From messy bedrooms, musty dorms, and crusty bachelor pads — the menfolk have a problematic reputation for not being the best homemakers. A while back, on the Ask Reddit subreddit, u/Fortuna_Pulling asked men to share examples of a "woman's touch" after she moved into their place, and the stories are justifiably ridiculous.
1. "Before my wife moved in (girlfriend then), I lived with a friend, and our flat looked pretty bad. It was more like a university student flat than anything else — zero decorations, old furniture from the landlord, horrible cream-colored walls, etc. Living abroad, I always considered it a temporary place and didn't have much attachment to it, so didn't want to spend time and money to improve the space. Once she moved in, we slowly started making it into a real home. We painted the walls, bought furniture and plants, hung some photos, bought a cat, etc. It made such a huge difference and improved our quality of life."
2. "I've always liked cacti and succulents, probably because they were satisfying and easy to keep alive. Enter my girlfriend, who is 'obsessed' with plants. I don't live with her, but since getting together, all of a sudden, I have multiple non-succulent plants I never planned on getting."
3. "I came home once from work. She’d made an awesome dinner. She put cut-up strawberries in the salad. Strawberries guys. It was game over. I have been married nine years now and she’s still doing everything on a strawberries-in-the-salad level."
4. "She replaced my cardboard box with an end table. Unnecessarily."
5. "I worked on a ship when a female cook/steward started working there. Before, the crew was all male, and within a couple of days, the mess and galley were transformed. Tablecloths, curtains, coasters — it was all new. The galley always smelled of cooking, and she was listening to her radio. It was a real game changer from the former grumpy guy and sterile setting. Our skipper loved it."
6. "She stopped me from almost burning down my apartment when she pulled an entire stuffed animal's worth of lint out of my dryer. I didn't know that was a thing."
7. "So many fucking throw pillows. I can't sit on the couch without moving some. And then where am I supposed to put them? I'm ok with decorating, but not when it gets in the way of an object's function."
8. "She made a raised flower bed in my backyard and planted a nice little vegetable garden."
9. "I think, for me, the biggest difference is having a more well-stuffed fridge and, just in general, having more fresh food and a more varied and healthy diet compared to when I was single. When living alone, I just mostly stocked up on the bare minimum when it came to food and could have the same type of meal for several days in a row."
10. "The million shampoo bottles and all the seasonings."
11. "Photos on the wall. She said it was weird I had nothing on the walls but my TV. Within a year, about 100 pictures of us, our families, and friends are now up on the walls. I still don't get it, but it makes her happy, and I don't care, so win-win?"
12. "We now have, without exaggeration, 15 end tables in the house. Four more in the attic, just in case."
13. "My house is plain as fuck. My ex had it looking like a home —decor, rugs, wall hangings, etc. It was ten times better. She took it all when she left, and I never got around to trying it out myself. I should, though. It really looked so much better."
14. "Apparently, I am supposed to have pictures of my loved ones in my house. Who knew?"
15. "For myself, it is scented hand soaps. As a bachelor, I got whatever orange-looking cheapo bottle I could get. My girlfriend/wife moves in and loads up on bakery-scented hand soaps in the bathrooms. One day, when I got home, I told her we had to have a serious adult discussion. 'What scent to pick out next?' To this day, 'serious adult discussion' is code for 'Out of soap. What should we use next?'"
16. "A warmth and happiness I didn’t know I was missing and certainly didn’t know how to cultivate: Art, glassware style unity, refrigerator organization, multiple sets of sheets — the list goes on. A million little touches that compile a happy home."
17. "My front door grew a doormat. My bathroom got a wicker basket with cheesy slogans on the interior lining: 'Home is Where the Heart is' and other such remarkable sayings. The walls in my shower now contain what I can only assume is also decorative in intent: long strands of hair. The kitchen is always clean, and I have 12 different glasses for all kinds of beverages and eight cups for variations of coffee and soups."
18. "My bed was a mattress on the floor for like five years. She bought a bed frame. I married her."
19. "It looks like a home rather than a place I live with random things I like everywhere. It’s just put together. It’s not what I would have done, but it just makes everything feel stable. This nice ass rug, throw pillows, and shelves are arranged in certain ways. I don't know, but it’s nice. It makes me not want to fuck it up and keep it clean."
Did your living situation drastically improve after a significant other's touch? Share your stories the comments!
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.