Decorating a new home together is supposed to be fun and exciting, but sometimes it can lead to disagreements you’d never expect.
What would you do if your spouse wanted to display something deeply sentimental in a prominent place, but it didn’t quite fit the look you were hoping for?
This husband finds himself in this exact situation, and is hoping Reddit can help him sort out what’s right.
Here’s how it played out.
AITA for Refusing to Let My Wife Hang Her Childhood Blanket in Our Living Room?
Sooo, my wife (34F) and I (36M) recently moved into our first home together after saving up for years.
We’ve been having a great time decorating it and making it our own, but we’ve hit a bit of a roadblock when it comes to the living room.
My wife has this old, tattered blanket that she’s had since she was a baby.
It’s clearly been well-loved—meaning, it’s falling apart, faded, and covered in stains that have probably been there for decades.
I get that it holds a lot of sentimental value for her, and I’m totally cool with her keeping it in the house.
She sometimes cuddles with it when she’s stressed or wants some comfort, which I think is sweet.
This is where they disagree.
However, she wants to hang it on the wall in our living room as “art.”
I was pretty shocked when she brought it up because, to be honest, the blanket looks more like something that belongs in a storage box than is on display in our main living area.
The living room is the first thing people see when they walk into our house, and I was hoping to keep it looking somewhat stylish and presentable.
I suggested that we could hang it in our bedroom or maybe in her home office instead, where it would still be visible and special but not as front-and-center.
But she’s adamant that the living room is where she wants it because that’s where she spends the most time, and she says it makes her feel safe and happy.
Here’s his dilemma.
This has turned into a bit of a standoff.
She says I’m being dismissive of her feelings and that I’m trying to control how the house looks without considering what’s important to her.
I feel like I’m just trying to keep our shared space looking nice, and I’ve even offered to frame the blanket or find a way to incorporate it more tastefully, but she says that’s not the same.
Now, she’s barely talking to me and seems really hurt, which was never my intention.
I’m starting to wonder if I’m being too rigid about this and not respecting her attachment to the blanket.
AITA?
It’s easy to see both sides of this.
Let’s see what Reddit readers had to say about this issue.
Here’s an excellent idea.
This person has jokes!
These are some great options.
These people have a good system.
There has to be middle ground.
It’s just a matter of finding it.
If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.