Too funny - I've been through this kind of thing and it's always tricky. Maybe affix it to the inside of a cabinet or clothing drawer that is used mosly by you?

What about the bathroom? It's kind of hilarious, and it will be totally unexpected in the bathroom.

Haha, I wish I had some advice for you! My boyfriend and I first moved into a 1 bedroom also and he had a phantom fireworks poster he would not.give.up. I would say do everything in your power to keep it in a box, but actually that magazine isn't THAT bad...

Nice pink frame, in a pink themed loo, above the cistern, where boyfriend can gaze at it, several times a day, but you can pretty much ignore it. And your chi chi friends will take it for postmodern wit.

I agree...bathroom is your best bet. Although you might also just need a new boyfriend.

The good thing is is that it's not that big. Frame it. Use a complementary color for the matting. Will the boyfriend accept just having part of the magazine cover showing? You could cut the matte so that only part of his face is showing, or block the magazine title or some of that background. Then treat it like a velvet elvis. If you have a location that's kitschy then that would be a cool centerpiece. Or you could blend it into a gallery wall with mix/matched prints and art where it could be a nice surprise for someone actually paying attention to your art. "No, that can't be. Is that really?"

It's fairly unobtrusive and could be so much worse. Own it. Treat it like a little bundle of humor or kitsch and it won't be an eyesore.

Put it inside his closet.

can't you just live with it? ;-) if it is so important for your boyfriend - be generous. it's just a mag cover. it shouldn't be that much of a stumbling stone. or make it a double bill - find something silly and funny the same size and have the two frames side by side …

I like the bathroom idea, but if the bf complains about the moisture getting to it, you could always hang a gallery of of brightly colored prints within where it can be a bit more camoflauged. Or assert having to decorate with a lot of pink as the compromise to keeping it. If he loves pink as much as most guys do, you may find a way without it.

Frame it in a huge frame with a giant mat... like a 20"x30" frame, i'd go really big... with a huge mat too... like a 2' mat on top, and a 1.5' mat on the sides. maybe a thin pink frame... That would be bright, modern, fun... and would ironically play off the "mat mania" on the cover...

Erik FTW

I say go with it. Find some other bright magazine covers, art, etc. Frame them all in black and make it look like intentional pop art. Not only will it be a great conversation piece, a one of a kind art display but your boyfriend will also really appreciate it!

Do a big white mat around it with a simple frame, and find some other pink or brightly colored art to frame in a similar way and go on the wall with it. And don't put it in the bathroom! If this is the one thing he must have, what does it say about your relationship if you can only bear to have it in the bathroom? Just put it in your living room and love it for the humor of it.

rosygirl has a really good idea. It will be fun along side a bunch of prints. A magazine cover is so small that it would look odd alone anyway.

I think every home should have a little whimsy, a little humor and boyfriend just served that up on a platter for you! I say get a pretty white frame to put it in (you know, play up those sweatbands!) and slap in the bathroom or a little corner in the kitchen. Everyone will love it.

Be grateful it isn't taxidermy, like in the earlier AT post.

New boyfriend?

Explain to him that yes indeed this is a precious collectors item and must be protected at all costs. Present him with an archival box for the issue to be stored in safely store away from the sunlight's damaging rays.....

It could be taxidermy, a pinball machine, several electric guitars, his collection of star wars figurines (in the original packaging!)...

I agree with the closet. I made a box of my boyfriend's ugly stuff so he can take it with him when we break up.

I agree with the comment above that recommends finding another campy magazine about the same size - alla 1980s YM? Then frame together side by side. It would be best if it were something equally kitsch that you love and in the same color vibe. Celebrate its humor, put it in a classy frame, and voila! You not only have made your boyfriend happy you have added some of your personality to the wall! I had to to the same in my home with dreaded old concert posters!

you should tell your boyfriend to stop living like a 12 year old and grow up.

Can you scan, edit, and print a more tame version? black and white or holgaish effect? Maybe then you can stand to have it on a gallery wall for all to see.

Oh my God. I love it!

When I moved in with my boyfriend, there were a couple of things of his that I totally fretted over, tried to hide, tried to persuade him to get rid of, etc. We've been married for five years and I've learned: respect the stuff he loves. Give it a spot he's happy with. You'll both be happier in the end.

Also, it's a hilarious piece, I'd LOVE to walk into a friend's bathroom and see it.

Too funny. I say keep boyfriend and keep that in the bathroom with powder coated finished or lacquered frame. OR recline over a desk wall and style with other things that are more you in front of it (a plant, book, random object...). The pink in the background is fresh looking at least...

Tip to the boyfriend. Find another girlfrend. If she's all berserk about a framed magazine cover, when you're just moving in together, she is far, far too controlling. And this is just the beginning. Life with her is just gonna be a series of me, me, me... Take the advice of one who has been down that path and has the court decree to prove it. Find yourself someone who wants to see you happy too. There are plenty of them out there.

In the kitchen, next to where you keep the bananas.

Am I really the first one to think AT is getting punked?

There is no way to avoid it looking like an eyesore.
Maybe place it really close to a large candle?

Whatever you do find a way to live with it if you think you may end up married to the guy. I pressured my husband to give up his talking Darth Maul bank when we first moved in and I'm still hearing about it 12 years later!

Hilarious!

I quite like the idea of finding a companion picture - perhaps a Disney Princess, or maybe some kind of alter-ego for yourself. Put them in side by side frames somewhere. An ironic double portrait.

Or, a wall of pictures of which Hulk is just one, so he's kind of lost in the middle.

Or, the colors are quite nice in the picture - it might be a fun challenge to think about how to base your whole color scheme on Hulk.

However (40 years of happy marriage speaking here) another way of looking at it is as a bargaining chip: If he gets his Hulk Hogan, he owes you an equal something. Is there something of yours he wants you to give up? Maybe something girly? Maybe he gets the Hulk Hogan but you get to choose a frilly pink frame for it.

There are two people in this relationship and you both need to feel as if there's room for the things you want. Neither of you should have to give up more than the other one.

If Hulk stays, you get to keep something, too.

Ditto quiltmaster (but less harsh) and LolaDanger.

It's cute, play up the camp and frame it in the kitchen. Plus, I'm assuming he loves you enough to let you take most of the decorating reigns, so let him have his Hulk.

I agree with many posters above - definitely the bathroom. Frame it with a white frame and a large white mat.

I'd put it in a white IKEA RIBBA frame and place it in a room where you have other purple accents or blue accents that match the text or background. I think it could be a quirky conversation piece that can work if you coordinate it with the room of your choosing correctly. Honestly, I'd hang this in my office right now no problem and it would fit solely because the colours match my pillows and flowers and work well with my gray rug and white furniture.

You have my sympathy- My hubby has 80 some odd G I Joes- they now have their own room with a door I can close - better than the last house where they were in the family room/ great room / kitchen. I agree with the bathroom contingent for the magazine.

It's very simple. Prop the framed "artwork" up on a shelf and place cute vases and trinkets slightly in front of the art. Create a mini-vignette!

Your boyfriend is a huge dork. But I also do agree with quiltmaster.

Srsly, get a sense of humor. I'm sure you've got plenty of stuff that your boyfriend isn't wild about, but it's called compromise. I think it's AWESOME and I would give that a prime spot in my home. Ya know why? Because I don't take life, or myself, for that matter, too seriously. I say you should embrace it and really make it something wonderful. Everyone, especially your boyfriend, will love it, and if they don't, then de-friend them because they suck.

Put it where only he can see it. It seems to me that a b-friend who likes the Hulkster as decor doesn't like decor. In other words, he'll forget about it soon enough.

Do you have a garage? or a basement?

I was going to write essentially the same things as peasandcarrots, well said!

office or bathroom.I love it!

Why not find the biggest, baddest, most bombastic baroque frame you can find? And then have a brass plaque engraved (in swirling script): "To all my little Hulkamaniacs, say your prayers, take your vitamins and you will never go wrong." You'll have the boyfriend in the palm of your hand like a Tonga death grip.

gosh some of you people are harsh! just because you love someone doesn't mean you love ALL of their stuff. and she's obviously willing to display it, since she's just asking for help.
i like the idea of putting on a wall with other mixed art... or in the bathroom. good luck!

It's actually fun, like some of the stuff you see in The Selby. I personally think every room needs at least one tacky thing. Try it.

Hulkamania is dead!

I think the idea about putting it in the bathroom is a great idea framed above the stool. Or you could also do a 'art grouping' of other magazines, or even prints of old mags, kitschy stuff. Make it popart.

@Dee of BC I would take the GI Joes off your hands. If they are pre 2000 they could be worth a lot.. if they are 1970s or older, then tell him you want them in his will. :)

A pink frame was the best Idea so far. I would go with a slightly lighter shade of pink for a hint of contrast.

The truth is, speaking as a married girl in a one bedroom, you need to have spaces that are yours. Perhaps it can go above his desk and for the rest of your tenancy you will refer to that space as his space. I let my husband control our spare office, so long as I got control over the bedroom, living room, and kitchen. The rule about his space is that he controls the way it looks. An arrangement like that will do wonders for your relationship.

I'm siding with the commenters who have suggested a big white frame with a big white mat. The big frame will isolate it from its surroundings, making it look like an ironic piece of kitsch rather than a beloved piece of dorkiness.

Anything can be art if it's isolated from its context. Even Hulk Hogan magazine covers.

Ewww.

Tell him that since it's a collectible, it should be kept in acid-free archival storage. Get him an archival slipcase/box/file folder/thingie, put that silly thing inside, and file it away!

Either that or get a new boyfriend.

i'm with dulcibella. love the his and hers 'portraits' idea and anyone with 40 years marriage under their belt probably knows how to negotiate.

It would be harder to integrate Hulk Hogan in a period home...
Just think he could be annoyed by something you want to buy to put in the house (not everybody likes bright/fresh/modern), so be nice and ask him where he would put it, and try to respect his decision. Specially if this is the only thing he wants to bring in the new home.

Oh man. I so feel for you.

But I'm going with the excellent suggestion to make it a totally unexpected addition to your bathroom. And if you can find a female counterpart, so much the better!

Personally, we have a renaissance man holding a hotdog above our toilet...

It sounds counter productive but try adding a Hulk action figure right under the newly framed keepsake. (Or spray paint 2 Hulk figurines to flank the portrait like those deer heads on AT a few days ago.) A hint of quirky collection is better than the odd man out.

Count yourself lucky. Mine has live action roleplay weapons made of foam and latex. A LOT harder to integrate into a design scheme. Good suggestions here.

Do what Monica did with Chandler's porcelain dog. Tip the mover to "accidentally" destroy it.

Tell him it is too valuable to be displayed. He must hide it in a safe place. That thing it's one of the ugliest I've ever seen

I agree with the bathroom idea, with the plan to have it on greased skids moving toward a box in the back of the closet.

I really enjoy the pink. Use it as part of a gallery wall with crisp white frames, colorful canvases, etc. Surrounding it with more color, found objects, etc. will help it blend it and simply become one more funky object in your place...

Ditto Quiltmaster.

Scan it and make 4 Warhol-style covers. Give the original to him to keep.

I just decided to embrace my boyfriend's lego collection and hockey memorabilia. The legos get their own little closet/nook and the hockey stuff was all nicely framed and scattered about the apartment with other types of artwork.

Irony is everything. Group it with a print of the Village People and another of some Disney Princesses.

This is a perfect example of what makes me love the "grown up dorm room" style that my husband and I have adopted. If you try too hard to make a perfectly styled "sophisticated" home, you leave no room for adding fun things like this that remind you of your youth. I think it's great and nothing at all to be ashamed of. Frame it nicely and display it proudly. If you have children, will you not display their artwork from school if it doesn't fit perfectly into your design style? Obviously if your guy cherishes this item, he must have a fun sense of humor - which I bet is one of the reasons why you love him enough to move in with him. Hang it on the wall and let it remind you why you love his big, goofy self!

Oh it's not so bad (mainly because it's not so big)! Try find a few slightly larger or slightly smaller prints with similar colors. Frame all of them with solid color frames and hang in a vignette anywhere that could use a bold pop of color! One of the 2012 trends for interiors is called "Color Riot," so really your boo is just ahead of the times...right?!

brilliant ideas! thanks so much everyone for your input. except for @quiltmaster... ouch.

getting rid of it is not an option, which is why i asked for the help on integrating it. pop art it is! thanks again, AT.

sorry to chime in late, I'd definitely embrace the color. Either a pink frame, or display with other pink items, or showcase it with things of complimenting colors. It makes it easier to ignore the "content" when you can enjoy the color.

And let me praise the compromise aspect of moving in together. E.g. my boyfriend agreed to deal with my NASCAR and IndyCar collections if I agreed to showcase his decorative swords and knives. We each think the other is nuts, but its allowed us to live in harmony. And to be honest, I've grown used to how it all looks.

Wow, that might be the last remaining evidence on Earth that the Hulk actually does have a forehead! Treasure that girl!

Kidding. I feel your pain, my better half loves his wierd little chochkies and I hate them with a passion, he's also gotten messy in his older years.

If I were you I'd let him put it up in some obscure corner of your space, but make it seem like it doesn't bother you at all. You'll need a bargaining chip when it comes to making him pick up his clothes off the damn floor...er, whatever he does that annoys the crap out of you.

Good luck!

You know, I think you should just totally own it. If he really enjoys it, he'll appreciate your enthusiasm, and your apartment will be a warmer, brighter place for it. It won't derail your entire decor, and if you can really just make it work, as the wise philosopher Tim Gunn might say, your apartment will be better off for it!

He would say to "make it work".

YEA YEA YEA!

I heard you were in here making a lot of noise, Macho Man, which si pretty much ALL YOU DO.

I'm here to set the record straight for all these decoratin people: what you wanna do is make a frame out of 2x4s and hang that masterpiece of a portrait on the ceiling over your bed.

You don't know anything about the Macho Man. Except how to get dethroned.

2X4 framing would only bring attention to how out of place Hulk Hogan is in a mature design scheme. The muted border would only highlight the obnoxious colors in the cover. Instead, you should adopt a neon animal print and metallic color scheme for the whole apartment so that the picture becomes, rightly so, the least interesting thing in the place, YEA YEA YEA!

Keep it up, Macho Chump, and I'll get the Hulkamaniacs back together and show you what obnoxious colors look like by beating and bruising you so much you'll be classified as modern art!

Seriously though, why would anyone want to even attempt to "mute" anything related to that specimen of photographic perfection? The RAW PINE WOOD FRAME would only accentuate the manliness that is that magazine cover, and I daresay it would serve as a potent aphrodisiac for your boyfriend during the bedroom antics, what with the Hulkster supervising what he's up to. It's what they call "motivation".

Your King's Court ain't nothing but a bunch of jesters and if I was Hulk Hogan, I would wonder about your strange love for me. In between wishing I could BE A MAN like me.

And if her boyfriend needs "motivation" to do the job right, he needs a picture of me on his wall. Hulk don't have nothing on me! I'm the tower of power, too sweet to be sour, I'm funky like a monkey, the skies the limit and space is the place!

Here is one you may substitute instead: http://thedzkshop.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/machoman.jpg

I will have you know, Nacho Man, that I keep a framed picture of the Head of Hulkamania in my pocket for special occasions when I need extra motivation - like the time I rested it on the bedside table so he could oversee my technique while I put Elizabeth in a German Suplex that transitioned into a Figure Four Leglock. HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Moving on, I'm sure if the lovely Lauren and her boyfriend can take themselves and a camera down to the nearest ABC liquors and come away with a better, clearer image featuring a less scruffy looking homeless guy than the picture in your link.

Seriously now : PROMINENT, OBNOXIOUS RAW LUMBER FRAMING OF THAT MAGAZINE IS THE ONLY WAY TO GO.

Touched Elizabeth! Unbelievable, man! it's over. It's over! No control... I'm gonna dig myself out of my grave to put you in yours.

That's the real power of Hulkamania for you, Gazpacho Woman.

If you want to step into the squared circle, you can meet me in the parking lot of the Applebee's off the highway and we will settle this ONCE AND FOR ALL. No refs, no rules, no mercy - just me walloping your decaying zombie ass with my trusty 2x4 and going back inside to enjoy my riblets.

What a cool problem to have. Display it prominently: conversation piece!

You would like Applebees. Their decor is just as tasteless as yours and their food.

If you were a real MAN you'd want to settle this in the only ring that counts: Lauren's apartment.

A REAL man doesn't impose on a lady, but if Lauren will agree to that condition, I will be more than happy to meet you at her place and deflate your deltoids.

After I'm done rearranging your face with my 2x4, I will even cut it to size for the frame for her - and it will be a one-of-a-kind piece featuring your teeth embedded in it, Macho Man.

my apartment is always available for any and all wrestling matches. i think that might rocket me to girlfriend of the year.

I'd definitely put it in a crazy, over-the-top baroque style museum frame. Gold leaf and everything. On the mantle.

In the big picture, this pic is minor, merely funny. Home can be a haven where you can be yourself. Let him enjoy his inner child and he may be a good sport about your doing things he finds silly. This conflict isn't really about the pic, but about resolving boundary, territory, and dominance issues. Conflict is an unpleasant but necessary part of settling in as a couple. It takes a sense of humor, trust, kindness, and giving up some control to make and share a happy home. If you make the effort to communicate clearly and fight clean, then this phase can become a sound foundation.

It's already kitschy, why not play up that factor? Put it in a standing frame on his nightstand. It's funny, out of the way, and a place not many people look.

It is 1 magazine cover... let him have it... plus it's funny... what more could you want. A happy boyfriend and a funny conversation starter! Sounds great to me!

Holy damn I love it. Why is that so hard to integrate??? It's practically modern art. I have a print from Mike Mitchell called "Brobocop" (you can google it if you want) that I put in a gold antique frame and hung in the kitchen. My girlfriend and I both love it, and while it took her a couple days to get used to she really enjoys it now, I've even caught her talking to him a couple of times (he usually sides with her in our little disagreements). Yeah, she crazy.

Moral of the story - respect the power of the Top Banana.

haha best post ever! :D

You know, I almost am in the "flipside" position of quiltmaster. If this guy has such awful taste and is so adamant, are you sure YOU want to continue to spend ongoing time with HIM? This whole conversation is, of course, about trivia. However, in a small one-bedroom apartment, *I* would certainly be grossly unhappy with this thing always in my face, and if he didn't care about that enough to store the thing for another residence later on, maybe that suggests something about his regard for his roommate's feelings. Kind of a control freak, maybe. (It's often a collection of little things just like this that break couples up...)

Than again, I'm lucky enough to have a partner who also hates sports, with similar religious and political views, and similar taste in decor. We negotiate anything "on the line" and don't try to make the other person live with somethign they hate.

Not trying to tell you want to do, just offering a different perspective.

I want that in my apartment!

Totally disagree on the bathroom idea. It's all about balance. Your best option is to reframe it into something better and match it up with several other vintage magazines in frames and hang them in the main living area. It's his house also. Do you really want a guy that folds under pressure or do you want the guy that will stand up for what he believes in.