Family fights over if, when and how to decorate the family home is not just a matter of personal taste. It is often a matter of status, respect and even empowerment. Let’s learn more about why women feel empowered when they decorate.
It Demonstrates Respect for Her
Your control over the home environment is often a reflection of your power in the household. Doctor Jordan Peterson’s latest book included a perfect example of this concept. A woman came to him and said she was depressed. She did well at work, but she felt excluded and minimized at home. This took literal form in how the home was decorated.
Her husband decorated nearly every wall of their home with memorabilia. It covered the walls in place of paint, and there was less and less physical evidence of her and her preferences in the home they shared. In his sessions with her, he brought up negotiation tactics to try to address the issue. Instead, she retreated until she got a divorce. Then she took the few photos and knickknacks of hers from the home and moved into her own place. Dr. Peterson was convinced the husband immediately filled in the few available spots with his latest acquisitions, since the wife left the husband all of it.
This story is an example of why each person in the household needs to have a say in how the home is laid out and in how it is decorated. It also helps to explain why women feel empowered when they decorate, though that’s not the only reason.
It Proves She Has a Say in Spending Decisions
Too many couples have one person controlling the money while the other handles the day-to-day expenditures on a type of allowance or a budget set by the other person. This can create conflict when she spends more on groceries than he approved, or he buys a truck without her agreeing that they’ll take on a car payment.
Furniture purchases range from fifty dollars for a small table to several thousand for a couch and matching chairs. If you read sectional sofa reviews, you can find a reasonably priced sectional sofa that reduces how much you have to pay for new furniture while having design flexibility. However, a woman who isn’t allowed to buy a new couch when the old one is becoming uncomfortable or faces a fight if she buys new pillows and drapes isn’t on equal footing with her husband. On the other hand, a couple that sets a budget for new furniture or seasonal decorations is working toward a common vision. You’ll get extra points if you save up for such purchases instead of putting it on a credit card.
It Demonstrates Her Control over the Home Environment
You can’t control everyone else, and you probably can’t change the world. But you can control your home environment. You set the rules, if you have authority within the home. You decide how clean it will be, though you have to do the work. You can control the way the home looks. And it is a physical representation of your control, whether you want your home to have a mix of Japanese and Swedish minimalism, arts and crafts style or country style. If she can decide when they update the décor, whether it is due to evolving tastes or decorating to reflect an upcoming holiday, it shows she has control over the home at the most basic level.
