apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

...'cause interior design is totally sexist.

ha! good point, pantzini. Maybe if you think of it as balancing yin and yang this concept will be more useful. Male and female are just one example of complimentary opposites. ;)

HGTV ran a show called Designing for the Sexes that illustrated this all too well. Wives who prefered frilly fring and pinks etc while the husbands went for hard, rectilinear or simply large, oversized black leather couches that gave the room a dark, oppressive feel and often you got something that felt way too unbalanced for it's own good.

It's like one half likes country, while the other half likes Bauhaus stark modern or one half loves the overstuffed, tkockties filled room, the other half loves a spare room with little color or adornment at all.

So yeah, thinking it in terms of the sexes sounds odd but there is an element of truth to that I think.

Reminds me of the Osmonds on TV back in the 70's...

"I'm a little bit Country..."
"I"m a little bit Black Leather Sofa"
(my apologies to Donny and Marie)

how heteronormative of you, raven.

So by this logic, I guess the little black dress would be masculine?

I don't think this is a useful paradigm for balancing a design. Instead, why not focus on real qualities (many of which are not dichotomic)? For example: scale, color, texture, complexity.

There are also many other intangibles that can play off each other, like cultural references.

Gosh Rebecca, it was not my intention to distort discourse by stigmatizing some forms of sexuality and gender, or make certain types of self-expression more difficult.

I happen to be a straight woman with a black leather sofa, so I'm not missing the subtlety of how silly this decorating advice is. Of course there is a range of gray and other neutrals that define most of the world we live in. Black and white are the accent colors. P.S. thanks for teaching me a new word.

gendering things is completely irrelevant. the world would be a better place if people weren't so dead set on categorizing everything.

This is soooo heteronormative. Alas, we live in a heteronormative world.

I know there was post 'round here a day or two ago lamenting the overuse of mid-century modern furnishings, but maybe it can work in this context: hard lines that curve, bold colors that are neither soft nor harsh, industrial materials covered in soft tan leather or bright upholstery. Epitome of balancing both worlds? Possibly.

You know, for some of us, this post is relevant. Trying to balance my fem qualities with my partners masculine design style is a challenge. And frankly, the male/female comparison as complimentary opposites isn't out of line at all. An inability to see the physiological differences and appreciate their existence is akin to ignoring the opposites characteristics of dry and wet. Yes, dry ingredients can be complimentary as well, (look at how well flour and sugar get along) but that never negates the differences between wet and dry. If you feel that a post does not relate to you, please don't attack the wording or comparisons.

I would have been grateful if this post were more in depth. For me, the living room is easy. But the kitchen? Or our bathroom?