Pictures in the downstairs loo

[Grocer]

I'm trying to do up the house a bit (lots of blank white walls & a general lack of love).

I got a little collection of family things to put up in the loo - all in nice frames. Few old postcards. Couple of baby pics. One (small) wedding photo (no professional or flashy - just a nice casual photo taken by my mum).

Started to put them up (nice bank holiday job) and DH said he thinks obnoxious when people put pictures of their own lives in the loo - like we are showing off - and if i want to put up a wedding photo it should be in our room.

I guess my AIBU is two-fold really - do people agree about downstairs loos?

But bigger question is does my DH get a say in all this stuff when he doesn't do anything himself? He doesn't suggest or buy anything for our house or do any DIY at all - but he does have a habit of telling me my ideas are terrible, a lot.

After ranting for 10 minutes about how much 'i bloody hate the idea' - i then put the pictures back in the drawer and he said 'do it if you want. i'm allowed to give my opinion though'

But it's pretty hard to crack on with something when you know the person you live with 'absolutely hates it'.

I know he can give opinions - of ocurse he can- but jsut feels like everything i do i have someone telling me how shit it all is.

Also, i am interested in whether people agree that family pics or litte pictures/postcards in the loo is obnoxious?

I'm mid 40's, lived in 3 countries and cannot think of anyone's bathroom/toilet I've been in that has family photos in it! 🤔

Ex military here. Our very small loo has lots of photos/stuff on the wall. Me doing a sport for the military, a newspaper article featuring DH, a letter re his OBE…. It’s got to go somewhere and we like it there, even if OP’s DH would hate it!

Ooof, I had a partner like that. They would put in their negative two cents, contribute no alternative and then end the whole conversation with "but do it if you want"
Infuriating.
So I would just do it and tell them if they think of something else to do with space we can always redecorate. They never thought of anything else and usually forgot all about it after a few days

This thread is cheering me up no end!

Why can't you look at a photo of a person when having a wee/poo/washing your hands? They are not there! A few funny pics I think are fine. But so many of you think its gross having a wee next to a picture of a person. It was the last thing on my mind.

But I'm in the minority i can see!

Majority of pics were postcards. Can postcards have people on them? Or is it total people free zone?

I guess we all have different taste. My worst is professional photos of kids in the living room. Haha!

OMG- I've found the perfect site for you OP! 😂

I don't have anything on the wall in the downstairs loo, but that's cos I love in a bungalow and so the downstairs loo is in fact the bathroom.

But I don't understand how photos are "showing off"? What's the point in taking photos to never display? It's putting up things that trigger memories you love.

We don't have hundreds about, but we have a few nice photos of DD up in the hall and a couple of special ones. And then our Google Home is set up like a digital photo frame, so we have loads scrolling round on that. And they are there cos they make us smile. "Oh look, remember when we did X?".

Also, my DH is lovely but he genuinely doesn't care what's on the walls. So I do what I want and if he massively objects he has to say before it's up.

My mum has a load of canvas prints of her dog in the downstairs loo. It is quite interesting sitting there having a wee while said dog is the other side of the door, wagging his tail and impatient for you to come out and play with him.

@CJ0374 hahaha! Just what I was after.

(Now, those pictures really do make me feel ill!)

Personally I don’t like to have family pictures on any wall. I never had the school photos on the wall, I dislike that, so I tend to agree with the DH but not for his reasons.
im quite fussy what I put on my walls. I don’t like generic pictures that you get in Dunelm, ikea, The Range etc. I don’t like ubiquitous prints either.

However it’s each to their own.

This is me. Military officer of 17 years - my downstairs toilet is covered floor to ceiling with pictures of postings, various aircraft I’ve flown, qualifications etc - keeps it all in one room 😆

What do you mean this isn't to everyone's taste?

Im with you. Although I’d not put wedding pics up or baby ones, I think it’s fine, but I do have some funny quirky ones as said in there. I also abhor those proffesional photo shoot ones folks have done,and I don’t think photos can see me or are watching me.i find the idea bizarre.

i have a lot of artwork throughout the house though and I have lots of framed photos of us all propped up in different rooms,on windowsills, tables, sideboard etc, so our loo is just a continuation of a theme.

Well yeah that’s a bit much, 😂

He doesn't sound very nice. Have you asked him to come up with his own decor ideas? Has he?

If he doesn't have any ideas, then I'd crack on with my own.

I'd go for seascapes or whatever in the loo though - not photos of people!

I’ve long wanted to put this up in the downstairs loo, but have yet to get around to it. Pic taken decades ago in Oman - I sent it to Private Eye and got £10!

I think it sounds charming, and very British: if you’re going to have a ‘Me wall’ the loo is the best place to have it.

I don’t consult my husband before putting up pictures etc. He is very bad at visualising things and would always say ‘no’ as a protective reflex. After two years without a chair where one was needed because we couldn’t agree on the type to get I just bought one. He has never commented (but has sat in it).

I wouldn't have photos of family and friends in the loo but I do have a large photo of the king in there so not a thing about people 'looking' at me. Your husband seems like an arsehole though, I don't think it's obnoxious and he could suggest something else he would like instead of just shitting on your ideas.

Yes - but I feel the same about any photo of people in any room. Unless you can't see their eyes of course. But that's me.

Only thing I ever liked in a bathroom is a framed copy of the poem The Room Where Everyone Goes.

He'd hate our house. Our downstairs loo has a collection of the naughtiest seaside postcards we can possibly find 🤣

IMO having lots of family photos in the downstairs loo is very popular!

I actually think it’s quite amusing to be having dinner at someone’s house, and when you go to the loo you see all the cute pictures of them as awkward teens on ski holidays, party weekends etc. Funny little collages of cut out photos from the 90s.

Very posh people universally do this.

We painted our loo a stormy blueish colour - maybe Denim drift.. and put up some Sam Toft seaside scenes on canvas blocks. I wouldn't put photos up but that's me - if you like photos up, do it!

Ooh that's a good point. Even worse imagine a poster of big brother is watching you! I'll make sure I don't put up any photos of people in the loo, I need to do something with the bare walls.

I agree, I have no photo's or pictures up of anything with eyes in my flat as I always feel I'm being watched. The only exception is a wildlife calendar in the kitchen. Photo's in the loo would definitely creep me out.

I also do feel that lots of family photo's in a house can be a bit 'show offy', depending on what they are and how big. For example weddings, university graduations, 'comedy' selfies, exotic holidays, pictures with celebrities etc. A bit too look at me for my liking. Maybe a few snaps in frames on a sideboard, if you must, but not massive frames on the sitting room wall.

As for OP's husband, I'd be ignoring his (lack of) decorative advice and doing my own thing.

I love downstairs loos that are full of quirky family photos. Mine is just like that - it’s full of funny pics of the kids as babies/toddlers, pulling funny faces, the dog etc. Not the kind of photos you’d have framed on a mantlepiece but candid shots I love and like to see every day.

People tend to spend more time than they need in there looking at them. I’ve never had a negative comment about them.

I thought you were saying like bathroom quotes but you mean photos in the loo huummm NOPE no fucking way thats mad.

I have hundreds of photos but not one in the bathroom.
In fact I dont have any out on show there all in a box.