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

[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.