One of the things I loved back was going shopping for home decor. I guess because since I never got to paint my room hot pink (in hindsight, thanks Mom) I really enjoyed making my room in my college house my own. It might also be that I finally found my style and have been going through an artsy phase ever since I discovered the greatness that is Anthropologie. I loved my light blue walls, cherry desk, mirrored jewelry box, my “cloud-like” bed and, most of all, my triptec cherry blossom painting.
Home shopping in Nanjing does not bring the same pleasure... especially with my roommate. Don’t get me wrong, Eva and I are becoming good friends. But our styles are like night at day. While I love soft, earthy tones, things that match and classic style, she much prefers bright colors, little girl-style accessories and doesn’t even consider if what she is buying will “work” in a room. She hated when I covered our sofa in blue (my favorite color) and was relieved when underneath was revealed a bright orange (gag).
I waver how much I want to actually “invest” in this apartment. I’m ok with minimal decor, but I do want to make it a little more “homey.” I can tell she does too. So this weekend she finally made me decide on some additions to our apartment. She was so excited to show me these things to “decorate the wall.” I kid you not, they are stickers. She had her computer screened opened up to about 10 different “wall stickers.” And while they are anywhere from 10 to 70 RMB, I'd much prefer splurging on a painting (say 200 RMB) than sticking up those tacky things. She had already decided which ones she liked and on which wall they would go. The girl wanted a sticker covering every single wall and I could tell she was disappointed when I said “Maybe let’s decide on one or two for the living room.” Hell will freeze over before I scatter stickers all over my apartment.
What got to me the most was how NONE of these stickers matched... It seems I am my mother’s daughter. One was a sticker of Audrey Hepburn, the other of a anthro-style tree with birds, the other patch of flowers with butterflies (butterflies are the bane of my existence) and the last was a bunch of circles to create your own pattern. Not only are these about 4 different themes but the colors where all wrong. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but at the same time I really don’t want to litter the walls with cheap... crap?
What I found even more comical was when we had narrowed it down to two, Hepburn and the tree, we couldn’t decide which color to choose for the tree. There was about 15 colors to choose from and we were both not really sure what the other one wanted (or sure that we would agree). So I picked up a throw pillow that was on the sofa. As I looked to the pillow to give us the answer to the color problem she had the most confused look on her face. I said “Why don’t we match the color with one of the colors in this pillow.” Then, the reaction that said it all: “Match? What is match?”
We didn't make any final decisions on the stickers. I'm going to try to gently tell her I don't want them on the walls and that I'll buy a painting or something. But this is why if I ever move into my own apartment again, I will decorate it the way I want before I get a roommate (or just decorate it on my own). Eva is sweet and a great roommate, but I don’t want to live in a color wheel of an apartment. And I will forever choose my “traditional-contemporary” style in home decor before succumbing to the “Chinese style” these people seem to love. I can get into hanging out with my coworkers going to KTV and will let Ellen come over and tell me I’m going to “wed” this year and have a baby. But I will not live in a Neon Wonderland. Sorry, Eva.
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