No More Gender Wars in Home Décor

Blue or Pink? Serene or Edge? Floral or Classic? It is about time one get to stop worrying about ‘Gendering’ their rooms and home. For all those who get anxious over the fact that their home or room is only a representation of their spouse than them, dread no more! There is a way out to cater to both the gender simultaneously. Yes, you heard it! With more and more demands, gender neutral home décor might as well just become the next big thing in interior designing.

But before we unlearn about gender stereotyping when it comes to interior designing, let us try to breakdown our understanding of how masculine and feminine décor works in the eye of conventional interior designing.

Masculine rooms tend to follow dark color schemes, very often following solo color, and avoiding patterns. The furniture line is more streamlined than their female counterpart. There is an underlying preference for modern art here, and of course, a touch of leather is bound to be found. When it comes to the feminine rooms, they tend to follow multi color or bright color scheme, which are louder than the masculine rooms. Their furniture consists of a more velvety touch, which are clubbed with a quintessential vase and flowers. And there are more chances of finding patterns here than in the masculine rooms.

Now that we have touched the base of classifications, here is a guideline to create a gender neutral space. Since feminine pieces are louder than the masculine ones, one must make sure that the base, that is the wall color and furniture line should be masculine. Following this with accentuated pillows and patterned rugs, the feminine touch is brought that the room needs. A wooden centre table with a dash of bright color on top of it flowing though a single line diagonally helps channelize the gender neutral theme further. Vases with flowers are welcome only when they are clubbed with more masculine elements like a steel or iron accessory.

Experimentation and presentation of this genre can be very subjective and limitless, which justifies the breaking of gender norms in interior designing. Correct balance of both the feminine and masculine elements meticulously results in both of them complimenting each other instead of overshadowing one another.