Netflix Series on How to Build A Sex Room is Totally Bingeworthy

I finally got around to watching the Netflix series How to Build a Sex Room, and my face still hurts from smiling. If you haven’t caught it yet, you are in for a real treat. The star of this reality renovation show is Melanie Rose, a seasoned and sassy British actress turned interior designer. For the last decade, she has specialized in creating what she calls “sacred spaces,” aka sex rooms.

Every episode, two couples get to describe their dream space for sexy times, and Melanie Rose and her impish contractor Mike make it happen. What makes the show so much fun, is that Rose is like the Mary Poppins of sex. She flies in when you need her, with a bottomless bag (a bright yellow satchel purse) full of butt plugs and vibrators. Her way of interacting with the clients is as much about coaching as it is designing. She gives them permission to reveal their fantasies, and we get to play along. She takes them places like photo shoots, flogging lessons “marital aid stores” to open them up to what’s possible. And she’s so damn cute, with her funky sneakers and chunky jewelry, that she gets to be outrageous without being off-putting. It’s the perfect way to educate the masses about other ways of enjoying sex.

Shot in Denver, the 8 episodes of season one feature couples of diverse ages, races and backgrounds. A gay male couple, parents with no time for intimacy, even a polycule is given the deluxe treatment. And the rooms range from spa escape, to rock and roll dungeon. The objects Rose finds are gorgeous and unique. I wish I knew where she got the wallpaper from Hannah and Wesley’s reveal. My one complaint is that all the rooms are loaded with stuff. Who is dusting that shelf full of dildos?

The show is clever, in that they never reveal the end product on the same episode where you met the “client.” You can’t help but watch the next one. So far, my friend and I have been spreading them out with just two episodes per sitting. I dare you not to find something to turn you on in each episode, from exquisite showers made for two to a St. Andrew’s cross, this is a smorgasbord of sexual delights. On her website, she gives a description of how she designed the room, along with suggestions for how to DIY yours. One of my favorite vignettes is when she goes to buy chains for suspension play from a big-box hardware store. The salesman was 50 shades of red faced.

We don’t know yet if there’s going to be a season two of How to Build a Sex Room on Netflix. If there is, what would it take for me to have my sex-positive retreat center and be one of the clients, or be one of her guest sexperts? I wonder.

And while I can’t hang wallpaper worth a damn, I can certainly help get the real sex back into your relationship (see what I did there? teehee) with online coaching or in person retreats.