Yeah. Uh-huh. A robot room. It IS as creepy as it sounds. But, that’s Mr. Strawberry for you. He’s a math and science person and I wouldn’t be able to tell you what 1/4 of 64 is if my life depended on it. I’m the creative person in the relationship. Ever since the wedding, I’ve been obsessed with decorating and now Mr. Strawberry is trying to get in on the action. His contribution to the design equation is a robot room. That’s the theme he wants for the office. Seriously. Let me show you a few of the prints he’d like to frame and hang:
No, no, no. I can’t have that in our home. Negative ghost rider. Which by the way, these were the best of the bunch. Maybe even okay on their own. But an entire wall, an entire room? Nay. And therein lies my problem. We have two entirely different decorating styles. I love anything and everything vintage, which I completely understand is not everyone’s cup of tea. In fact, Mr. Strawberry thinks anything that is distressed was a dumpster dive find. He on the other hand hates light colors and prints. That kind of limits my options.
Anyone else have differing tastes with their significant other when it comes to decorating your new home?
Here’s the key to solving your decorating clashes: let him have his own room to do whatever he wants. Let the man have a robot room if he wants it! Otherwise, you’re going to find the ‘bots in your living room.
Oh, I feel your pain. We can’t wait to get a house with a finished basement so his small toy collecting/gold trim everything/hotel art/memento collecting heart can go to town! This is a man who wants to paint the walls of the house black (”because black goes with everything!”) We try to compromise on the decor in the rest of the house, which means we end up with a lot of wrought iron and black and white photography, but at least we both mostly like it. For the most part…
it could be argued that the metropolis poster IS vintage. it is a very old film, after all.
but yeah, i agree with saltyveruca: give him his room and maybe you’ll have more freedom with the other rooms.
I think the robot posters are super cool and that a robot office sounds even cooler.
My FH has requested the basement (assuming we have one) be his space. He can keep his ny yankee momentos (bobbleheads and all) down there. I’m not a yankees fan (GO ANGELS) so that stuff needs to stay far away from me. He also likes metal - i like everything but. and he’s got weird taste in other things too. He gets the basement and the kitchen (organizing that is since he does most of cooking) - i get the rest of the house. we’ve agreed long ago. Boys are weird!
ROBOTS 4EVER!!
Metropolis is mad cool movie. I want that poster!
MRS. STRAWBERRY! oh how I’ve missed your posts!
sorry about the ‘bots.
As a compromise, maybe he could pick the prints, but you pick the wall color, desk set up, etc. That way you both have a say and the room is usable for you both.
My fiance and I have similar tastes to you two- he likes things like comic books and video games and really kind of simple, contemporary decor while I love vintage things.
We’ve lived together for 3 years, so what’s happened is we’ve compromised in the common spaces like our living room and bedroom, where we have this sort of blend of things we DO agree on, neither of which are framed comic books or rusty, worn paint milk crates. I decorate my art room and bathroom in my style, and he goes crazy in his bathroom and computer room.
My fiance and I have very similar taste, so decorating is pretty easy, but I must say, those two prints are really really cool!! You could mix them in with some other great pieces to have a very chic room, and the best part– hubby is happy.
Luckily my fiance and I have similar enough tastes that we can usually easily compromise on decorating. However, a lot of couples who don’t settle the issue by designating a “Man Room” where he can do whatever he wants, and the woman gets the rest of the house. This falls very much under traditional, old-fashioned gender roles where the home is the woman’s realm, but if you don’t mind catering to that, and you have an extra room, this might be an option.
With posters like that, why not go for an art deco feel then? You don’t have to have too many and he can get a “sleek” “modern” (in a vintage way) robot room that you can like too.
Uhm helllooo Mrs. Strawberry! You are sorely missed around here.
Don’t have much to say about the robots, except.. maybe sorry
We have blue and green man-colored accent walls. They are tolerable, at best. Lucky for him, our house is so blindingly bright (since the rest of the walls are stark white and really really high) so its not as bad as it sounds. But I pretty much decorate erring on the side of masculine now. Its like, clearly decorated by a woman with man colors and accents. Greys and Blues.
If it were up to me the big green wall would be changed to a lovely lavender grey in a heartbeat
Mr beanchar has fighter plane models (and the occasional Star Wars and BSG spaceship) hanging from the celing in his home office. Fortunately, there is not enough wallspace (due to bookcases) for his ugly and GI-NORMOUS 3-D style burnt orange & black painting of the Colleseum, so that little beauty lives in his office at the university.
He moved into my house, so we have yet to to any top-to-bottom decorating together, but when the day comes it should be interesting, as he keeps talking about “deep red walls” and “thick velvet curtains” and I like pale walls and wooden blinds. Oy.
I think being a Renaissance scholar has influenced hs taste and he thinks “Medici” when it comes to sprucing up a room! 
Compromise! He gets a robot poster - you get Roomba robot vacuum!!! It’s only fair.
It’s 16!!
You could always decorate in a steampunk style. You get the old time victorian look, and he gets his robots. Actually Mr. Hummingbird makes some really great steampunk inspired prints, check them out http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5889416
I’m sorry but that’s probably the coolest idea I’ve ever heard!!! I want a robot room!
Our office is the robot room, and it’s awesome!!! We’ve been in competitive robotics for 23 years (combined), and its such a part of our relationship it’s natural to want to show it off.
I say give it a shot - it’s a room you can close the door to if you have to, and you never know, you may love it!
Yeah you’re back! You are too funny for color tv strawberry! (stolen from Steel Magnolias). I too have the same problem. My lovely FI thinks fake wood furniture from Ikea is awesome and he especially loves a painting he created that is *supposed to be* a bonfire on a beach at dusk. Sounds nice, right? Well what I get the pleasure of hanging on my Living Room Wall is a giant blue canvas with an orange triangle ( the bonfire?) on it. Art is so subjective….
Hi Ms. Strawberry,
I know your pain. My hubs and I just got married and are finally moving in together in two weeks. He has this horrible and very large metal sculpture of an old-west town, complete with saloon, hanging over his fireplace. I really hate it! I’ve also heard the “give-him-his-own room solution.” But I have to ask - as the wife, is it even within my power to offer him his own room? What about being the wife places home decor solely within my realm? It’s almost like a husband saying to the wife, you can have this allowance and do whatever you want with it, and I’ll handle the rest of the money. That kind of solution may have worked for prior generations, but not for most modern-day couples where the gender roles are not so clearly defined. If we, the women, have equal rights in the home - to build our own career, have equal say in managing the finances, etc - then shouldn’t men be entitled to an equal say in decorating? Okay - so I know I’m not helping you or myself figure out a way to force our significant others to abandon their decorating interests, but maybe it’s not our place to do so. Maybe, compromise is really the only way to solve the issue - so you may have to live with the robots, I may have to live with the old-west thing, and in exchange our husbands may have to live with objects equally undesirable to them. So much for progress!
Mrs. Strawberry, Seattle
Age and Occupation: 25, Radio DJ, Advertising Sales, Day of Wedding Coordinator
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Engineer
Engagement Date: 07/04/2006
Wedding Date: September 1, 2007
Venue: Lake Union Cafe, Seattle
About Me: I'm a Navy brat that has lived all over the world. I love reality shows that are in poor taste, going to new restaurants, and trying to be crafty. Emphasis on trying!
My FH has suggested a Lego room.