on both sides of the cross.
All in all, we need about 8 to 9 square meters to comfortably spank someone.
Make sure you know how much space you need!
The space required for bondage should not be underestimated either.
Especially with Shibari, where you can hang someone completely horizontally under the ceiling, you need a lot of space. Expect to need at least a full body length of space (approx. 2 meters). If we consider a perimeter, that’s about 4 square meters. The rigger who stands next to you will need another 4 to 6 square meters. You can also use tatami mats as flooring and stick to this measurement. Then use 2-4 mats to calculate your space requirements.
In clinic plays, for example, standard equipment consists of a gynecological chair or a medical treatment table.
The gynaecological chairs have roughly a size of 1.70 m x 1.70 m, the couches about 1.80 m by 0.8 m. If you unfold the gyn chair and a person lies there fully stretched out, you need at least two square meters of space. However, you should plan a little more so that you have enough freedom of movement.
If we add everything up, we need about 24 m² of space.
Including the remaining usable and corridor areas. It is important to note that these areas do not have to be separate from each other, but may overlap. If this happens, a smaller room may be sufficient. Nevertheless, it is advisable to plan a little more space, since in this example I have only considered the pure play area. If you want to set up additional furniture like a bed or cupboards, you will need to plan extra space for this. Let’s move on to the next point: the furniture.
If you plan generously for all areas, you end up with around 24 m².
You have two options for your furniture:
Buy it or build it yourself. If you want to buy it, you can choose special BDSM furniture from manufacturers or even ask for custom-made furniture. As an alternative, you can contact carpenters or metalworkers who can make furniture to your specifications. Make sure you describe the piece of furniture you want in detail, including its use and the room it will be used in, as these professionals usually don’t have knowledge of your entire room plans.
However, my basic advice for a BDSM room is to visit a hardware store!
Here you will find ropes, hooks, eyelets, mats and padding materials. If you can’t find the right thing from a manufacturer, you can try to put things together yourself. If you’re looking for hooks and eyes, you can go to a climbers’ supply store, to make sure they can hold the weight of a person.
A few safety tips for shopping in hardware stores: A hardware store encourages you to build many things yourself or to repurpose materials. However, I would like to emphasize once again that you should only buy the suitable ropes for shibari and bondage from fetish specialist stores (e.g. Baumwollseil.de), as hardware store ropes are not intended for tying people up.
Wenn ihr eigene Schlagwerkzeuge bauen möchtet, achtet darauf, dass die Materialien mehrfach gereinigt und desinfiziert werden können. Bei Holzspielzeugen sollte alles sauber abgeschliffen und die Oberflächen versiegelt sein.
Some furniture is difficult to build yourself. For example, the best you can do to modify a gynaecological chair is to buy a chair from the medical sector and modify it for your own session. When it comes to the St. Andrew’s cross, you can either have one made or buy one. My tip: for beginners, it is usually enough to simply attach a few hooks to the ceiling or near the floor. For smaller people in particular, it is more convenient to attach hooks and eyelets to the wall in the right place.
And that brings us to the last point:
Ergonomics and comfort.
Ergonomics means adapting work equipment and the environment to natural movement sequences. Although BDSM is pleasure, not work, we should still pay attention to the movement of the person, its accessibility, safety and comfort. Suspension and restraint points should not be too high and should be within easy reach of the person being restrained. This allows you to respond quickly in emergencies and release the person.
If you are fixing someone in cuffs, I recommend snap shackles that can be opened under load. When designing a playroom, you should always think about how the session will unfold and what items you will need. Every session is unique, so adapt the room as necessary. Watch out for loose objects in the room and remove any obstacles to avoid injuries.
Hygiene and safety are also important factors. Be sure to have contraceptives ready and a small first aid kit. Also pay attention to the surfaces and materials you use in the room. Smooth surfaces are easier to clean than rough ones. Wood can be a good option, particularly to avoid the room looking too sterile. Some varieties even have antibacterial characteristics, such as pine wood. However, rough wooden surfaces are not always easy to clean.
Wenn ihr eigene Schlagwerkzeuge bauen möchtet, achtet darauf, dass die Materialien mehrfach gereinigt und desinfiziert werden können. Bei Holzspielzeugen sollte alles sauber abgeschliffen und die Oberflächen versiegelt sein.
