Home redecoration anxiety! She wants to "make changes".

[LatinSwede]

Perhaps I'm just an aging heavy metal kid, having trouble growing up.  My bachelor pad is just the way I like it, with my musical stuff all over the living room.  I've got 3 stereos (one just for spinning my records), lots of vinyl records, cassettes (my cassette racks go from the ceiling to the floor), CD's (6 racks on the wall and 2 towers full), and the rest of the living room walls are covered with music memorablelia. Most of my walls are covered with band posters, and special edition albums  that I had custom framed.  Oh! Did I mention I'm also an amateur musician?  Side by side, with my stereo cabinets are my amplifiers, guitars and basses (on stands). I've even got a little group on the side and we make our own songs.  Music has been a big part of my life for a very long time.  Visitors in my home have made comments ranging from "wow! You really like music", "It's like a rock music studio", and (my cousin) "oh my God!  It looks like a vampire lives here!"

It gets even better.  As you walk towards the back a nice image of a machine toting Al Pacino's (See Scarface) greets you with "Say Hello to my little friend".  In my bedroom (it's got a movie theme), most of the walls are covered with movie posters.  These are all guy movies!  Basically action/adventure/horror which includes 2 of Romero's classic works.  Not anybody can sleep with Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead over their bedside.   I just added an Underworld poster the otherday.  While the lving room is full of music, the bedroom has 3 racks full of VHS, and a DVD collection.  If you're looking for a heartfelt love story, you'll be dissapointed.  Other than that, visting guest have a wide range of action, fantasy, martial arts, war flicks, ANIME, and some comedy.  If you want someting more "ethnic", I got Russian action/war/mafia movies, and some very bloody and violent movies from Japan.

In a nutshell, it's the ultimate Male Oasis.  This place has been like my own personal CBGB's I sleep in.  Now I've got to get ready for the Mrs who made it very clear she's going to make changes.  She told me she's going to give it "the lady's touch".  I've sent her pictures of my place from every different angle to give her a full view (the best I can with the camera) of where she's going.  She told me she's impressed, but doesn't want to live in a rock club.  By the way our musical tastes are as different as day and night as well. Hmm. Sometimes I have scary dreams that I'll wake up, and see nice floral arrangements, quilted patterns, pretty curtains.  On the other hand it's nice to have a real feminine lady.  If we were both the exactly the same it would get boring. 

Catzenmouse if you're reading this, you and your wife still got a chance to glimpse the ending glory days of my bachelor pad.  Just 3 more months before Ms Good Housheeping comes to take over.  No more throwing my jacket on the couch, peeing with the door open, walking in with my shoes on, or hiding from the daylight. 

[Captmonk1]

Time to live the married life dude. 

Get busy being married or get busy being single.

It sounds like your place IS the awesome guy house but that's all over with now my friend.     My best advise is to embrace it. I fought it for 6 months or so and now have given up. Two rooms are already painted and now searching for new bedroom furniture and paint for the bedroom.

The best thing and perhaps the only thing you can do now is pick out one room for you...game room...office or something if you can. Make that your "guy room". Most girls seem to allow one guy room in the house....mostly...  <---Aliens reference. 2 points for guessing who said it.

Brad

[LatinSwede]

Now I live in a one bedroom,  After she gets here, my lease gets close to expiring.  We'll be looking for a decent 2 bedroom apartment.  We already agreed that I'm having the spare bedroom for my "boy things".  I take it the KISS magnets won't go on the refrigerator.

[ronin308]

Brad that'd be Newt.  Fortunately I don't have that much stuff so I won't have to go through much of that.

[PeeWee]

Now I live in a one bedroom,  After she gets here, my lease gets close to expiring.  We'll be looking for a decent 2 bedroom apartment.  We already agreed that I'm having the spare bedroom for my "boy things".  I take it the KISS magnets won't go on the refrigerator.

Everything in the house changes when the little woman moves here. I was thinking that I might rent an appartment when she turns up so that she can have her way with that place thus leaving my home in its pristine condition. Then, a year or so later, after she burns herself decorating self out then I move her on into the big house. I wonder if that would work?

peewee

[Turboguy]

Buy a bigger house with a game room and put your stuff there.   Being married and with a home decorated like that would be more than grounds for divorce. 

[PeeWee]

Buy a bigger house with a game room and put your stuff there.   Being married and with a home decorated like that would be more than grounds for divorce. 

I don't know, Turbo, I've seen a few stangely decorated Russian homes. Liberal use of lively wallpaper that kind of matches the busy carpeting patterns. If I could some how get her to meet with a Scandavian interior decorator and then a French chef then I think all of my concerns will have been met.

Peewee

[LatinSwede]

Scandinavian interior decorator?  It's a lucky thing I'm half Swede!  Maybe some extended family will help.

[Son of Clyde]

Be prepared for a major makeover.

Your "male" theme may become limited to one room the rest of the place will have that female touch.

The 11th commandment should read "thou shalt not redecorate before she arrives."

[Bruce]

Start lining up the contractors now!  Prepare to move.  Get ready to buy a new gas stove and laundry machine.

[Turboguy]

I think it might be wise to not let her rush into re-decorating.  The styles are very different in the FSU than America and you might end up with something she will hate once she gets used to America but again the batchlor pad them will probably not cut it.

[jb]

Yep,,, I can honestly say that after almost 4 years of living with a Russian wife, my home looks nothing like what I had when she got here.  All new furniture, new sofas and loveseats, tables are all new and they have table cloths and doilies now, beds have matching spreads and bedskirts and pillow shams, (or whatever those things are called), all the windows now have color coordinated draperies and curtains in addition to blinds, walls have pictures and paintings hung, and every appliance has been replaced with the exception of the washer and dryer.  The last thing to go was my old bedroom TV, it got replaced with a new 32" hi-def flat panel TV just a couple of months ago.  No big deal, it was about to die of old age anyway.

Yes, my friend, your life is about to change.  And probably for the better.

[Goldtop]

This song is for you - I'm Going to Hire a Wino to Decorate Our Home

I came crawling home last night, like many nights before:
I finally made it to my feet as she opened up the door.
And she said, "You're not gonna do this anymore."

She said: "I'm gonna' hire a wino to decorate our home,
"So you'll feel more at ease here, and you won't have to roam.
"We'll take out the dining room table, and put a bar along that wall.
"And a neon sign, to point the way, to our bathroom down the hall."

She said: "Just bring your Friday paycheck, and I'll cash them all right here.
"And I'll keep on tap - for all your friends, their favorite kinds of beer.
"And for you, I'll always keep in stock, those soft aluminum cans.
"And when you're feeling macho, you can crush them like a man."

She said: "We'll rip out all the carpet, and put sawdust on the floor.
"Serve hard boiled eggs and pretzels, and I won't cook no more.
"There'll be Monday night football, on T.V. above the bar.
"And a pay phone in the hallway, when your friends can't find their car."

She said: "You'll get friendly service, and for added atmosphere.
"I'll slip on something sexy, and I'll cut it clear to here.
"Then you can slap my bottom, every time you tell a joke.
"Just as long as you keep tipping, well, I'll laugh until you're broke."

I'm going to hire a wino to decorate our home.

[ConnerVT]

Now that I finished painting our sons room (again, it was the first room I painted two years ago when they arrived) I have time to post.

Be thankful you only have a small place.  I'm grateful ours is only a two bedroom, as every ceiling and wall has been repainted; the kitchen remodeled with refinished cabinets, new floor, appliances, and plumbing; new flooring throughout (the laminate gets installed tomorrow in the room I just painted, then I can reinstall the baseboard).  Every electric outlet, telephone and cable TV jack, light switch, and ceiling light fixture has been replaced.  All the door hardware too.

There are only about four pieces of furniture left that I owned before I got married (most in my sons room).  The living room and dining room sets were bought before we married, the bedroom was delivered two weeks before they arrived.

I can relate with jb on the TV -- the 26" Sharp is destined to get relocated to a bedroom, as my wife doesn't feel it fits with the 'new' living room decor.  A 42" plasma is destined to end up mounted on the wall by Christmas.

Some of our biggest 'disagreements' (chose that word carefully, I did) have been over the remodeling.  Not that it needed to be done, but rather how and to what level.  Funny, the worst was over the color choice of one wall!  I knew it would be the correct color once the rest of the work was done, but it was a little to intense for her when I first painted it (it wasn't going to be easy to change plans at that point!)

The funniest part of it all -- I believe that we'll be selling this place in the next 18 months, and I'll get to start all over again, just in a larger place!

Pray for me, would ya folks?

[rose]

I know only one trick how to stop a woman from home "improvement": to find a full-time job for her or send her to school, real school, not ESL.
Something tells me, after 8 hours of work daily, her desire for remodeling will start dissolving, and she might finish out by agreeing just make minor changes...

[Turboguy]

Even after 8 hours of work it does not take much more energy to sit there and say Honey do this and when you are done, with that paint the bedroom.

[LatinSwede]

Our first year together will be in apartments, and then to a proper house.  Then she can decide about painting.  By the time she gets here, my lease will be over in 3 months.  I renewed it just for 6 more, to give us both enough time to get settled and adjusted as husband and wife.  We'll select a nice 2 bedroom together.  Actually, her taking my poster down and storing them away, will save me the labor of doing it myself when it's time to move.  We both agreed that in our next place I'm using the spare room for my guy stuff.  The rest of the home will be her little Odessa, Ukraine away from home.

A lot of my music memorabilia is stuff I collected since I was a kid.  Many have been long out of print!  I can't can't take a time machine back to the 1980's and early 90's to get another one.  Well there's e-bay but that gets expensive.

As a tease, I told her I'm going to put my posters up in the little babys room.  She didn't think it was very funny.

[Jumper]

rose said:

I know only one trick how to stop a woman from home "improvement": to find a full-time job for her or send her to school, real school, not ESL.
Something tells me, after 8 hours of work daily, her desire for remodeling will start dissolving, and she might finish out by agreeing just make minor changes...

LOL!
Spoken like a true RW. 

Swede , i was in trouble for NOT having any design or decorations..lol

I had just built this house, (well ok about a year or two before)
 and left it white..
NO curtains lol, sparsely furnished..
mostly due to just not caring,
(i'm a guy afterall,  and my garage is my home,when i'm home.lol i'm not an inside person.)

partly due to thinking that well,, shes coming in about a year ,
so i will leave a blank canvas for her to do with what she wants
(within our means of course)
I did have a big aquarium..150gal.. (she hates it)

anyway,,
how could anyone live like this? lmao!

and yes she has painted or changed or hung things or bought curtains or,,whatever to every room

and especially the bathrooms,, they really got the make-overs,,

i joke with her that i should have just built another %$#ING house,
for all the home depot trips ..wtf!!

(jb and fred seem to know this drill well)

so you see?
 heavy metal posters,
 wouldnt have got me in any more trouble

now my posters, photos ,number plates, plaques, trophies,albums,guitars,
 are regulated to the basement or the garage..
but then again i used to have bikes in the house..
and once decorated one as a christmas tree
(it was red afterall? a lil green ,and some ornanments and an wa' la! )
(she doesnt know about that,but it wouldnt surprise her  lol)


So do what you want, ultimately you cant win anyway.
you will be assimilated. resistance is futile.




all kidding aside, she did a lot of the work, and my house looks like a true pro interior designer really thought it out, and worked thier magic..

but yea i have had what seems an endless things to do with the house or the yard.
and like rose said, i have joked with her that she needs a full time job soon, so she wont have as much time to dwell on what i need to be doing..

[LatinSwede]

Ha!  I don't even have curtains up.  I just rely on those plain white venician blinds for privacy.  She'll put a stop to that for sure.

[Jumper]

i dint have blinds either..
nada.

well ok, there was an old sheet over the bedroom window,,
that should be ok right?

Since your moving to a new place anyway ,
it will all work out i'm sure.. lol

[LatinSwede]

I'm curious to get input from the women out there.

We're not even hitched yet and it's like the women in my family (aunties) are siding with her against me.  The gist of it I'm getting is "tough! She's coming in to take over so get used to it!".

[Wayne]

I think it is typical for any woman, from any country, to want to decorate the home and make it "cozy"  You just need to teach her how to use and clean the paint brush/roller, etc.  Buy her a sewing machine and tape measure so she can custom fit those drapes.  If she insists on a gas range, you need at least two pipe wrenches. 

I just started a sauna project.  Has anyone experienced a Russian Banya?

[Admin]

I just started a sauna project.  Has anyone experienced a Russian Banya?

Yep - couple of them. Beat the hell out of me with those tree branches. I stopped short of the cold dip. Didn't think my heart could stand it.

- Dan

[Turboguy]

Someplace I have a picture of myself after being beat half to death with the branches.  I too passed on the cold dip.  I was already beet red from the branches and the heat. 

Remember it takes a while for the plants to grow.  You should get them planted as soon as you can so they are big enough for her to whip you with them.  You never realized how sadistic these Russian gals are did you?

[LatinSwede]

The upside of the home make over will be this.  It's a reminder that I don't have a loudmouthed trailer cow, trying to act like a man.  It's nice to be in the company of a real lady.

[calcowboy1]

The upside of the home make over will be this.  It's a reminder that I don't have a loudmouthed trailer cow, trying to act like a man.  It's nice to be in the company of a real lady.

Yup!!!, definately look forward to it, you will be thankful in the end. 

I thought I actually have a well designed pad, with some tasteful decorating.  A few years ago I began to really hate living in a "bachelor pad" (althought if I had a bike like AJ, it would have been inside the house at Christmas as well!!!!).

When my wife arrived it has been non-stop house improvements.  We also have quite a large yard, and holy crap, I never had such a beautiful yard, there are freakn flowers everywhere, fresh new stain on the fence, freshly painted front porch, and this weekend we are going to get cherry trees to plant.  Personally, I want a fish pond in the backyard so me and the pooch can sit out there and do some fishing.

Anyway, I like all the improvements, it has been awesome!!

[bobs12]

Get used to it! After living with my girlfriend in a (my) rented flat for two years in St. Petersburg, I had to break the door in one night. This led to a major refurbishment of the corridor, and we never had so many arguments in the whole time we'd been together.

This colour. "No! This colour!"

Linoleum. "No! Carpet!"

Downlighters. "No! Uplighters!"

And so on.

Enjoy

[catzenmouse]

Hey LS,

 Yes, your former life is going to get covered with pink flowery fabric and Dawn of the Dead will be replaced with framed covers from Harelequin Romance novels...

 I must have found the one RW who did not change a thing in the house when she arrived. Still had the back bedroom with the pool table and the "ahem" girl posters on the walls, my swords stayed up along with all the other decorations that were there. When we moved into the flat we decorated together and when we get back into a house again I will just tell her to do what ever she wants to do.

Ken

P. S. I've got the invite and the directions and it will be a good way to show Elena how good she has it with me...

[LatinSwede]

Oh Yes, July 23rd.  Get ready to meet Eastern Europe.  Slovakians, a Bosnian, a handful of  Russians,and just maybe a Ukrainian.  Sometimes, I feel like got sent them to me to prepare for my Odessa lady's arrival.  Come ASAP, before they drink and eat everything.  Well, that's what happened last year anyway.

For now, I got no room mates, and run thngs as I see fit.  In my bathroom, I can keep the door open while I'm showering/bathing, brushing my teeth, shaving, and other unmentionables.   As well I can sleep with the TV/Video player on.  Anytime of the day (within proper hours) I can play whatever I want on my stereos or strum my guitar without being fussed at.  The things we do for the love of a woman.

The bright side is the home will be much more neater and presentable.  There's actually going to be real food preperation and cooking in my little kitchen.  The closest I've doen to cooking, it heating up Ramen on the stove, or heating fish stick and tater tots in the oven.  Sometimes, I even open a big can of Mexican Menudo, that is a tad t "ethnic for some people's tastes.

[Vaughn]

LS,

 Your lifestyle reminds me of two things: my distant past,
and Tom Waits' lyrics in Better Off Without a Wife:

all my friends are married, every Tom and Dick and Harry
you must be strong to go it alone
here's to the bachelors and the bowery bums
and those who feel that they're the ones
who are better off without a wife

I like to sleep until the crack of noon
midnight howlin' at the moon
goin' out when I want to, comin' home when I please
I don't have to ask permission
if I want to go out fishing
and I never have to ask for the keys....

It's gonna be fun to read of YOUR transition, friend!

Vaughn

[LatinSwede]

Until the Mrs. comes, I'm enjoying the bachelor pad to the very end.  Like I said, by the time she gets here I'll be closer to the other end of my lease. Then she'll have a blank page to give her lady's touch. After the honeymoon phase is over, it's going to get a bit crowded for 2 anyway.

Hmm, what will our first night here be like? After a long day of sitting if customs, flights, airport layovers, we'll be both be so exausted, she'll be too tired to notice.  Atleast I hope so.  However I get the feeling, she just might insist I take down George Romero's (Night of the Living/Dawn of the Dead) classics before we finally turn in for the night. If so, I will take them down without a grudge.  She's going to help this "Owen Wilson" grow up.  Of Owen Wilsons' new movie coming out, reminds me of why I'm glad I don't have room mates.

[Turboguy]

Damn Latin Sweede, don't remind me of George Romeros Night of the Living dead.  I had a chance to be in that movie in a very small way and didn't and have been kicking myself ever since,  Now you remind me about it.  The small part would have been one of the army guys who come through the field at the end shooting the vampires as well as the hero.  I was in the National Guard at the time and they announced they were looking for people.  That and almost going to Woodstock but passing were the two biggest regrets of that part of my life.

[LatinSwede]

Nowadays one would probably have to go to Canada to be an extra.  The last big Zombie flicks were shot in Vancouver, I think.  Lots of movies that supposedly are set in New York, or Chicago are flimed in Canada because it's cheaper.  Good example's are the Dawn of the Dead remake, Resident Evil, and Land of the Dead.  It's kind of hard to believe you can produce movies on a much lower budget in a country that taxes the crap out of you.  Pan your vacation to Montreal or Vancouver for the next big shoot.

Coming home from Odessa, I met a "fellow American" that was talking my head off.  I think I probably was easy going with him after he told me he's from Pittsburg.  That's Romero's hometown, where Night of the Living Dead put the place on the horror map.  I was still a little kid in pre-school when Dawn came out. So it took another 10 years (jr high) before I saw it.  It creeped the stuffing out of me, and I've been hooked eversince.

[Turboguy]

Night of the living dead was filmed in Evans City, PA.  It is probably the biggest thing that ever happened there but I am sure they didn't realize it at the time.  The Budget to produce it was $ 100,000.   I think it is over the $ 100,000,000 mark now in Revenues.   One of his others was filmed in the Monroeville Mall, usually during the middle of the night.  It is funny, you see big budget flops and movies like Night of the Living dead and Dr No which also had a budget of $ 100,000 that are classics and make a ton of money.

[Markus]

After hitting my knuckle several times with a hammer, I thought of this thread. My house is 16 years old, but Oksana said it looked like a grandma's home.

We took down the wallpaper in the bathroom and I figured we should change the faucets also since I have faucets with that fake gold plated stuff and they look like crap. All was well until I got to the shower. I had to tear down a wall to replace new fittings. So I decided to retile the shower and found out I needed to tear down the walls to the studs. Right now our shower is down to the studs. I had to chissle out some concrete off the floor and just finished clobbering my knuckle several times. I will retile the shower and floor and then we will re-wallpaper.

My wife wants to put up a large murial on the bedroom wall but my walls have a knockdown finish. So I began mudding the wall, came home after work one day, and Oksana had finished mudding the wall. She then applied a 2nd coat of mud and even sanded it down later. The wall is ready to go, but, my wife did most of the work.

Next, the kitchen will change, the floors in the whole house will change along with the color of the walls.

The bottom line is that I expected some change but not this much. Of course, I have to admit part of it is interesting and a little fun. The home is looking more like a home instead of a man's sleeping place.

So in my case, change was necessary.

Mark

[LatinSwede]

I added a Superman Returns promo poster on the bedroom wall. It was a give away in the Regal multiplex lobby. Ofcourse it's a matter of months before she takes it down with the rest.  I'm just having fun until the final day.

I just saw the new Pirates of the Carribean.  It's awsome.  Not sure if she's seen it yet, but we both love the first one.  She'll probably put that one onwhile I'm away at work.  Hmm, I think a good deal of our time together in Odessa was sitting in the living room watching TV.

[2tallbill]

I wonder if that would work?

peewee

Nope, your life changes irreversibly the moment she steps in the door.
It will continue every place you live until you die. She will pick out your
suit and casket that you are buried in as well. You can fight it but you
will lose.

[ML]

My Ukrainian wife has been here for 10 years and there has been zero redecorating inside our house.

Outside there was extensive flowers and landscaping, and she has maintained them the same, with annual flowers, etc.

The really big change was with respect to a garden.

I had a very small area where I grew tomatoes and carrots.
Probably 60 square feet of area.

Now she has a 2,500 square feet fenced garden with dozens of items growing.

Each year she proudly announces just how far past the growing season certain items last.  Such as still having potatoes (stored in basement) into March and April.

I have seen some redecorating done by FSU women in USA . . . and it ain't pleasant to look at.  Perhaps something like 1930s look in USA.

[Boethius]

What do you mean by 1930's decor? 


I find a lot of FSUW like gaudy things, the faux Louis XIV look.  But that's a generalization on my part.

[ML]

What do you mean by 1930's decor? 

I find a lot of FSUW like gaudy things, the faux Louis XIV look.  But that's a generalization on my part.

I don't really know what I am talking about in terms of how to describe decor.  Perhaps gaudy is a fairly accurate term.

[Nightwish]

My lovely girl did not comment at all on my "decoration style" when she first came here or the many visits after - she thought I had good taste, maybe just a little "careful" with colors and decorations over all, I am quite minimalistic and tend to throw a lot of things I don't feel the need for.
My color choice is grey.. sort of. 

My house looked something like a crossing between a showroom and a bachelor pad I would guess.

When she moved in here last summer she didn't really change anything right away - aside from the kitchen which I apparently knew nothing about where things went before she came here - and certainly never said anything about it, but slowly but surely I noticed more colors, different curtains, new bedsheets, towels and couch pillows and a lot - A LOT - more tealights and candles everywhere.
All in all, this house don't look anything like it did when I was "in charge", to my delight I might add. It feels a lot more like a home than just my house.

The only thing (room) she wont touch is my home office, even though she spends as much time as me in here, aside from the desk and chair I bought her nothing is changed. She is right now sitting behind me reading this with a smirk on her face, I am starting to wonder if I either let the cat out of the bag or if she knows something I don't 

[Sailor291]

My lovely girl did not comment at all on my "decoration style" when she first came here or the many visits after - she thought I had good taste, maybe just a little "careful" with colors and decorations over all, I am quite minimalistic and tend to throw a lot of things I don't feel the need for.
My color choice is grey.. sort of. 

My house looked something like a crossing between a showroom and a bachelor pad I would guess.

When she moved in here last summer she didn't really change anything right away - aside from the kitchen which I apparently knew nothing about where things went before she came here - and certainly never said anything about it, but slowly but surely I noticed more colors, different curtains, new bedsheets, towels and couch pillows and a lot - A LOT - more tealights and candles everywhere.
All in all, this house don't look anything like it did when I was "in charge", to my delight I might add. It feels a lot more like a home than just my house.

The only thing (room) she wont touch is my home office, even though she spends as much time as me in here, aside from the desk and chair I bought her nothing is changed. She is right now sitting behind me reading this with a smirk on her face, I am starting to wonder if I either let the cat out of the bag or if she knows something I don't 

We both collaborate in our home decor, on I confess it’s usually whatever she wants.  She does ask my opinion most of the time.  I will say how every, I thoroughly love how she keeps our home.  Basically, she makes it a “home”.   

[GQBlues]

When my wife came in the beginning, I was living in an apartment in the Marina. She never really changed anything in the house as it was already fully furnished. 4-5 years later, we bought our first home together and we pretty much started fresh. I donated most of our furniture, out with the old and in with the new.

From choosing paint color, to window dressings (ultimately decided on plantation shutters), furniture, flooring (hardwood/carpeting) backsplash and counter tops, appliances, etc...it was a total collaboration.

This was an incredibly fun time for both of us as we started shopping around for everything that wouldn't be coming from the design center while the house was getting built. Once we closed, then deliveries came and everything fit to a tee.

She really liked how it all fell in place with such ease, and how it all came out well.