Who's Got Style, Or Why I Hate My BF's Plates

WHO'S GOT STYLE?

I have a very distinct interior style. Much like my way of life, its a little quirky, a little eclectic and there's a lot of colors involved. Generally, this isn't an issue because I tend to give gifts and helpful suggestions to match my friends and family's taste with a little bit of me as a flourish. But then I met HWSNBNITB, and now we are trying to merge our styles together. Now normally girls across the world rejoice at this thought because it means the male eventually wears down to a nub and relents to whatever taste she wants as long as it doesn't have an enormous price tag attached and he gets to keep his big screen. Yet, I seem to have found the one man left in the universe who has style, a very specific style, a style that can only be described as Euro-Mod. Where I like flowers, and mason jars, and tons of colors in many different hues, He likes glass, black and the only color hue allowed is a dark blood red.

Originally we moved into his apartment which meant all of his stuff stayed including the red leather couch I've never actually witnessed in real life outside of an 80s bachelor pad and the matching rug, bed frame, and all black furniture. In addition to the lack of secondary colors in his apartment, he also prefers things that only seem to have a purpose and may belong in a German museum somewhere in the future. I'm not saying its a bad style, in fact if his apartment were actually the setting in a New York City borough or hotel in Downtown DC he could charge enormous prices for staying in it a la the W, which I love. However, I'm a homebody. I like my apartment to feel homey and warm, and filled with knick-knacks that have no purpose whatsoever then to make you feel good. I like flowers and tie-dye, and am a hippie at heart. So what happens when these two people join together and try to make a home? I end up with a bachelor red leather couch and hating my plates and he ends up knocking over teapots and finding places for a million pillows of different shapes, sizes, and colors every time he cleans the living room.

Pictured here are the mocking pieces of chinaware I spend all day despising. They seem unassuming. They actually match the rest of the red-black decor of the rest of the house, however this is the kitchen. This is my zone and I hear them mocking me whenever I cook. The kitchen is supposed to be filled with flowers, and pretty chinaware and plates that hug the food, however these square pieces of smugness do no such thing. They are incredibly heavy, giving the impression they are fit for oven-to-table use, yet as I have unfortunately learned do not go from oven-to-table without being shattered to bits (sorry Randolph Street oven, please forgive me!). They also chip moving from one part of the kitchen to another, going in the dishwasher, or when you look at them funny. Also due to their inordinate weight they make a loud crashing sound when food is placed on them or even when placed near one another, proving these plates are too good for even each other. I hate these plates. I hate that they have no pretty, girly design on them, I hate they make my arms sore when I put them away when they are clean and I hate that they simply do not match the lifestyle I want. "But they were so cheap!" HWMNBNITB exclaims. "They match," he says as I sneer for the umpteenth time about the plates.

Now we have moved and I have hope for this new apartment. We still have the mod style, however I have found ways of sneaking small pictures, photos, and decorations undetected into the home-sphere. Here is a lovely picture of me hanging up the new shower curtain (eco-friendly, washable, and very pretty). I have my comfy throw on the couch, and any time something new appears on a corner of the counter HWSNBNITB just cocks his head and smiles about it now. I even have come to love the red couch ("Big Red" as I have originally named it in my head). I can sleep on it comfortably while watching TV and spent many nights studying on it. Big Red also seems to have livened up with some multi-colored pillows and we became friends after I discovered my cup of coffee can balance on it without incident. However, the plates are still here. There are fewer of them than we started with, but every time I go into the kitchen I can feel them lying in wait.

We've been here for a few days and are just starting to get situated. Here's HWSNBNITB putting together yet another piece of black furniture, his desk chair. Yet plates did not make the list of items we needed to purchase for the new home. And just when I felt defeated and that the apartment with HWSNBNITB will never really feel like home, he announced we are going to buy new plates. Lighter ones and we can agree on a pattern together. And that's what a home says about the people who live there: a compromise between two people who wouldn't seem to fit, but in the end it all comes together. I don't know what plates we will end up with, but I do know I will love them because we got them together.


FYI, here's a pic of our almost finished living room, featuring Big Red. More to come.



**************UPDATE!!!!!********************


We did it! After many hours together we finally succeeded in finding the perfect plates for the perfect table. HWSNBNITB says it reminds him of Dr. Seuss and I think he is completely right. So, if Dr. Suess or any small children decide to come to dinner we are ready! So here is our beautiful table with our new dinnerware. For those so interested the colors are fiestaware in Lemongrass, Scarlet, Peacock, Turquoise, Cobalt, and Tangerine.