Do you live like a guy or a girl?

[oldhat]

Reading this made me feel much better about my own apartment. I've got nothing on the walls, a single full-size bed with no frame, small dresser, recliner, utility table and desk chair. I thought I was Spartan, but compared to some of the abodes described in the article, I'm living the lifestyles of the rich and famous.

I'm curious about others' decor. Would you describe your living space as spare and bare or filled with stuff? Or somewhere in between? The article suggests there's a distinct gender bias--would you agree?

[razz]

My space is quite limited to items that have a history, are attractive, useful and colourful. I always have dressed up my living space to reflect this view of decor now I think about it. Empty looking isn't the problem for me but waiting until I find what is just right IMO. I have bare walls that are waiting for something special. I have one set of curtains for my bedroom but nowhere else. I want the light to come in.

[iris lilies]

There is no question, my living room is decorated by a female person well over the age of 60, as most real estate sgents would surmise. They would know this is likely not a gay man’s living room because it is not chic enough or fussy enough to be done by two gay men who care about decor. They would know it is not the home of someone who is anal about decor ( cheap sofa pillows) but it is the home of someone who likes to play around with decor ( Indian saris at the windows) , casually thrown up) It is obvious that I like architecture and flowers since those are the paintings on my wall.

[catherine]

I live like a girl, too. I don't have fussy tastes, but I like a certain aesthetic. Just today DH and I were looking for a wing chair or two to replace the sofa we bought for VT. (Remember that funky armless sofa I bought--DH HATES it--he says it's the most uncomfortable piece of furniture he's ever sat in--so it is now going to be the sofa/guest bed in the second bedroom/office).

We walked into a consignment shop where we bought many things over the years and serendipitously they happened to have two wing chairs. (DH finds wing chairs to be very comfortable). They are also the right price: $550 for two. Not bad upholstery. I could live with it. But they are a bit formal for a "rustic" little lake house. When I told the saleswoman that, DH didn't get what I was saying--at all. He has no conception of a certain period furniture and how they are define a room.

While we were arguing the point a shopper who just moved from Seattle to Princeton stopped and suggested we buy some Irish knit pillows and a braided rug to de-formalize it. Not a bad idea. But DH was listening as if she was speaking a different language.

[Teacher Terry]

Decorating my space has always been important to me and it’s one reason I prefer to own over renting. That article was funny.

[catherine]

That article was funny.

That article IS funny! I have 3 sons, now in their mid-late 30s (one is actually now 40). Thinking about their living quarters, they were never as extreme as the article suggests, but they certainly wouldn't get an award from Martha Stewart either! My oldest son moved to Florida in his mid-twenties. A few weeks later my MIL went to visit and we got this crisis call from her: "I feel SO SORRY for J__! His apartment doesn't have a stick of furniture in it!" She bought him cheap but functional furniture as quickly and urgently as if she were driving him to the emergency room. He is very domestic now, however. but still insists on buying second hand.

My third son lived with Son #2 for a while but then moved out when Son #2 got married. He loves his apartment and it is definitely his vibe. My only complaint is he really doesn't know how to clean a kitchen or bathroom very well, but otherwise, it has personality and warmth. He has tons of candles and pictures on the wall that mean a lot to him, and guitars. My other complaint: he has virtually nothing in the fridge. He works at a restaurant and they feed him, but, still, that's no excuse. I opened up his pantry and all I saw were neat rows of empty bottles headed for recycling.

Son #2 (my steady-as-she-goes son) bought his own house fairly young and he's outfitted it frugally but comfortably. He loves this house in Burlington. In fact, he has a picture of Bernie Sanders standing in his house because it was one of the great examples of the properties offered by the Burlington Housing Trust program. I feel bad for DIL because she'll never talk him into moving. He definitely is a "nester" and his nest is right where he is right now.

Three different guys. None of them as bad as what was portrayed in the article, thank God.

[jp1]

I had to look up what a wing chair was, but immediately thought "no, that's not right for a rustic lake house".

I don't particularly care about the furniture. At least not as much as SO. What's left of my old furniture from when I was single is in our second bedroom. We recently got rid of the mission style futon because SO bought me a much more modern looking couch to replace it for christmas. I like the new couch and it's more comfortable but I didn't dislike the futon enough to go to the hassle of shopping for something new so I'm glad SO just took matters into his own hands and made it happen.

[bae]

I guess I live like "all of above" :-)

[Gardnr]

I am sitting in our family room. Across from me is a painting by my oldest niece called "Bali Sunset". It's gorgeous and was a Christmas gift many years ago. I am looking at a snowman Cross-stitch made by my youngest sister. 6 different snowmen beautifully framed and matted. I am looking at a long quilted wallhanging I made with 2 fabrics I purchased on my trip to Kauai in 2004. I love it. I am also looking at 2 small framed painted "cards" made by a good friend's MIL. THere is a beautiful maple bowl on the table -handmade by my oldest nephew. Also on the table, a beautiful pair of polished stone bookends-a gift from a sister years ago. On another wall are 3 fun artsy not quite cartoony paintings I bought from a street artist back in 1998: a cat,walking across a keyboard, 3 polar bears wearing sunglasses and 3 neon cats on a fence at nightfall. I have a woodburning of a statehouse in the Netherlands made for us by an uncle back in the 80s. We had it framed.

I guess we're not sparse in the least. Each piece has meaning as we have met the artist or the artist is family.

[Teacher Terry]

Wing chairs are very comfortable.