No More Freshy Decorating


My husband told me he doesn’t like “freshy decorating.”

Actually the exact quote was, “Why do we have to have so much freshy decorating around here?”

Hmmmm.

Freshy decorating?

I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that on HGTV before.

And I’m sure the DIY network never featured it.


When he said it, I stared at him blankly.  Willing him to go on.  Willing him to explain the almost unexplainable term, “freshy decorating.”

He just stared back and shrugged and said, “You know.  It’s like when the decorating takes over the house.  When there’s freshy stuff everywhere.”

Then he paused and stated with great dramatic emphasis:

“Seriously.  It’s like the furniture is all occupied or something.”

Oh.

I see.

That’s what freshy decorating is.


I think it was the pom-pom pillows that pushed him over the edge.

And he was right.

His chair was occupied.

By a freshy pom-pom pillow.

All during March Madness.  Oh, the injustice of it all.

But who doesn’t love a pom-pom pillow?  A pom-pom pillow that I first saw the tutorial for here.  That I fell in love with and had to make.

Seriously, all freshiness aside.  If you are even thinking of making this pillow, you must run to your nearest craft store and buy some yarn and linen and a pillow form and start churning out pom poms.

Immediately.

Because this pillow is true pom-pom perfection.

Now, if you are curious, “freshy decorating” no longer reigns supreme here at thistlewood.

I moved the pom-pom pillows to a new home.

I removed all freshy items from the coffee table.

I made every attempt to generally de-fresh the room.

And I did it all for love 🙂

PS  I am linking this up over at Kim’s and Funky Junk Interiors.

83 thoughts on “No More Freshy Decorating

  1. He might mean it doesn’t feel lived in. My husband likes a little clutter here and there and that slightly lived in look.

  2. My husband uses the museum reference. We are moving soon which has sparked all kinds of new design ideas and want for our soon to be new house. When I show him my idea/wants for certain spaces he tells me that I’m trying to make our house too museum like. Maybe I’ll ask him if it’s too “freshy” and see if he knows what I’m talking about. 😉

  3. What is it that men have a totally different language than ours when it comes to decorating?…..truly, it is a proven fact that Men ARE from Mars and they must speak Martian when referencing home decor…

    Now my hubby must be from the “French region” of Mars…as he uses the term “foo-foo” with a french accent…

  4. Maybe he needs his own dedicated man space that’s not so freshy. I mean a girl does need her freshy after all. BTW I love your very freshy pom pom pillow 🙂

  5. Men do not like change very much. They would have stuff stay the same forever. My husband just rolls his eyes and discusses it with the dog. Love the pom pom pillow. I hope it found the perfect spot.

  6. I am so laughing right now and love that you de-freshed to make your hubby more comfortable. Husbands just dont get the freshy decorating, for sure…..Your hubs comment so reminded me of the conversations my husband has with me over my freshy decorating! this is gonna me my new decor term! Tell hubby thanks

    I Love the pom pom pillow.

  7. LOL!!!! That would be Man-speak for things-being-moved-around-and-too-many-stinkin’-decorator-pillows-everywhere! With my hubs being a hunter/golfer/fisherman, our freshly decorating takes place on a regular basis. 🙂 Oh, well. We can sneak the freshly in when they’re not looking, right?
    xo Heidi

    PS. MUST MAKE POM POM PILLOW. Hobby Lobby here I come. Endless possibilities — I’m thinking collegiate colors for my daughter’s dorm room or a great big “G” stenciled in the middle. 🙂 See what you’ve done to my Saturday? I’ll be day dreaming about this project during two soccer games today, itching to dump sweaty boys off at home so I can get my crafting on!! ha ha!

  8. Hey, at least he noticed! A couple of days ago my husband asked me when we got the piece of furniture that I was painting….we’ve had it for over 15 years. And then he asked me when did I bring it upstairs. Umm, when we moved into the house 6 1/2 years ago. 🙂
    Love the pillow and the way you tell the story is great, as usual! Happy Saturday!
    Angie

  9. What a great story, love it! I’ll have to remember that- freshy- I like your freshy decorating, and I love that pillow. When I’m out shopping with hubby or talking about decor stuff, he always says, “It just needs a toile jabot.” Not sure where he came up with that and I don’t think he really knows what it means. 🙂

  10. Whoa! That freshy pillow makes my heart go pitter-pat. Maybe that is what scared him. Maybe his heart went pitter-pat, and he didn’t know how to handle it.

    I think I need to go sit down and center myself because I’m still pitter-patting.♥

  11. Too funny! The hubs doesn’t complain about decorated surfaces. He just moves stuff to the floor and leaves it there. Seriously, he’s as bad as the boys. Love the pom-pom pillow! Thanks for sharing.

  12. Are our husbands brothers or something???????
    NOTHING feels better than a good belly laugh before 8AM!
    Oh, I love you, Karianne!

    “Seriously. It’s like the furniture is all occupied or something.”

    BWAAAAHAHAHAHA!

    SO, does that run along the lines of my husband ASKING me if he can sit on the chairs in the lving room{covered in grainsack pillows}?
    I love your pillow, and all of your ‘freshy’ inspiration!
    :))))))

  13. Karianne, i just pulled myself off of the floor! That is hilarious! I think his new nick-name is now Mr. Fresh!! BWAHAHAHA!….and when you post you should refer to him as such! My hubby digs all of the rusty funky stuff i bring home, but i’m not sure how he’s gonna feel when i start painting everthing white.

    1. Stacey, Thank you.

      Thank you for making me laugh out loud this morning. Seriously….head back and laughing absolutely out loud 🙂

      Have a blessed and wonderful morming 🙂

      :) me

      PS I’m reading this to Mr. Fresh when he gets home 🙂

  14. Ah, yes. Too much. No room for me. I’m sitting on it. Where am I supposed to put it? Haven’t heard these for a long time. I think my husband would appreciate a little freshiness around here. 🙂

  15. Hahaha, my husband’s only rule is no floral fabrics … and that was laid down about 11 years ago when we bought our first house so I could probably get away with it now … but I don’t in the name of love. 🙂 Here’s to love in an unfreshy house…and that fab pom pom pillow. Nice work!!

  16. Tell him to count his blessings – at least you aren’t making him pom pom neckties, rick rack edged polo shirts or stenciled boat shoes!

    Do what I do. If The Hubs notices something new (either what I’m wearing or in the house), I just say, “what, this old thing” – pretending it’s been there forever.

    It may make him question his sanity-but it’s worth it!
    Kelly

  17. Love it! I told my husband I wanted to show him the new spring wreath I made, and he said, “I saw it from the street when I drove in.” Really, you could see the little birds and eggs, etc.? At least my grown daughters will be excited!

  18. Ooh, I love fresh decorating. Isn’t it what we live for ? Hee hee. But seriously, I haven’t seen that pillow before and now I don’t think I can live without it. Definitely on my to-do craft list for the near future!
    Have a great weekend!

  19. That’s too funny! The Man would says things like “play, play, play” or “Ya know, you don’t have to kill yourself trying to make the house perfect.” I love the term “freshy!” I also love that pompom pillow — so darn cute!
    CAS

  20. When my marriage ended and I was setting up a new home all by myself, it felt so freeing (and fun!) to be able to do whatever I wanted with it. No consulting! No compromising! Seriously, one of my biggest worries about sharing a home with Cane is that I’d hate giving up that freedom to make all those choices by myself. It’s been the biggest amazement (and joy) to me to find that I gained more than I lost, having a true collaborator. Of course, it really helps that we have very similar tastes and ideas! Thank you for the smiles and gratitude this morning.

  21. Oh no, you occupied his space, and with pom poms! lol My husband has a section of the couch where he has his favorite pillows, and the clicker, just right. One day, I replaced all the pillows on the couch with unified fluffy ones. It was beautiful, but I may as well have stuck a dagger in his heart. It’s back the way he likes it, and that’s okay. He honestly doesn’t care what I do with the rest of the house, as long as I don’t disturb his little world.

  22. Good thing he said “freshy” and not “$%itty.”… think I’ll make one of those pillows and put it in his chair and see what he says…Oh, wait. He doesn’t have a chair.

  23. Well, I happen to like all your “freshy decorating”! Doesn’t he have a man cave or something he can use instead? Tell him you’ve got a blog to write, people to inspire and a purpose for all that freshy decor. Maybe he should allow you that ……..in the name of love. Ha!

  24. Karianne, this is so funny! We have that here too! I love “freshy decorating”! Pieces of furniture are all occupied and decorated! LOL! My hubby just laughs and rolls his eyes! It sounds like we have two good sports! Cute story- thanks for giving us this new decorating term!

  25. Hahaha freshy, I love it!!! my husband says, ” Does EVERYTHING have to look like a magazine?” Hence the title of my blog ‘Magazine your Home’. Men, they just don’t get it do they? Of course everything has to look like a magazine! Love the pillow!

  26. Ha! that is hilarious! Oh what our hubbies put up with huh??? 🙂 I too, PINNED this SO long ago and you have inspired me to get started! I even bought the yarn so long ago! the pillow is beautiful….and so freshy! 🙂

  27. Oh I loved your story! I think most of us with a man in our house can relate! My husband would have preferred if I had left everything just they way he had it when we were married ten years ago. But of course that has not happened! Thank you for the good laugh today!

    I adore your pom-pom pillow. Anything with ruffles or pom-poms has me hooked.

  28. So funny…in my house freshy decorating would be PILLOWS…my husband hates pillow decorating unless he wants to take a nap… then they’re convenient…
    By the way, I love your pompom pillow…and I’ll bet Mr Fresh never sits in that chair anyway LOL!

  29. Oh mine does the same thing, but he doesn’t call it a beautiful phrase, he just says..you keep moving everything around all the time.

    I moved his favourite crow sculpture somewhere else…lol, and it didn’t go over too well.

    So I leave the area by his chair static, and everything else gets freshened up. After all we just moved in, and somethings need to find a better home.

    Love your pillow, and your chair.

    Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

  30. I believe the stability of a man is why I get to have a home in the first place! I love that about them! We don’t have any pom poms here (yet) but we do have a 1980 lazy boy.

    xo
    ~K

    ps – Your pillow said my name when I saw the first photo. It was a whisper. I know it wasn’t my imagination!

  31. I’ll have to add that to my vocabulary! Dustin thinks I have an over-abundance of pillows…but now I need a pom pom…
    Whitney – The Rooster and The Hen

  32. “Freshy” I had to laugh! You are such a good decorator that you could seriously get paid well for it! If you got a pay check from helping someone “freshy up” their house, bet he would just love freshy decorating from then on. You house is one of my favorites on the web.

  33. What a lovely ‘Freshy’ pom pom pillow! I get this because not only do I live with my three guys, but we have a chocolate Lab that likes to get into ‘freshy’ pillows and accessories on coffee tables.

  34. LOL! Love it. Freshy! At least you HAVE a look. My pillows end up thrown on the floor by my hubby and 3 year old so…well, there. Not freshey.

    Your house is awesome. Your hubby is just going to have to get used to it. At least most of it!

  35. Why didn’t you tell him the pom pillow made an appearance in his chair during March Madness for a purpose. You know, he can wave that pom pillow high when his teams do well … and punch the living daylights out of it when things go sour …

    … and rest his weary head on it and cry himself to sleep when Kentucky loses its ‘bracket’ …

    🙂

    Linda

    P.S. And I’m 99% that my use of ‘bracket’ as it pertains to March Madness was wrong …

  36. LOLOL! Oh my gosh, Karianne! You ALWAYS make me laugh out loud with your posts — and I almost fell on the floor with this one!!! lol! I always thought my hubby was the only one who couldn’t handle change! How wrong I was! lolol! Men ARE all alike, aren’t they? 🙂 They just don’t get it when it comes to what makes us gals tick and our need to floof and fresh. My trouble comes when Hubby thinks he needs to add his ideas to the mix. Now THAT takes some diplomatic discussion and persuasion on my part to sway him to my side. I try to banish him to his garage so I can floof the house. Doesn’t always work, so I end up just nodding my head and saying, “Yup. Ah-huh. Good idea,honey.” while all the time cringing on the inside. hahaha! For some odd reason, his ideas really never come to fruition……hmmmmm…..wonder why? hehehe!

    But you’re a good, understanding wife, and probably a wee bit more tolerant than I would’ave been. Bless you, girlie! 🙂

    xoxo laurie

  37. We need to leave them something, Karianne! I stay away from the home office and garage {unless I’m painting something in there}. I figure he’s given me the run of the rest of the place!

  38. I love all the cute comments and comparisons. I am not married, but I do have a 16 year old boy that just seems to accept my yard sale and thrift store finds without much comment. On occasion he will roll his eyes with an unusaul find, like an old washboard or something. I just advise him I am breaking him in for his wife when he gets married. Women are nesters I tell him, and we are always feathering.

  39. Adorable pillow! I love your husband’s terminology! And he is so lucky to have such an accommodating wife. Ten years ago when we were making our wedding registry, I was shocked to discover that my husband-to-be had an opinion! About decorating! So all the things we registered for are compromises, and–surprise!–now nearly 10 years later, I hate all but one thing. The house is definitely my domain now. I tell my kids, “Mommy is the boss of the house. Daddy is the boss of the family.” Then my daughter chimes in, “Daddy just thinks he’s the boss!”

  40. I just read this to my husband we can not stop laughing! This sounds like a conversation we had in our house today only my husband used the word fru fru. As in an upholstered headboard is too fru fru for our master bedroom. Lol Freshy is the new fru fru. And I love your freshy pillow!

  41. My husband hates throw pillows, on chairs, couches and especially the bed,he has never used the freshy term but does complain about having to move things the use the furniture, Perhaps it is a male thing because when I went to Germany to help my son set up a homey apartment, the rules were, no candles, and dont put a bunch of pillows on my bed,

  42. I think he might just mean “there are too many pillows here, even if they’re gorgeous like this pom-pom pillow.” I’m discovering that men universally detest throw pillows in any color or quantity. I think it comes with the Y chromosome.

  43. Oh, I have to laugh at the freshy decorated term. Your home is gorgeous! Love the pom pom pillow. Think I’ll take a look at the tutorial. After checking out so many inspiring DIY sewing projects, I may take my dusty sewing machine out this spring. I found you over at Kelly’s place the Essence of Home. I’m a new follower.

  44. hmmmm karianne
    “freshy”… I’ll have to add this to my Official Decor Vocabulary Dictionary!

    I’m here cheering you on with your Pom=poms!

    excellent post!
    dee dee

  45. I have always wondered what your hubby thought of all your decorating and now I know he sometimes thinks it a freshy…………..lol

    Love the pom pom pillows but if I had something like that here I could see Leo & Blain holding the pillow by the pom pom and twisting it till the pom pom come off……..lol

  46. That is hilarious! So nice of you to de-freshy things! That pillow is awesome. I would be at the craft store right now if it were open.

  47. For years my husband has been waging a one man war against decorative pillows. (He’s very practical and doesn’t like having pillows on the bed or couch that don’t actually get used.) He’ll be glad to hear about a fellow warrior 😉

  48. This is so funny… freshy. I think Mr. Uncluttered will be using that phrase all the time now! And maybe I should rename my blog “The Unfreshy Lifestyle.” Hmmm… Now that I say out loud… maybe not. But I still love freshy!

  49. What a cute pillow!!! Cute, cute, cute! Freshy cute!

    I relate somewhat, Mr. C is not fond of decorative pillows. Mine get scattered and pitched every direction every morning, when he comes to sit in his favorite chair. I just wait until his sitting is over, and calmly return them to their much needed position to add balance and distinction to the room. He adds balance and distinction to my life, and I do love it when he is there and not the pillows.

  50. funny story and I love the pillow…..my husband always refers to our home as “unlived in” next time i’ll just tell him its “freshly decorated” 🙂

  51. Ha Ha! Freshy decorating…too funny. I happen to love your brand of decorating and your pom pom pillows are adorable. Have a lovely day 🙂

    Deborah

  52. LOLOLOL! “freshy decorating” made me LOL because it’s totally something my hubby would say! I do sometimes wonder how some home bloggers get away with “freshy decorating” all over the house b/c my hubby can only take so much of it. Thanks for being real! 🙂

  53. This is hilarious…something my husband would say! I have vintage First Aid boxes on the wall in the bathroom, and he officially is very confused as to why they are there and wonders if we are going to be filling them up with first aid supplies. Oh men…

  54. I am a new follower, and I am catching up on posts. Just read this one, and laughed out loud. I love your husband’s description of the decorating, and I LOVE how you just waited… willing him to go on (and dig a hole for himself, perhaps? LOL) But, more than both of those things, I LOVE your library. I just pinned it, calling it a beautiful living room, and then came back to read that it’s your LIBRARY. Well, LOVELY either way. I call it a living room because I would LIVE there. HA! I’m linking to the “cinch” project tomorrow (yes, I know it started today), and so I guess you could say I’m “researching” and “doing homework.” =) Nice to meet ya!

  55. That is just too stinkin funny! Freshy! We have no freshy in our house because well, we are inundated with males! I mean we are talking 4 males between the ages of 12 and 42 (oops sorry make that 41 as he hasn’t turned yet! haha!) Our current issue is buttons… yep buttons. OUr middlest has asked me, nay begged me not to make anything else with buttons because “they really freak me out, Mom!” I think it is a subconscious thing… when he was little he used to talk about his baby brother eating from his mom’s buttons. (i mean it wasn’t like i wasn’t covered…) and yeah I about died because he loved to pass on this bit of information to complete and total strangers. Now he can’t figure out why buttons freak him out so much… I’m not telling him. haha!

    (Love the pompom pillow!!)

  56. You are so funny I cannot even believe how much I am laughing.

    Hysterically.

    I am scaring the cat, I am howling with laughter, tears streaming down my face.

    Sheesh you write well, hahahaha.

    Freshy decorating. omg I will never forget that EVER.

  57. Thisis really funny. I am looking forward to seeing you at My Dream Canvas. Visiting you from Wow Us Wednesday.

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