aibu to think that people should never give anything decorative for the house as a present?

[dalziel1]

unless you are certain that the other person explicitly will like it, and has space for it?

I especially include things like pictures, lamps, ornaments, curtains and anything else that will take up space, isn't a consumable and will be in the way be noticeable if the other person doesn't have it on display for years to come?

Smaller stuff, less obvious stuff like paperweights are ok, however.

[dottytablecloth]

YANBU definitely not!

MIL produced two huge pictures for me at Christmas, of mice, I'm bloody terrified of mice

[MrsTerryPratchett]

Let me guess; parent or PIL?

[MrsTerryPratchett]

x-posted with MIL

[GoringBit]

YADNBU. We've just moved and I'd rather have alcohol something non-decorative.

[bnotts]

Totally agree. My Mum does this we have a small house and actually I want have things my OH and I have bought together to our joint taste. I have specifically said don't buy me things.... so why did I get a 1m2 mirror emblazoned with purple ceramic flowers for my birthday

[dalziel1]

Three people: SIL, MIL and also wife of DH's best friend (who does not like me and vice versus).

I was just looking around for something to prop a door open with and i saw one of the ugly ornaments. Then I realised that there are quite a lot of them still about although somehow not as many as we were given!

MIL mostly gives us plants that die sooner than they should, even though i do genuinely try to look after them. Then DH insists that we must keep the dead plant for about a year after it turned brown and lost all its leaves.

SIL is the worst. She has a good eye for design, but her taste does not match mine and so I wish she'd stop giving us stuff that is huge and requires pride of place in the sittingroom! How many decorative 18 inch wide bowls does one house need?

[MrsWinnibago]

YANBU my MIL loves buying me shit things like this. She gets these fabric wall hangings with inspirational sayings on them...things which SHE obviously relates to but which make me go and she also likes those stained glass window effect stickers and buys them for me and because I don't use them, she has more than once just stuck them around my house!

Good job she's lovely or I'd have a problem with that!

[BomChickaMeowMeow]

I don't mind. I can always gift it on or charity shop it if I don't like it. Or hang it in the loo.

[dalziel1]

The loo has a few of the pictures already. Any more and SIL will begin to recognise the collection!

[mrssnodge]

Anything is better than the 'Best Nanna in the world' (with its poem with reference to old, grey and wrinkled) plaque my daugher gave me for my bday, (from my baby grandaugher )-Im 47 FFS! I laughed and she was quite put out! lol
She also gave a gorgeous framed pic of the baby too, which I love, but the Nanna plaque was a bit much!!UrghHHH!!!!!!!!

[HerRoyalNotness]

YANBU. PIL, lovely as they are, bought us a few things in the early days. A knick knack from MIL and I am not a KK person. FIL bought us a lovely crystal decanter as he saw we didn't have one. But I did have one, I just didn't have anywhere to put it on display. I kind of wished I'd kept it now, I have a bar cart that is crying out for a crystal decanter.

They give us cash now, that we can use towards a meal out or something practical we need, I like that much better.

[elQuintoConyo]

We have a 1m x 1m limited edition print of a salmon swimming upstream. It is awful awesome and lives in the office where DH has to look at it, not me (it was a gift from an uncle), as he won't throw it away!

Any takers??

[Stinkle]

YANBU

MiL is constantly buying us house stuff.

We got a cat when we first moved in together - cue years of cat-related house stuff

We then moved to the coast - cue years of yacht/lighthouse/beach-related house stuff.

None of it is to our taste - in fact we have very simple tastes, both hate stuff like ornaments and heavily decorated things like mirrors - last christmas she bought us this revolting picture of, what I think was supposed to be, a Japanese mountain type scene. What made it extra special was that you could plug it in and it lit up with different coloured lights (I've Googled to find an example but revolting light up Japanese mountain pictures didn't give me yield what I wanted )

Fortunately, she won't darken our doors so we don't have to give any of this shit house room out of politeness

[LightastheBreeze]

YADNBU, I used to dread the various tat being bought back from holidays and stuff like lamps being given as presents especially if the giver is someone who visits and expects to see their gift being used. I used to give it a certain amount of time and then it would have an 'accident'

[minipie]

YANBU

I can't abide clutter and especially not clutter that isn't even my taste

Same applies to gifts of clothes/accessories - unless you know their exact taste/exact item they want, don't go there!

Much better to give something consumable/perishable - chocolate, flowers, wine, nice biscuits, posh toiletries, vouchers, there are so many much better options!

[BikeRunSki]

YANBU

About 15 years ago, I got a truly awful watercolour of a sage plant from DM for my birthday. I have no in depth interest in herbology, watercolours, cooking or horticulture. The following year, DSis emailed me to ask if there was anything I wanted for my birthday. This instigated a discussion of previously good and bad presents we had received, including sage painting. I was at work, and a little while later I remembered something I really wanted, went back to the email and replied to DSis and copied DM. Copied the whole thread, slating her presents to Dsis and I in the past..... none of it was awful, but we'd both received quite a few unfortunate presents which were mentioned.

[SolidGoldBrass]

Hmm. Depends on both giver and reciever. Now and again I have had little contests with friends as to who can find the most horrible piece of naff ornamentery to give each other at Xmas. Also, if someone has a house full of cack, you are generally safe to give them more...

[whiteblossom]

yadnbu. my dm buys me stuff to go on display, mostly misses the mark and if I don't display it she asks where it is....very difficult.

[expatinscotland]

YANBU

[gamerchick]

I wish somebody will give me pictures so I can reuse the frames.

Maybe do that to them so technically you're still hanging it in the wall. I use mine for some of the better stuff done at school.

[DizzyKipper]

Eep Bike I am for you!

[alsmutko]

Depends. My bf & I share similar tastes and have this thing of getting cheap tat from holidays to give each other - one of those little decorated bowls to put nuts in, a bar of local soap, that kind of thing. It's fine. We've even been known to give each other tea-towels (radicalteattowel.com preferred!).
And dp's parents get us a few bits for the house as well. But those are gifts for us both. If I was given household items whilst he was given something personal I'd be a bit miffed. Luckily they don't do it. However there may come a time when the house is 'full' (getting there!) so a quiet word might be needed. The OP needs to have a quiet word as well. 'Please, it's very kind, but we have enough stuff!'

[BikeRunSki]

I haven't had any crap presents since though dizzy. Not without receipts anyway!

[KingJoffreysBloodshotEye]

I once came home and my mum had covered my wheelie bin in cat stickers.



Took me ages to peel the buggers off.