Men and cottage style.

[Jilliebean]

Some cottage styles tend to be a bit feminine (i.e. floral patterns, pastel colours). I'm curious to hear from men (or about your men/husbands/partners) about their preferences when it comes to cottage style. Hubby and I have only been married 4 years and are just starting to put a dent into redecorating our house to suit our style. He's a big guy and is fine with my choices as long as they aren't "froo froo pieces of furniture that will break if I walk too close to it".

[MapleCottage]

Great thread, Jellie! My husband has the same feelings - nothing froo-froo and it has to be comfy. I can get away with a few romantic touches here and there. I'd say he's more of a fish camp/lodge cottage kinda guy!

[greenoak]

at our cottage we have a room that dh is involved in...usually he doesnt care much, hes mainly about comfort ..the cottage is nice and casual ,but not all pink, lots of flowers tho, he basically goes along with whatever,,,...anyway this one room is about his fun things, vacation finds, robots, flying men, planet steve, an artist we kind of collect....that room is just waiting for him...if the couch clashes with everything else or the computer is covering up a neat antique table i will just not worrry about it...the lamp is about light not how it looks......we have had it for 2 years and he hasnt done much!!

i sell a lot of furniture to couples and men usually dont have much say...but in general they dont care for lots of white painted furniture in the main rooms, i see the women working with the guy more in the main areas of the house but its usually about her taste not his........ they seem to like wood and dark better..its a lot of compromise, you dont want him to feel like hes living in a girly botique........
ann
www.greenoakantiques.com

[annielnb]

OK, I'll rephrase that, all that is pink, frilly and flowery is contained in our girls' bedrooms we have five girls and three bedrooms for them, so I get my fill of the pink floral, shabby chic type decor in that part of the house. My husband is pretty mellow about my color choices (our living room is deep red, our dining room deep green). Our bedroom can have a couple pillows with flowers on them, but no pink girly stuff. Since it's OUR home I want him to feel comfortable too(He is about decorating like I am about computers, I just want it to work, I don't care how it's accomplished). Dh is all about comfort, but his leather, very modern looking, massage chair is being relegated to the basement family room, I gotta draw the line somewhere:) !

Anne

[Serendipity]

I have been a fan of cottage style for many years I think I can even trace it back to the movie On Golden Pond. I loved the cottage in that movie.

Cottage Elements I love in no particular order:

well loved furniture
over stuffed pillows
twig furniture
adirondack chairs
log homes
arts and crafts style
cedar shingles
black and white family photos
wooden docks
rustic decorations
antique rocking chairs
white furnished furniture
a few antiques
and of course

crafts

:) that felt good, Thanks

Hugh

[Jilliebean]

Glad to be of service, Hugh! :)

[Ladybug]

What an interesting topic!!! I have a story to go with it...

A few years ago I went to a friend's house...they had just been given nearly brand-new furniture (the original owners just didn't care for it). It was in perfect condition. We had been looking for furniture and when I saw this, I knew it was IT. What's funny is that it's not something I would have even stopped to look at in the store. It was cream-colored with a large floral pattern (red/pink cabbage roses and blue hydrangea). It was gorgeous and I was in love!!! I spent the next several months looking online and in stores and could never find the pattern again.

Several months later, the friend called and said they didn't really like the furniture...they weren't comfortable with the light background and their 2 small children and did I want it???? :eek: :eek: After picking myself up off the floor, I managed a yes and ran to tell DH. He was, shall we say, LESS than thrilled. He'd seen the furniture and didn't like it...too feminine, he said. Well, we've had the furniture for over a year now and he absolutely LOVES it. It's SO comfortable and cozy....perfect for snuggling up with a book or magazine (or in DH's case, the TV remote!)

Long story long ;), he now trusts me completely when it comes to decorating the house. The floral pattern doesn't bother him anymore and now that he knows that I really DO look at the comfort level of an item, he's much more comfortable allowing me to make the decisions about decor. He despises the modern/contemporary style and anything "stuffy", so the cottage style is perfect for us...laid back and comfortable for him, a bit feminine and colorful for me.

[Jenny]

I was just thinking this very thing a few days ago while dying fabrics for drapes in my boyfriend's house.

He and I have been together for five years, but I am just now doing some of his rooms -- God knows they've needed attention.

One reason I didn't previously inject my style on his place is that he is more than a little squeamish about change. And the suggestion of certain colors can send him into a tailspin (it's almost entertaining).

As it happened, last winter I picked up a darling second hand maple china cabinet for a song and then a few months later The Boyfriend and I took a quick trip to New York City. The two events are seemingly unrelated, except for the furniture and boutique stores I dragged him into in New York made quite an impression. How could they not? There was painted furniture and fabulous fabrics -- it isn't everyday one gets to actually touch a $14,000 armoire. Certainly not here.:D

So, we return from this trip and I begin eyeing that nondescript little second hand maple china cabinet. I try to explain to the boyfriend what I have in mind... plaid... but just on the drawers... fabric, to frame the lower cabinet doors... decoupage... checkerboard. The mounting horror on his face was priceless.

And in the end ... more than a year after painted it, The Boyfriend still smiles the minute he sees this darling piece. That face is priceless too. (It might help that his mother's shabbiest china pieces are nestled inside... but I like to think it is the happy paint job that he didn't want to like in the first place is what captured his attention.)

I would think cottage lends itself well to men so long as it isn't too pale or delicate -- richer colors, more substantial fabrics.

[zuzus_garden]

Jenny - your story cracked me up. Please, oh please, can you share a picture of your china cabinet?

Zu

[Jenny]

Hi Zuzu: Is there a place to post photos here -- I haven't seen photos on these forums... have I?

[Jenny]

Zuzu:

If I have this right, follow this link to click on the attachment that says "kitchen". http://community.cottageliving.com/profile.php?do=editattachments

See if that works.

Jenny

[zuzus_garden]

Nope - from that link I can only see MY managed attachments. :(

Try this. Start a new post. Scroll down and in "Additional Options" click on "Manage Attachments". A new window will open. Click the "Browse" button. Find the image file on your computer that you want to share and click on it. It should show up in the "File To Upload" field. Now, press the "Upload" button. As I recall, you won't see it until you submit your post.

Hope it works!

Zu

[Joe]

Well, as a man i can tell you i hate that "shabby chic" look. Flowers don't bother me, as our couch, chair, and ottoman are blue with a cream flower print on them. I like them. I also detest modern cottages, it just doesn't seem right to me, reminds me of an apt in NY. We built a replica of a 1920s bungalow. The reason for this was well what we did find had no yards, lots of traffic or were in total disrepair and the task of fixing up did not appeal to me. Sorry ya'll. That's when the land in the country was bought, and plan for the house WE wanted started and we love it.

I like the country and eclectic cottage style. This works well with our "new" arts and crafts cottage. Our coffe table and side tables are mission style. Our kitchen cabinets are stained early american they have bead board on the sides etc. I like the mix with the old and new. Our tv armoire we picked up at a flea market i can't even tell you what it started life as, but repairing busted ends, reinforcing for the tv, sanding, and staining it brought it back.

I basically let my wife have complete reign on our bedroom and the guest. As you women know. Men listen: Happy wife, Happy life.(now repeat 3 times) As long as the main house rooms dining, living, and kitchen aren't too wimpyish. We don't care. The bedroom though, if it makes her happy, well , i know that i'll be happy then too. hehe. All i did decorate wise by myself was the office. Next is the garage this spring

Joe

[aVintageCottage]

My husband had totally taken over the family room, so I needed a place where I could watch TV ( He doesn't settle on any one channel long enough for me!) I redecorated our Living room and made it very shabby chic. I took a chance and painted the walls pale pink, bought a really super comfy floral sofa and great little club chair in a coordinating check with ottoman. I added some art and distressed painted a mirror I made from an old window, a few candles and it was perfect. I figured it was all mine because it was so feminine, surely he'd avoid it like the plague. Now I could watch whatever I wanted. But he kept admiring my handywork and in 2 short weeks he discovered the cozy sofa, and just made himself at home, in my shabby chic little room. So I came up with another game plan. I'll post later on how it turns out.http://community.cottageliving.com/images/icons/icon12.gif I want my sofa back!

[SouthParkSpanish]

Hi all, first post so will hopefully not infuriate too many here.
Very much a personal taste thing but suffer some of the poor husbands with all this tooth-hurting sweet decor.
I'm with Joe-can't stand cutsie cottage-shabby chic, precious moments figurines & curios, flowered wall paper/fabrics/borders, dried flowers everywhere, pink and yellow YIKES!
Do you ever notice what are the first elements to be unceremoniously discarded, mocked, painted over and changed in the "Design to Sell" shows? Yep, all that cutsie decor.
A few nice rustic elements, mix of antiques and simpler contemporary furnishings, some real flowers, painted casework, low-key window coverings and maybe some flowered fabric on some throw pillows. That'll do it for me, I agree most women have much more of a touch and interest in interior design but some take a theme a little too far.
I am glad that Cottage Living profiles all types of decor and gardens, some I find ridiculous and some of them (decorated by women or men) I am so envious of. I guess it takes all kinds.

Cheers

[Gabrielle]

Well...we have a 3 BR house with a living room and family room. We have all females except one male cat.....he is never home so that doesn't count.:D I have white painted furniture in both girls rooms and the living room. One of my DD has a pink, froo-froo room. She loves it! My other DD is very sporty and we are getting ready to redocorate her room with a more grown up them..turq and green paisley from a picket fence garden theme. Now my living room is all white, white couch, white tables with pucnches of robins egg blue and cardinal red. Kind of a cross between Shabby chic and french country with a li'l bit of country. It's just things I like and I'm adding a lot more candles and flowers to the decor which my dh is not at all thrilled with....esp. the candles if lit. Afraid of fire. He doesn't spend any time in the LR only to eat at the dining table which is off the LR. He lIVES in the family room. So I plan on decorating that more masc. since it is "his domain". I would like a denim sectional and lots of honey colored woods. We already have an antique honey colored radio chest where we keep the stereo and a backgammon coffee table...these are all my DH picks. I would like to get a honey colored entertainment center to go with the other woods in the room already. I thought a denime couch would be appropriate and keep the room looking more manly. I have one li'l corner in the FR where is my scrap table and that is girly girl. Creams and baskets and shabby chic stuff. So I'll tie the looks together with colors. OUr bedroom I promised I'd do "no florals" but I do find it hard because the beddding I like is the floral ones. We have Mahogany wooeds in there with a sleigh bed coming soon. So I'm at decision point in that room.....want feminine and masc. at the same time. My DH is a Iron worker so he comes home really dirty and doesn't want a white room. so marriage is all about compromise, esp. in decorating a home.

[rubyslippers]

I believe this is a tug-of-war for any couple whether they are making a home "cottagey" or not. We rent a small place right now; the cottage style emerged when we had to "marry" our stuff. I inherited a lot of great old things from my grandmother; plus, he still has a precious little wooden desk from when he was a kid. So, everything is a hodge-podge; but a lot of the pieces are just beautiful. We are too young to look like we live in "Granny's Attic"; so, we have a lot of eclectic and youthful pop-art pieces. I'll be really honest, the fact that my favorite color is blue has helped us immensely. Our bathroom decor is blue and green ... the shower curtain is striped as opposed to floral (because I have crazy blue floral curtains in our living room); the trade off there is that he gets to keep his framed Star Wars movie poster in that room. My friends laugh and inform me this will all change when we find a "permanent" home; however, I don't know, if it makes him happy, I don't really care. I like wrought iron; so, some of my curtain-rods are a little "heavy", but I added some wroght iron tea-light wreaths and coat-hooks to tie the darkness in a little bit. We just try to have fun with it. Plus, while the Laura Ashley florals don't go over well in a bedroom, cozy REAL quilts never really bothered anyone. Plus, I still want to replace our nightstands ... but I proceed gradually so he doesn't feel like all of his stuff just vanished overnight. Anyway, I don't want to live in a girly-place that flowers threw-up all over either. That doesn't mean I don't love florals though ... I have found that some of the bright french provencal colors don't trigger the manly "ooohhh, yuck, prissy flowers" switch like some of the more traditional "cottage" florals. Anyway, just my two cents ... also, before I insult anyone, I do love florals at other people's houses ... it just isn't my cup of tea. (If I am lucky, someone will offer to give me some porch furniture since all of you know I have been on a quest ... now that I have typed up this message, ladybug's post is going to haunt me because I guarantee when I find porch furniture at the right price, it is going to have rose petals practically falling from it ... too funny. Have a good day everyone.

[Chyna]

Honestly I don't think my dh really cares either way. I tried to do the dutiful compromise thing and he told me he didn't care what color I painted anything. I would say that my downstairs is more along the line of craftsman thinking and not alot of fou-fou except for the porch which is decidedly more floral-y and cottage-y. Now our bedroom, hey you don't make any kind of input and you are just going to have to live with what I do to it. He likes it and hasn't had a complaint yet, well except when I moved the bed to make room for staining the floor. Of all the things to complain about he complains that I moved the bed over.:confused: I also moved it back so not sure what his prob was. I did do a Steelers room for his computer area but like anything else he just could care less. matter of fact there is still no computer in there.:mad: He can no longer whine about not having a room of his own. He had it and isn't using it, pretty soon I'm going to girlie it up and then we can talk not having your own space. ;)

I think it all depends on what you grew up with, dh bedroom at his grandparents house was pepto pink, and he had no problem with that. :eek: