apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

(the title to the post is missing a word I think)

SO TRUE - my bf & I had this discussion when I wanted to paint the inside of my closet. I asked him if he would like me to paint the inside of his closet while I was at it (our bdrm has two tiny "his n hers" closets next to each other) -- he equated it to buying a big piece of jewelry and wearing it on the inside of your mouth, i.e. spending a lot of money on something no one is going to see! But I wanted my clothes to have a nice, freshly painted place to live, and I knew that it would just make me happy. So now I have a nice closet w/ Elfa racks and hi-gloss white paint and he has his closet over there w/ the door that doesn't quite shut right! :D

Haha! That is so funny Daniel Poitiers. And that would be a big 'YES'!

-A woman :)

So guys like Albert Hadley, Miles Redd, Jefferey Bilhuber, Billy Baldwin, etc., have/had no appreciation of details?

In my home, I definitely pay more attention to detail than my husband, but I wouldn't say that's a rule. There are countless male designers who are better with detail than many women.

sort of true. I am a straighten/decorate, and my husband is a clean. He notices dust WAY before I do. He is always dusting something! The top of the fridge, the bookshelves, my perfume bottles. Then again he is 6'5" so that might have something to do with it.

I have those same knobs that are in the top pic... they are fabulous. I used them on a vintage dresser in my daughter's room.

Anyhow... I know for me, I pay more attention to details than the man. It's little things like wanting the door hinges to all be oil-rubbed bronze, along with the door knobs, etc.

I do not think it's a "rule" though... just common for a lot of people.

Its strange. my 2 brothers learned their little detail nitpicking off my 2 sisters and I. My dad, who rarely even notice obvious things, also has started a habit of finding tiny little details in things that annoy him - a habit he attributes to my sisters mother and me.

I can't believe you are perpetuating gender-based stereotypes by asking your readers to weigh in on this ridiculous generalization.

in my household my husband was the one worried about the colour and shape of the lightswitches and changed them *twice* :)

This kind of generalization does little than to make the people who subscribe to it feel better about themselves and the roles they live out. After all, why bother to think when you have a role to play?

I'm a professional designer and a man. I would say that I am pretty aware of details. If I approached every male/ female couple I work with with the idea that he's in charge of the big picture and she's into the details I'd go broke. No two situations are alike. People to whom this generalization doesn't apply take offense, and rightly so, when they're pigeon-holed. It's no different than any other stereotype. While a stereotype may tell you something about a group, it tells you NOTHING about an individual. So with that said, what's the point of even asking this question? What happens when I have clients who are a male couple. Or a female couple for that matter? Will the gay guys' house be all big picture stuff with no details? Will the lesbians be a house full of details with no big picture? What about single people? The whole line of reasoning is absurd.

I personally obsess over the details (I have changed all the light switch covers in my apartment), but my female roommate in the exact opposite. She thinks I'm crazy half the time.

Many of the comments say 'no', while most of the poll respondents say 'yes'. Interesting.

I said "no" as most of the time my husband cares more about details in our house than I do. And I'm incredibly detailed and organized. Most of the time he is much more opinionated where I often get to the point that I just want it to work and look nice, not necessarily drop dead amazing. He's been very picky about our light switches and even deliberated heavily over paint samples with me. I guess we are both very into the details, we just take turns on who obsesses over what.

So I guess tongue piercings are out for you two, krikri?

I am a woman who notices a lot of fine details, but many women do not. My mother hates when something is crooked, but cannot tell if something is made of wood or a picture of wood. My father just thinks it's a desk, it doesn't matter if it's cherry or oak or traditional or modern, just that it's his job to assemble it. That's just a comparison of my parents, it's anecdotal. I can guess there are men who do notice and men who do not notice. Then there is the rest of the world. Women and men who notice and do not notice. It can be relative to the subject, but if a man doesn't have the capacity to notice small details in the home doesn't make him unable to notice them in some other category.

A man can notice details in the home as much as a woman, what this comes down to really, is that each individual has a set of things that they think are important and things that are neither here nor there. Some people have a long list of things that bother them if they are out of place or have preferences. A lot of the preferences have to do with a capacity to study what is available in the retail world and remember and build likes and dislikes and wants and not-wants. Some people are pretty happy with their basic needs met, want a table, go out and pick something out that fits the size, price, and "looks ok." Most people will notice if they find something hideous, that's in their way, that is broken or uncomfortable. In a household with more than one person, the things the members notice and don't notice will not always match up. One person is usually louder than the other about it - they may be nearly equal, but one will always be louder.

i think women care more about the small details of EVERYTHING- not just the home

This has been proven with psychological tests. On the whole, women notice details more than men. It's believed that this is the result of evolution as women who were effective at gleaning the surroundings for food (gatherers) and danger to their off-spring survived and those who were not so good at noticing details did not pass on their genetic material in so great abundance.

That's not to say women notice everything in detail in every environment, but they do notice in environments that concern them. One of my male students didn't even notice when my entire kitchen floor was replaced. All of the women noticed. Men can be quite oblivious.

I notice men more than home details I'm happy to say.

Thanks for lightning things up hrhprincessfiona!

For those of you who do the opposite of what your gender supposidly does... GOOD FOR YOU. But there's no need to be an ahole about it.

5 years ago, my husband painted the inside of his house. He did not paint the insides of the closets (and can't understand why I now want to). He changed all the cabinet door/drawer hardware. He did not realign the doors so they closed properly without overlapping. A couple of months ago we replaced the towel rack and light fixture in the master bath, and had to stand there debating whether they would look ok together since the kight fixture was brushed nickle and the towel bar was a little shinier.

Yesterday, I moved the dining table an inch to the left to make it easier to get to a cupboard in the corner. He noticed that before he had his boots off at the door.

I think men (and women) notice the details that are important to them.