Is your home’s décor guy-friendly? Probably not, if you’re the kind of gal who drapes leopard-print throws on the back of your couch or hangs portraits of people kissing on your walls. No one is saying that there’s anything wrong with this stuff, but let’s be honest: There are a lot of men who cringe at this kind of décor.
To bring you up to speed on girly décor that makes men grimace, we chatted with interior designers and men across the nation. Here are some of the items they say men despise.
An abundance of pillows
“While women have little issue with using pillows to accessorize, the male will typically unleash an all-out attack on any pillow that does not have to do with the actual act of sleeping. For guys, pillows are just silly. Men truly believe that if you need a pillow for your back while sitting on the sofa, you could easily grab the one you sleep on from the bed,” explains Kristi Witt, an interior designer in San Francisco.
Floral prints
In the minds of many men there is nothing worse than a floral pattern, which can be found on everything from wallpaper and paintings to bedding and pillows. If you love floral prints, but need to use them in a way that’s guy-friendly, consider Witt’s advice:
“One way to bring in florals that will not make your man lose his mind is to steer clear of small patterns and go for larger, color-blocked graphic prints that will read more like organic shapes, as opposed to the daisies on Nana’s kitchen apron.”
Fussy window treatments
One man, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of offending his wife, said, “I’d like to be able to open a window without digging through five layers of curtains, drapes, blinds, sheer panels and so forth just so I can reach the window latch.”
Witt agreed that this is a popular opinion among men, saying, “[Men] simply wish to look out the window or not. Any covering other than a plain white roller or vertical blind often represents something frilly, fussy and unnecessary. Of course, window treatments are anything but, so bringing him over to the ‘dark side’ — the room-darkening side — is the solution.”
She suggests selecting treatments that will please both you and your man. In particular, she recommends, “a natural wood or woven shade with blackout liner, paired with fabric panels which add layers of softness, texture and color to the room.”
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Uncomfortable furniture
According to Janice Simonsen, design spokesperson for IKEA US, “Men traditionally are more ‘no frills’ and go first for comfort and function over style. They want furniture that is scaled to their size that they can relax in, covered in more rugged fabrics, like corduroy or leather. While women, as much as men, want to be comfortable at home, they are more apt to choose style over comfort. A dainty sofa or chair with curved legs may be super-cute to her, but it’s not meant to sink into while you watch a ball game.”
Girly paint colors
Unless you’re decorating a nursery, you may want to avoid painting your walls in pastel colors. Light pinks, blues, greens and purples tend to make most men shudder.
If you absolutely must include a pastel in a room’s color scheme you might want to use it sparingly, while using a main color that is more appealing to men. “Painting walls a masculine color such as a deep brown and using pastel colors for accents such as pale pink, pale blue or even coral is a happy medium when creating a palette,” says Lynni Megginson, owner of . “I usually try to build a room on neutrals: ivory, sand, beige or brown, and then throw in the punch of color in small yet powerful ways.”
More guy-friendly décor advice
Home colors for men
Decorating tips for moving in together
How to decorate a sports-theme room
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