House of Paine

[anjulibai]

The pictures of the bedroom remind me of a letter to Dear Prudence a while back. A man was writing that he was getting married soon, but his fiancee asked that they have a room in their home that is "hers." She would be able to decorate it the way she wanted, go in there for privacy, and no one would be able to enter without her permission. (I can't remember if she wanted to sleep alone in there, too.) She explained that it was because she grew up in a conservative household where she had to share a bedroom with sisters, keep the doors unlocked and opened, and anybody could barge in at any time. Now that she was leaving her parents' household, she wanted a space that she could call her own. Prudie advised the man that it sounded like his fiancee needed a lot more independence outside of her parents' house before she would be ready to get married.

Eh, I'm an only child who always had my own room, and lived independently before I moved in with my husband before we got married. We've been married 5 years and when we can afford a place bigger than our 2 bedroom apartment, I'm making up my own bedroom/hide-a-way (2nd bedroom is a nursery for our son). I need time to myself, and I do get annoyed when my husband comes into our bedroom when I'm trying to have some alone time. I also have a different aesthetic to my husband, so our decor has to be a compromise, and it would be nice to have a room that I can do up the way I want. I think he should do the same frankly - ideally, we'll get a 4 bedroom, so that both he and I can have our own spaces.

I don't think wanting any of that means you aren't ready to be married. Just because you get married doesn't mean you aren't allowed the need for solitude.

Now, that level of pink in Erin and Chad's bedroom makes me think Erin's maturity level is low, and it is rather sad that this is the first time she's ever had the ability to have a place of her own. I do think Erin probably would have benefited from living on her own for a while, but that has more to do with a sense that she's lonely living away from her family and could have used an opportunity to grow to be more independent.

But the desire to have one's own place where one can be in solitude is not a mark or decorate in the way one wants, in my mind, evidence of not being ready for marriage.

[artdecades]

Man you guys were not kidding about the pinkness of that room. But I agree with those who said it is nice that Chad is alright with Erin decorating how she wants. In their community, if he said no, she would probably just agree with her headship.

As for the pictures of them, why are there two of the SAME picture here. Its one thing to have a lot of pictures of yourself, its another to have two frames of the same picture on the same bookshelf.

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[Guest]

I counted 17 pictures of the two of them. And it doesn't even look like they got prints in from their wedding yet! So 17 photos and counting...

[Ampak]

It's a pink nightmare!!!!

I agree with previous posters about her wanting to be able to go all-out with her tastes for once in her life. When I saw all the shabby chic crap from Target on her registry I gagged but, I couldn't imagine how bad it really is. I also thought those were childrens books which adds a whole extra layer of creepy. If she had simple neutral walls and accent pieces it might be OK but, instead it looks like it's sponsored by Pepto Bismol. I think her living area looks fine aside of EVERY picture frame with their photo in it. I noticed he didn't show much of the kitchen. I also agree with PP about the guest room being leftovers. I am honestly surprised they decorated it all. My husband and have been trying to get pregnant since our wedding so when we bought our house we didn't really go all out with a guest room. We didn't decorate at all and use it mostly for storage as well as a simple full-size bed (think Anna & Smuggars house). Aside of the HIDEOUS pink nightmare room and creepily over decorated cowboy guest suite I think it is a really cute little starter home. Hopefully they don't end up staying their and raising 12+ blessings in it a la the Bates. I hope they're happy and Erin isn't pregnant any sooner than she desires to be.

[Miggy]

Eh, I'm an only child who always had my own room, and lived independently before I moved in with my husband before we got married. We've been married 5 years and when we can afford a place bigger than our 2 bedroom apartment, I'm making up my own bedroom/hide-a-way (2nd bedroom is a nursery for our son). I need time to myself, and I do get annoyed when my husband comes into our bedroom when I'm trying to have some alone time. I also have a different aesthetic to my husband, so our decor has to be a compromise, and it would be nice to have a room that I can do up the way I want. I think he should do the same frankly - ideally, we'll get a 4 bedroom, so that both he and I can have our own spaces.

O/T but extra bedrooms aren't the only way to achieve your own space. We bought a house with an extra garage, removed the roller door and replaced with glass panels, divided it in half with a light plywood wall and presto, MrMiggy has a man-cave and I have a music room. It worked out much cheaper than buying a house with extra bedrooms.

[anjulibai]

O/T but extra bedrooms aren't the only way to achieve your own space. We bought a house with an extra garage, removed the roller door and replaced with glass panels, divided it in half with a light plywood wall and presto, MrMiggy has a man-cave and I have a music room. It worked out much cheaper than buying a house with extra bedrooms.

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind! We'll probably be renting for a few more years, but we're hoping to move into a bigger rental within the next year. We won't be able to do much work on anything we get, but when we do go to buy, we can always look at remodeling.

[znthahmed378]

That pink bedroom is...too pink. I'm guessing that's the room Erin wanted as a 4-6 year old, but couldn't.

[16strong]

Srolling down, I was okay with the house. The guest bedroom seemed kind of iffy for me, but that MASTER BEDROOM!!! I literally gasped when I saw it, and not in a good way. There was no preparation or warning for that at all. :shock: One thing I noticed though, which is kind of odd to me is that the bed in the master seems to be kind of small for the two of them together. It looks like a full size bed, but maybe the picture just makes it look that small. I'm wondering if there is some credence to the idea that they sleep in separate rooms? Especially since the guest bedroom is decorated the same way, except for the opposite gender.

[PennySycamore]

Milk cans on front porches used to be (and maybe still are) a thing in country decorating. Usually though, they aren't just plain undecorated milk cans. They're painted in a tole style like tole lamp shades.

FWIW, milk cans are used by farmers to store the milk before the dairy picks it up. At least they used to be when my grandmother had a small dairy herd. I don't know if they're still used at all.

I am glad that they had their porch swing hung correctly. It's supposed to be hung perpendicular to the house so it can swing more freely.

[love2scrap]

The shower curtain was on their registry. So was all that pink bedding. Maybe it just didnt turn out the way it looked online...

[NellieBell]

Well it's clear from the master bedroom pic that Chad really, really loves Erin. The Christmas lights wrapped around the bed frame were an extra princess-ey touch.It 's also apparent from the rug in front of the toilet, that either Chad either pisses sitting down or has laser-like stream control.I haven't seen a toilet rug or toilet seat cover in anyone's home in at least fifteen years. Gross. And that shower curtain..used Bates' petticoats was the perfect description.

The spare bedroom would be fantastic if you were a boy under the age of seven.

[lilith]

Well it's clear from the master bedroom pic that Chad really, really loves Erin. The Christmas lights wrapped around the bed frame were an extra princess-ey touch.It 's also apparent from the rug in front of the toilet, that either Chad either pisses sitting down or has laser-like stream control.I haven't seen a toilet rug or toilet seat cover in anyone's home in at least fifteen years. Gross. And that shower curtain..used Bates' petticoats was the perfect description.

The spare bedroom would be fantastic if you were a boy under the age of seven.

Maybe he pisseth outside against the wall like a real manly patriarch should.

[Rescinded and Mended]

That shower curtain looks as if it took a lot of effort to make. Looks aside, it's a bad idea - that particular type of lacy eyelet fabric will mildew and rot easily. They'll be swapping out for a vinyl one sooner than they'd like.

As to what Chad wrote in his blog post, I wonder if that was just his attempt at trying to sound profound? I got the the impression that he was thinking along the lines of what life's struggles would bring, not so much what he and Erin might be going through now. The blog makes me think of Erin's brother, the one who is running for mayor - now that these guys have been having sex for a month or two, they think they know everything and can share their wisdom with the rest of us. :lol:

Although, I do like that he decorated their bedroom in pink to make Erin happy. Years ago, my husband painted the living room and kitchen in a color that I wanted, one that really was too bright for the inside of the house. Hindsight is always 20/20, and years later I wished I had chosen a more tasteful, subdued color, but it really meant a lot to me that my husband was willing to paint and texture the walls in two rooms of our house with a color I absolutely adored.

[SolomonFundy]

The bedroom looks like Strawberry Shortcake's vagina. It's both reassuring and incredibly sad that Erin is EXACTLY what she has always seemed to be: prissy, self-absorbed, and a little o.c.d. (I have a mental image of her on the sofa holding a swiffer cloth, just waiting for a speck of glitter to fall off of one of the carefully coordinated ornaments and hit the floor.)

While the bedroom(s) were amazing, my favorite feature is the fake bird in the frilly cage in the living room. That bird is Erin.

[guidedbybobafett]

Honestly, while I find that room absolutely appalling (and gasped out loud), I think it's awesome that Chad is ok with it, considering. It looks like the room a little girl would design for herself if she could do whatever she wanted with her own room, and that's essentially what Erin is. It's great that Chad is ok with it and showing it off on his blog. You go, Chad, and you go Erin. You get that princess room you were never allowed to grow out of wanting.

[bumblebee]

I’ll echo most of the comments here, that pink is horrific but it’s nice that Chad seems ok with it, not many men I know would be. But seriously, even as a woman I wouldn’t be comfortable having sex in there, I’d feel weirdly like I was despoiling a doll’s house or time travelling my 6 year old self's bedroom. Or maybe the cowboy room really is Chad's.

[nelliebelle1197]

Didn't buzzard buy the shower curtain for them?

[Dollypeeps]

Nice one for Chad saying the pink stays but the rooms look like his and her's really except from a childhood they never really had.

I was never a fan of pink but went all out when I moved out of my parents house and went for purples a lot and still do to this day 30 years later. Fair enough the walls are white or creams and the rest is purple bits not like in my youth it was all over purple I kid you not. I moved in with a partner too and he couldn't care how I decorated.

Pics of each other all over are nice as they'll change over the years to come. I wouldn't have put any in the guest room though thats icky for me.

Shower curtain is a big no no. I'm thinking that'll need washed a lot and it'll smell too eeekk.

Also why do they have a wee house and her brother has a big house are they both rentals? Why the size difference or is Erin going to be moving nearer his parents once she finishes school.

[Jane_Goth]

Apart for the children's books in their bedroom, I saw no books, not even a bible, not a cook book, not a decorating/diy book, nothing.

[VincentvanGoGo]

Apart for the children's books in their bedroom, I saw no books, not even a bible, not a cook book, not a decorating/diy book, nothing.

I noticed that too. Even the Bible is out of the picture and that's the one book they must be having.

[danvillebelle]

It's country cute, which I would expect from Erin. The guest room looks like a little boys' room. The pictures of the two of them EVERYWHERE comes across as pretty vain, especially considering they're the only ones currently living in the house. I have pictures lining the hallway of our apartment but they're of my children and relatives dear to me that are long gone, not my husband and I over and over again.

We have the same comforter they do on our bed. It isn't as bright in real life as it looks in photographs. I go through phases with bedroom decor and wanted that comforter for a long time before we got it. It makes the bed feel puffy and luxurious and I love it. It is however, along with the pillow shams, the only pink thing in the bedroom.

I really can't bring myself to snark too much on anyone's decor, because mine is so totally thrown-together/yard sale/thrift store/eclectic/crocheted afghans/books everywhere. There is no style and nothing matches, it's just comfortable and it makes us happy.

[nokidsmom]

Whoa, I was not expecting that bedroom either. I knew she picked shabby chic decor from her registry but I sure didn't expect all that pink. I agree she's finally being allowed to indulge on her own decorating and she's finally realizing a childhood dream or something?

Guest bedroom looks a bit overdone to me but still beats that pink bedroom.

The rest of the house looks OK like a little country house. Now I really, really like the outside!

[nausicaa]

Even if she were pregnant there's no way she could be far enough along to know the sex of the child. They got married in November so even if she got pregnant on the wedding night she'd only be three months. The guest bedroom looks like it was decorated with leftovers from the Bates house.

It is nice that Chad went along with Erin's decor. I do think he genuinely loves her and wants to treat her well. I also think that their marriage has gotten off to a rocky start. That's not necessarily a terrible thing as long as they're able to communicate and work things out. I do find it interesting that Zach and Whitney seem to be the opposite, they're obviously having a riot being married. Chad and Erin had a much more traditional no-touch courtship, and Erin strikes me as rather immature. I think that could have a lot to do with it.

Most of my friends have gotten married in the past three or four years. While none of them are even close to fundie (most aren't even religious), I still noticed quite a few of them really had trouble adjusting to married life and the letdown it was after all of the parties and excitement of being engaged. I can't imagine how hard it is for two young adults who have never lived on their own or been anywhere by themselves, and have been promised that because they "saved" themselves, their marriage would be blessed and wonderful. I imagine it has been very eye opening for both of them. And yes, Erin has always struck me as a bit dramatic and emotionally immature. To be a fly on the wall in that house...

[16strong]

nausicaa, I wonder if they've had quite a few heated arguments already. It's possible that one or both of them feel like they have permission to let loose and say anything to the other, because they "can't divorce," and the other person just has to take whatever is flung at them. People tend to feel more secure in their words and actions when they know there are less/no repercussions.

[Iokaste]

How can you all be so hung up ( :lol: ) on that showercurtain, when right behind it there is a toilet wrapped in terry cloth! Aside from being the ugliest thing ever, it's so gross, why would you put that around your toilet, let alone ON your toilet?

The showercurtain is frilly and overly cute, but the four-colour ombre is nice and I'm pretty sure there is a vinyl curtain behind it.

Enough has been said about the bedroom, so just adding that I really don't think those are children's books in the basket, to em it looks more like greeting cards, so I'm thinking another memento from their engagement/wedding.

Honestly I think the worst thing here (pee catching terry cloth thingy aside) is that couch, why would anyone let such a thing in to their home?

Maybe it was a hand-me-down, but it doesn't look very used and as opposed to wall-colours and bedding wich is fairly cheap and easy to replace once Erin grows up a bit, you don't replace a couch very often, I don't anyway.