Home decorating

[Mamma1355]

DH and I have just bought our first home, a newish build that is a blank slate, and we have been stuck on how to decorate it.

It’s the first time we’ve not rented and are trying to put our stamp on our home. With curtains, I love fabrics and patterns but the cost of outfitting all the windows is eye watering, and we couldn’t agree on what we wanted, plus we’re time-poor and traipsing around looking at fabrics is a poor use of what time we have. I’m so fed up with it all, I’ve completely gone the other way and want to stick to the clean and minimalist look that we have at the moment and just get thermal blinds for privacy and warmth.

DH is adamant on curtains to conserve heat. I’ve reluctantly agreed on cheap plain curtains bought on Black Friday for each room but I’m really not happy about it. I keep saying I’d rather just have blinds which are cheaper and we can always decide on curtains later. But DH is ploughing ahead anyway. He keeps asking me what I think about related things re curtain rails etc and wanting to involve me but he is ignoring the fact that I don’t want them at all.

AIBU to not want to get involved? Watching him put them up is making me feel very down. To be fair we are good at communicating on most things. I also drive a lot of buying decisions for our children (because he’s not that interested) so maybe I should let him have this one. I just feel that if we can’t get something we both love let’s not spend money on a cheap compromise, but here we are.

I love fabric too, so I do understand your point of view. However, I think plain curtains should be fine, if you want to add texture and colour you can start off with cushions. Then rugs. Then lampshades….

I started off in a previous home with everything, everywhere white, a literal blank canvas, then gradually added to it where it felt like a room needed adding to.

It takes time, years, to get your house how you want it, (correction, how you think you want it!) And then you realise, for example, that the look or feature that you once liked doesn't work any more, or that that the thing your OH chose was actually a good idea.....I'm saying that our ideas and tastes are always evolving and not to get hung up on things in the first place because how you feel about the curtains/blinds now is not how you'll feel after living in the house for a while, when how the sun moves round or privacy issues or whatever become much clearer.
But FWIW we have a mixture of blinds and curtains and each have their pros and cons. All blinds might be a bit too office like. It may be that any curtains you get now are a compromise and you have the pleasure of upgrading bit by bit when you have more money or see something you love. Often when you go looking for something specifically you don't see anything that appeals and then on another day you have the pleasure of serendipity. It's really exciting to be able to decorate and make choices after renting but it's a marathon not a sprint. Let him take the lead on the curtains and be prepared for you to end up liking them and him to say he should have listened to you and got blinds!! 🤣