WAY OT... but someone puhleeeeze help me

[N&B4PSU]

My wife has determined that we must "de-tuscanize" our home. Seems the grand poohbahs of interior fashion design (who I believe are a coven that includes the wizards who decree women's fashion colors must change every year and shoes.... well... shoes... nuff said) have decreed that our beautiful tuscan style home we built for 7 years is no longer "in" and in fact is quite the "out".... and so we must lay out mucho doleros (euros... dinars... lira???) to remedy this horrification.

And in fact their focus group came up with a term for it... they call it de-tuscanization. Instead of vibrant golds and bronze and rust... we now have... (i sheet thee not) silver... and gray.... with a thread of rustic stone chucked in to keep the menfolk in the game but allegedly to "tie the old with the new" together such that you won't even notice that what was once balanced and a home any Tuscan would love to own... is now fit only for american oafs. The beautifully chic folks who have been raised on the mantra "thou must change they stripes"... well, they know better. Ahem.

Can anyone provide a way out? My budget is less than comfortable and frankly, the new look looks like crap.

At the point where i sell this albatross (the house, the house) and move to the Algarve to retire. Just sayin...

 

[SheldonJoe2215]

Pictures or it didn't happen.

 

[91Joe95]

I suggest a blue and white motif. To pull this off you may need to enlist CF.

 

[fairgambit]

Tuscan? Did you say Tuscan? That reminds me of a movie Under The Tuscan Sun. Do you know who stars in that movie? Diane Lane! Are you saying your wife doesn't like Diane Lane?

 

[Nitwit]

Make a budget and hire a professional decorator whom you trust.

 

[KnightWhoSaysNit]

My wife has determined that we must "de-tuscanize" our home. Seems the grand poohbahs of interior fashion design (who I believe are a coven that includes the wizards who decree women's fashion colors must change every year and shoes.... well... shoes... nuff said) have decreed that our beautiful tuscan style home we built for 7 years is no longer "in" and in fact is quite the "out".... and so we must lay out mucho doleros (euros... dinars... lira???) to remedy this horrification.

And in fact their focus group came up with a term for it... they call it de-tuscanization. Instead of vibrant golds and bronze and rust... we now have... (i sheet thee not) silver... and gray.... with a thread of rustic stone chucked in to keep the menfolk in the game but allegedly to "tie the old with the new" together such that you won't even notice that what was once balanced and a home any Tuscan would love to own... is now fit only for american oafs. The beautifully chic folks who have been raised on the mantra "thou must change they stripes"... well, they know better. Ahem.

Can anyone provide a way out? My budget is less than comfortable and frankly, the new look looks like crap.

At the point where i sell this albatross (the house, the house) and move to the Algarve to retire. Just sayin...

No doubt your wife watches HGTV. First step is to cancel the channel. No progress can be made beforehand.

If you can't bring yourself to do this without seeing first what you're losing, go ahead and watch it. Take note of the joy people have when they tear out a beautifully stained oak cabinet and replace it with particle board painted white or gray.

The channel is like watching a cigarette infomercial program. Makes people want what will ultimately become bad for them.

(They never show these happy people later in life ... bankrupt.)

 

[Lefty Hill]

Does she want words like “blessed,” “love” and “happiness” in fancy font hung all over the house? Not to mention big, huge clocks and shiplap. If so, it sounds like she’s under the influence of Joanna Gaines. Although Joanna loves white, she’s totally into neutrals

Funny thing, I was in this store at the Grove City Outlets on Saturday, and it had those words hanging all over the walls. It hit me hard and I said to the friend I was with, “This is so Joanna Gaines.” Made me want to puke.

I like Joanna (her husband is a dipshit) but I’m not crazy about all her ideas on design. (Shrug.) I do like the big, huge clocks though.

Don’t cancel HGTV. Just hope your wife gets over it.

 

[psuro]

Give her what she wants with the caveat that you get one room.

That room is the garage.

Buy yourself a nice sports car or motorcycle and place it in the garage.

Now you both get what you want.

 

[Aardvark86]

Make a budget and hire a professional decorator whom you trust.

Well, at least the former since the latter is incompatible with the former

 

[Nitt1300]

Grow a pair- learn to say "no- and get me a beer"

 

[Chickenman Testa]

If I went crazy and had a lot of money, I’d definitely have a turret or 2, a moat of some sort and one of those bookshelves where you pull a certain book and the bookcase revolves to reveal a secret passageway heading to my wine cellar and underground lair.

I would be staying away from neutral colors

 

[Obliviax]

 

[Omar81]

My wife has determined that we must "de-tuscanize" our home. Seems the grand poohbahs of interior fashion design (who I believe are a coven that includes the wizards who decree women's fashion colors must change every year and shoes.... well... shoes... nuff said) have decreed that our beautiful tuscan style home we built for 7 years is no longer "in" and in fact is quite the "out".... and so we must lay out mucho doleros (euros... dinars... lira???) to remedy this horrification.

And in fact their focus group came up with a term for it... they call it de-tuscanization. Instead of vibrant golds and bronze and rust... we now have... (i sheet thee not) silver... and gray.... with a thread of rustic stone chucked in to keep the menfolk in the game but allegedly to "tie the old with the new" together such that you won't even notice that what was once balanced and a home any Tuscan would love to own... is now fit only for american oafs. The beautifully chic folks who have been raised on the mantra "thou must change they stripes"... well, they know better. Ahem.

Can anyone provide a way out? My budget is less than comfortable and frankly, the new look looks like crap.

At the point where i sell this albatross (the house, the house) and move to the Algarve to retire. Just sayin...

Tell me more about the Algarve. I've read a few things about it, but I've never been there. Sounds as if you have and I trust a fellow Penn Stater more than articles by anonymous third parties who likely are trying to sell me something. By the way, have you considered Calabria? Beautiful, inexpensive, with mountains and national park on the east; Tyrrhennian Sea to the west and Ionian sea to the south.

 

[Pardlion]

My wife has determined that we must "de-tuscanize" our home. Seems the grand poohbahs of interior fashion design (who I believe are a coven that includes the wizards who decree women's fashion colors must change every year and shoes.... well... shoes... nuff said) have decreed that our beautiful tuscan style home we built for 7 years is no longer "in" and in fact is quite the "out".... and so we must lay out mucho doleros (euros... dinars... lira???) to remedy this horrification.

And in fact their focus group came up with a term for it... they call it de-tuscanization. Instead of vibrant golds and bronze and rust... we now have... (i sheet thee not) silver... and gray.... with a thread of rustic stone chucked in to keep the menfolk in the game but allegedly to "tie the old with the new" together such that you won't even notice that what was once balanced and a home any Tuscan would love to own... is now fit only for american oafs. The beautifully chic folks who have been raised on the mantra "thou must change they stripes"... well, they know better. Ahem.

Can anyone provide a way out? My budget is less than comfortable and frankly, the new look looks like crap.

At the point where i sell this albatross (the house, the house) and move to the Algarve to retire. Just sayin...

Tell her that blue and white is in, and start painting.

 

[Lefty Hill]

Big Baylor Bear fans, they are.

BTW: Another thing she’s into is piles of old books all over the room. And a lot of times she puts them into the shelves backwards. Don’t see the sense of that.

 

[JoeLion]

Simple...we don’t have the money for this BS at this time. If we do this no vacation, dinners out, new clothes etc.
Lets revisit this idea next year maybe something new will be more appealing to the both of us. I’m only saying this because I love you and know how important these others things are to you.
Good Luck!

 

[N&B4PSU]

I really appreciate the comments... made me feel a little better. Yeah, she's into HGTV but she has a lot of nyc gf's who live to re-decorate and she doesn't want to be left out. Or some such.

I am commandeering a room (for the time being) I can do what i want with it... garages really don't work well in florida for getting away lol.

Doesn't change that this sucks but she seems to have come around to not going full bore into it... just a few changes (which no doubt later on become more changes and so forth). I think the idea of cutting back on vacations slowed her up lol.

Thanks to all for lightening my load.

 

[tboyer]

Really it depends on where you live. In New Jersey the whole Tuscan/Gold/Sopranos scheme is immune from the laws of fashion. It never goes out of style -- and I mean this seriously. Real estate agents have a term for it. It is something about New Jersey's unique esthetic sense.

If you do redecorate, don't hire a decorator. Homes designed by professional decorators are going to obsolesce because they will reflect the height of trendiness at a certain point in time. It is impossible to be the height of trendiness and still look good after 7 years, unless your decorator can predict the future.

My other advice is, be aware of what the local builders are putting in houses today -- and avoid it like the plague. Contractors are selling to the trendy market and they don't care about the future. That's why 95% of new construction 5-10 years had black granite countertops and stainless steel appliances, and now all that black granite and stainless steel is slowly making its way to landfills because it is UG-LY.

If you stay with classic timeless lines, and decorate with things that YOU find beautiful instead of professional decorators and magazines, sudden obsolescence is less of a problem. Not everybody cares about this, but if people come to your house and notice patterns and objects from magazines and TV shows 10 years ago, they will notice that. But if you have a style that is yours (and I don't mean it has to be weird, just yours), it is less vulnerable to being typecast as something out of a magazine from 2006. Enjoy!

My wife has determined that we must "de-tuscanize" our home. Seems the grand poohbahs of interior fashion design (who I believe are a coven that includes the wizards who decree women's fashion colors must change every year and shoes.... well... shoes... nuff said) have decreed that our beautiful tuscan style home we built for 7 years is no longer "in" and in fact is quite the "out".... and so we must lay out mucho doleros (euros... dinars... lira???) to remedy this horrification.

And in fact their focus group came up with a term for it... they call it de-tuscanization. Instead of vibrant golds and bronze and rust... we now have... (i sheet thee not) silver... and gray.... with a thread of rustic stone chucked in to keep the menfolk in the game but allegedly to "tie the old with the new" together such that you won't even notice that what was once balanced and a home any Tuscan would love to own... is now fit only for american oafs. The beautifully chic folks who have been raised on the mantra "thou must change they stripes"... well, they know better. Ahem.

Can anyone provide a way out? My budget is less than comfortable and frankly, the new look looks like crap.

At the point where i sell this albatross (the house, the house) and move to the Algarve to retire. Just sayin...

 

[PSU2UNC]

If money is at the heart of the issue, sit down with her, explain the budget to her (if she isn't already well versed in it) and say "OK, what are we going to cut in order to pay for this." Maybe she's not willing to cut out other things and her request will go away.

If money isn't the biggest issue and you really don't care what your house looks like (within reason...I know I don't), put her in charge. She has to deal with the designers and the contractors, deal with permits,stay under budget etc. Make it clear you will be totally hands off. If she's willing to do and stay under budget (and it makes her happy) who cares?

 

[We Are . . .]

May I suggest?

 

[Lion84]

What - You don't have a money tree out back? My wife seems to believe we do and it drops it's money leaves 24/7/365.

 

[psuro]

Since you won't take my advice on a new sports car, I will only offer this

Don't overspend your neighborhood.

If your wife wants a $10,000 Viking Fridge with all the bells and whistles, including WiFi - great. But, if no one in your neighborhood would have one, then you are wasting your money.

 

[Langmuir]

No doubt your wife watches HGTV. First step is to cancel the channel. No progress can be made beforehand.

If you can't bring yourself to do this without seeing first what you're losing, go ahead and watch it. Take note of the joy people have when they tear out a beautifully stained oak cabinet and replace it with particle board painted white or gray.

The channel is like watching a cigarette infomercial program. Makes people want what will ultimately become bad for them.

(They never show these happy people later in life ... bankrupt.)

I was in an HGTV show about 10 years ago and they redid our kitchen. The whole show was a bunch of lies. They acted like we had a choice in the design when the reality is that they already picked everything out and it was sitting in my garage for a month before they started taping. The "carpenters" they had on air did not know shit. My dad was a carpenter, my brother is a carpenter, I know carpenters and these guys were not carpenters. The work they did was crap and I had to fix some of their shoddy work after they left. They only cared about what it looked like on camera. I could go on and on about how slimy and cheap the production company was but I don't feel like writing a book.

 

[Woodpecker]

Bob Cobb is not about to de-Tuscanize!

 

[katchthis]

Bob Cobb is not about to de-Tuscanize!

Let's take the smallest bedroom and put a pool table in it.

 

[ericstratton-rushchairman]

Tuscan? Did you say Tuscan? That reminds me of a movie Under The Tuscan Sun. Do you know who stars in that movie? Diane Lane! Are you saying your wife doesn't like Diane Lane?

There might not be a better played post/reply this year than this...and in under a half hour.

 

[hagberg]

First thing you do is ask yourself, "how much do I love my wife?" If the answer is "she's ok, I guess," stand your ground. If "she's my world, can't live without her," step aside and wait to see the end result.

 

[PeetzPoolBoy]

My wife has determined that we must "de-tuscanize" our home. Seems the grand poohbahs of interior fashion design (who I believe are a coven that includes the wizards who decree women's fashion colors must change every year and shoes.... well... shoes... nuff said) have decreed that our beautiful tuscan style home we built for 7 years is no longer "in" and in fact is quite the "out".... and so we must lay out mucho doleros (euros... dinars... lira???) to remedy this horrification.

And in fact their focus group came up with a term for it... they call it de-tuscanization. Instead of vibrant golds and bronze and rust... we now have... (i sheet thee not) silver... and gray.... with a thread of rustic stone chucked in to keep the menfolk in the game but allegedly to "tie the old with the new" together such that you won't even notice that what was once balanced and a home any Tuscan would love to own... is now fit only for american oafs. The beautifully chic folks who have been raised on the mantra "thou must change they stripes"... well, they know better. Ahem.

Can anyone provide a way out? My budget is less than comfortable and frankly, the new look looks like crap.

At the point where i sell this albatross (the house, the house) and move to the Algarve to retire. Just sayin...

Just “stall”. In a few years Tuscan will be “back in style”.

 

[N&B4PSU]

Again, good advice (sometimes funny but still good)... in our case, we built everything together from travels throughout europe and specifically italy... kinda like raising a child. IOW, not easy letting it go.

So it hit me.... all the things -- everything -- in the house, is from places we went. All of it has character, color, life. These new colors are from places we've never been nor would really want to go. Silvers and grays might be for some, but they have no life, no soul. For me, anyways.

Thanks again to all.

Time to focus on osu and it's grays and silvers lol.

 

[N&B4PSU]

Just “stall”. In a few years Tuscan will be “back in style”.

I told her that.... but I'm advised it isn't so.

Says who, I ask.

The people who want us to buy the new style and make money (from my pain lol).

Imagine dat.

 

[N&B4PSU]

Tell me more about the Algarve. I've read a few things about it, but I've never been there. Sounds as if you have and I trust a fellow Penn Stater more than articles by anonymous third parties who likely are trying to sell me something. By the way, have you considered Calabria? Beautiful, inexpensive, with mountains and national park on the east; Tyrrhennian Sea to the west and Ionian sea to the south.

Apologies for the delay.

In this case, it's wishful (wistful?) thinking. I know a few people who have moved to Spain and Portugal to retire and love it. My friend (a retired restaurateur from Paris --- big place) was a click or 2 from retiring to the Algarve. Thought seriously about opening a bistro and living out his life.

Clean... lots of fresh fish... healthy women... good wine... sunshine... the beach.

Of course I'd miss psu football... i'd miss the kids and friends... i'd probably get lonely sometimes. I'd soon realize I was retired and maybe that wouldn't be so good.

Wife and I stay together it probably never happens... but if not, it's on my short list outta town. Time will tell.