Positive Ways To Deal with Other People’s Negative Opinions (About Your Home)

There are a lot of opinions flying around in the world, and if you’re not careful, a well-aimed one can smack you upside the head. Family members think they know best, friends always pipe up, and today’s media provides ample opportunity for even strangers to give feedback on photos you post online. In the face of all that, how to do you deal with other peoples’ opinions about your purchases, decor, or home choices?

Here are some thoughts on how to absorb (or rebuff) suggestions, without losing perspective:

• Remind yourself that they are just opinions, and not fact. Okay, here’s a thought: You know when they tell nervous public speakers to imagine everyone in the audience is naked? In your case, envision the person giving you advice has the ugliest home imaginable. Their power will shrink faster than a wool sweater in a hot tub.
• Get to know— really know— what you yourself like. If your own footing is firm, you’re less likely to get shaken by what others say about your style. Scroll through Pinterest (or flip through those archaic things old-timers call magazines) in order to hone your own taste and perspective.

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• Don’t engage: If you don’t want their opinion, or have heard it all before, grit your teeth really hard and just say “Thanks, but no thanks. I’m keeping things just how they are.” Then move on both physically and mentally.
• Toughen up a bit. At a certain point it’s up to you, and you alone, to make a decision about what works well in your home, and be at peace with it. Just like everyone won’t like you, so too will there be folks that don’t love how you live. Accept this fact. You don’t have to have dinosaur skin here, but a bolstered immunity will serve you well throughout life.
• Surround yourself with supportive, positive people at home. If your friend is always telling you what you “should” do with your space, stop inviting her over. You can always do some other activity elsewhere, far away from the decor that so offends her.

So, what advice do you have for others?