Pillow Fight

It's a scenario fairly common in pop culture.  I mean, it makes it into movies like 'Along Comes Polly' and pretty much all home design shows.

I just didn't realize how true it was.

Men really don't like/get pillows.

I have lived on my own for ten years.  Therefore I have become accustomed to the way I like to have things.  As one does.  I realize one has to make adjustments to ones partner as the couple moves in together.

This is called compromise.  It's very annoying.

I like pillows.  I like lots and lots of pillows.  On my queen bed in Vancouver I have four pillows for sleeping and then another four to six pillows that adorn the bed when it is made.

When the Engineer and I first started dating he wondered why I needed so many pillows.  I laughed him off.  'Oh you!  You are a silly man!'.  I never really thought about the day that we would meld households and thus, meld pillows.

I have been careful not to add pillows to our bed.  Simply replacing his old pillows was in itself a major task.

On top of my ADD complex, I have a bit of OCD when it comes to the bed.  I wash my sheets at least twice a week.  It grosses me out to think about sleeping in the flakes of our bodies and whatever else gross micronisms (or whatever small things are called).

Hmmm, yet I ironically let my dogs sleep in the bed and who knows what they are carrying on their paws.

I also replace my pillows at least every two years.  I did not always do this - I never really thought about the grossness that might be living in a pillow.  My mum alerted me to the disgusting situation of head sweat, flakes, drool and microcosms that infiltrate the unwashable germ infested things.  It was a battle trying to separate me from my favourite down pillow (which was at least ten years old!).  But after some disgusting facts and sneakily throwing it away when I wasn't looking - I was able to move on from that pillow and find a new (albeit temporary) love.

When I moved in with the Engineer and had to lay my noggin down on his very old pillows (he had two) I felt it was time to clean house.  It took me TWO years of convincing him to rid our bed of his old pillows.  I know you are thinking "Why didn't you just replace them when he was at school?".  The Engineer is very particular about few things. And one of them is touching his stuff. Replacing his property is deemed a horrific offence.

It took moving back to Canada and me being in charge of packing duty that did it.  I was in control enough to say "Be gone yee pillow of old!  You have done a wonderful job of cradling yee master's head and now it is time to go to your final resting place!".

So it did.  And now we have FOUR pillows (ALL BRAND NEW) on our bed :)

 Adding decorative pillows onto our bed is not even in the cards yet.  I must break the Engineer into this slowly.

Decorative pillows only work when you make the bed.  And we both have a bad habit of not making the bed.  Even though it is my favourite thing to do.  I LOVE A MADE BED.  A made bed with a pretty blanket and throw pillows is so inviting.  It teases you with its beauty.  It says, "come, lay down on me" and when you about to it says 'ah ha ha - not yet!  You only just made me!  You must come back in 10-12 hours and unmake me".

Both from Potter Barn

The Engineer does not get this.

I think most men do not get this.

What is the point of making a bed that you are only going to unmake again?  Well, it's just nicer getting into a made bed is all.  Plus, it looks pretty.  And makes me feel . . . clean.

Our disagreements over pillows do not end in the bedroom.  Oh no.  They only continue to our couch.

My couch in Vancouver has a few throw pillows on it.  Throw pillows are the BEST things ever.  Not only do they add colour and texture to a room, but you can change the look of your home in a few easy props!  And you can work with different seasons. 

The Engineer is nothing if not functional. When we bought the couch he asked if it came with pillows.  The designer salesguy answered (not snidely, quite politely but I could tell he was thinking 'ewww, throw these pillows out because they are factory standard!') that the couch came with two pillows that matched perfectly as they were made of the same fabric.

The Engineer thought this was brilliant.  Pillows for free!

Here's the thing though: they add nothing to the look of the couch and are just BLAH.  Enter:  new pillows!

I have waited until now to introduce decor into this house.  But it's time.  So I went to my favorite store in the entire world - Homesense - to grab a few things to throw on the walls and couch to spruce the place up and make it feel like home.

When the Engineer noticed one picture he said "so now it looks like your place in Vancouver".  Ummm, not that I am trying to make the two look the same but clearly I have a certain taste that gets carried across country.  It's not like I dropped my love of French country somewhere over Winnipeg.

He asked what else I got.

I pointed to a woven natural basket now housing magazines and dog toys.  Subtle.  Nice.

Then he noticed.

THE PILLOWS.

Although not on the couch yet, I had two pillows sitting next to the couch.  Just waiting to prettify.

Except they got nixed before they could even make their debut.

I had to tame myself in the throw pillow aisle.  Ruffles are very in right now so obviously there are a lot of ruffly pillows out there.  My first instinct told me to get the ruffliest pillow out there.

Then I remembered I lived with a boy.

I chose a subtle ruffle pillow.  It only has two barely-there ruffles on each end.  AND IT IS BLUE.  Not bright blue or turquoise, but a lovely subtle grey blue.

The Engineer had several issues.

#1 - As we already move the factory standard pillows away from us, why would we want more pillows?

Ugh.  Try answering this.

#2 -  Would I really want to sleep on the ruffle pillow?

UGH.  Throw pillows are for DECOR!  Not for sleeping.
He could not grasp this concept.

#3 - The colour is too girly.

WHAT?  WTF?  It's a nice GREY BLUE!  GREY!  BLUE!  That is not girly.  It's practically manly.

#4 - He does not like the ruffles

But they add texture to the room!  And I only got one ruffle!  I could have gotten a whole ruffle pillow.  I COMPROMISED to make the pillows more boy-friendly.

Sarah:  What if I got a brown ruffle pillow?

The Engineer:  That's still a ruffle.

Sarah:  What if I got that colour with no ruffles?

The Engineer:  I still don't like that colour.

Sarah:  Why not?

The Engineer:  I just don't.

Sarah:  But you like blue.

The Engineer:  You like pizza.  Do you want to decorate the house in pizza?

I can't even come up with an argument.

This is just the beginning of what I suspect might be many decorating nightmares/arguments.  When asked what colour he prefers for a bedroom the Engineer answered white. WHITE.  What colour in a kitchen?  White.  Bathroom?  White.  Why do people paint rooms when white looks the nicest? 

U.G.H.

I'll let you know how the pillow debate turns out.  I am going to sneak at least one ruffle in somehow.