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Design Perspectives

Men’s Spaces
Whether from Mars or Edwardian England,
men have preferences for their surroundings.

by Karla Nielson, Allied Member, ASID; Member, WCAA

Anyone who has read the now classic “Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus” by John Gray will recall that unlike women who like to talk and talk and talk until they find their answer, men will withdraw and recluse into a “cave” until they have an answer to a life problem or situation. I’ve witnessed this many times with my husband, who withdraws into a late night sports event or a replay of a blow-’em-up movie (guy flick). When the man emerges, he has found his solution.

If a woman follows him into his cave, he will growl, snap or otherwise let her know she is unwelcome. It is his space, and he must have it.

Perhaps this is why so many homes today have a den or office that is geared toward the man in the family, while few have a space that is set aside just as a woman’s space. I have determined that home planners instinctively know that women need to be a part of the family on a minute-by-minute basis, but men need to escape and think, read, ponder or work away from the family dynamics.

MEN’S PREFERENCES

Men, unlike women, have preferences that are decidedly masculine. Over and over for the past 29 years I have taught the introductory interior design course at Brigham Young University, I have seen in portfolio selections that men generally have predictable favorites. Here are a few I’ve observed:

• Men like real materials—those from nature: wood on walls and floors, stone around fireplaces. They appreciate steel, glass and leather as things that stand on their own as sturdy, long-lived (perhaps forever), solid, practical and durable for everyday use.

Favorites include environmentally inspired and environmentally friendly design and works by or similar to Frank Lloyd Wright, the father of modern organic architecture and design.

• Men prefer simple shapes in structural, unadorned design. Generally speaking, men relate to the Craftsman style of Gustav Stickley furniture (minus the William Morris textiles unless it’s in a rug or a small upholstered area).

Men like Mid-century Modern as inspired by the architecture and furnishings of European maverick LeCorbusier. Also important is the faculty of the German Bauhaus, many of whom immigrated to American and became icons: Marcel Breuer, Walter Gropies, Mies Van der Rohe.

These styles have made a huge comeback, especially among the techno-savvy. Inherent are slick, plain or cold surfaces, rooms that require little dusting because they are largely void of decoration. Stainless steel in office furniture combined with new plastic materials and ergonomic chairs are a masculine design direction.

And if men are purists in this vein, they don’t like anything at the window—at all, just architecture. This approach parallels the architects’ attitude that interior decorators are “inferior desecrators.”

“Less is more” is an approach that is comfortable for most men. What most women would label as boring interiors are deeply pleasing to men—just plain wood, no ornamentation, thanks.

• Men enjoy the “clubby” interior that dates to Edwardian England when the social byline was “a man’s home is his castle,” and men were considered supreme authorities on everything (interestingly, this attitude parallels the advent of the Suffragette Movement).

This style also has its roots prior to the mid-twentieth century when, in England, it was taboo for men to drink, smoke or use fowl language around women. Yet men still indulged in this crude behavior. The story goes they created GOLF clubs, which translates to Gentlemen Only; Ladies Forbidden. These fraternal organizations were the forerunners of many of today’s elite clubs.

Back then, it was a walk about the greens followed by food, liquor and a satisfying smoke in the clubhouse that spawned the style so enjoyed today by men (and often by women). In today’s homes, the look is often found in the library, although it may still be the den or office—rooms that are still perceived as men’s spaces.

The club look can be described as dark, cave-like, introspective and also intellectual. Walls lined with traditional raised paneling and bookshelves, sometimes two-stories high with a balcony or moveable ladder, or textured with stucco or grass cloth, a rich wall covering or deep-value color are the main ingredients. Lighting that highlights wood shutters, blinds or heavily textured draperies (velvet was an original favorite) adds richness.

Furnishings are Chippendale Late Georgian style in dark or natural mahogany. Cherry and walnut are also good choices for walls and furniture selections. Also, furnishing styles from the French Empire or German Beidermeier (northern European Empire) are appropriate. Accessories are traditional or exotic finds from around the world—from ancient Rome, Greece and Egypt in particular.

Floors are wood with Oriental or designer rugs (originally Oriental rugs overlaid with zebra or bear skin trophies).

• Speaking of trophy hunting, men also seem to prefer animal motifs. Choices include:

1. The fauna of Africa: elephants, zebra, antelope, wildebeests, lions, tigers, snakes, etc.

2. Angling themes with fish trophies, real or painted wood, and all the trappings.

3. Mountain man themes with grizzly bears, wolves, coyotes, bald eagles, elk, deer, moose and pine trees, mountains, lakes and streams.

4. Dogs, especially hunting dogs, pheasants or foxes.

• Men like leather because it is primal, enduring, strong and impervious. They like tapestries and tweeds, velvets and textured wovens.

They like colors with a warm cast as opposed to cool undertones (preferred by women). They like very much the dark forest green family, as well as the classic burgundy red relations. Golden browns, light to dark, are always considered masculine. And many men like the clarity and simplicity of black and white. They especially like electronics and remote controls, the majority of which are techno-black.

The family of gray also may be considered masculine, and gray is a neutral that can easily be swayed by undertones to become bluish, pinkish, yellowish or greenish, for example. Be sure to match those undertones to the color scheme. This rule applies also to all off-whites.

Men like blues, also; but in the deeper variety, closer to navy, which is a bluish off-black. And men like pure colors with power and punch. A splash of red, gold, green or computer screen techno-colors such as lime green, orange and purple—colors that have zip and pizzazz.

Reds are psychologically suited to men in the mood for romance, stimulating the hormones that make men notice women. This is why red roses mean love, and red is given at Valentine’s Day. It is also a color that arouses patriotic passion in men—and also in women. The red represents courage and desire to fight for what one believes in.

Men whose color tastes are more complex are typically those who have been exposed to the fine arts, classical music and great cuisine. There is a time factor in developing a desire for colors that are tones and pastels, mixtures of color that are artistic. A study of the world of painting, of antiques, of decorative and fine arts will yield a taste for color that goes beyond the recipe colors that appeal to the majority of men.

WINDOW TREATMENTS AND WALL COVERINGS

At the window, masculine-flavored rooms will have no-nonsense lines: horizontal or vertical blinds or shadings. Heavier scale in decorative hardware is appropriate and textured fabrics—those that are nubby or with a pile are good places to start.

Patterns should be complex enough to suggest pattern, or be based on nature: animal prints, ecological patterns, geometrics, abstract or linear patterns are good choices. Heavier scaled top treatments or side panels are appropriate for masculine interiors.

Wall coverings generally follow the direction of the fabrics: textures that suggest burlap or grass cloth, for example, or patterns as suggested above.

Besides the animal motifs already discussed, men’s wall coverings also feature sports motifs—anything where a ball is the object—or other types of recreation. Few and far between are the men who do not like recreation as a pastime away from the pressures of work.

ASK A MAN

There are many more men making decisions concerning interior furnishings than at any time in the past. Faith Popcorn calls it the mancipation trend, where men are less afraid to express what they really feel and want as opposed to keeping a stoic front and thinking that furnishing an interior is something that is reserved for women only.

Let the men become a part of the scene. I have found that although interior design is large attraction to women, and often men will absolve, that when a man really gets involved he typically has better taste or at least is more opinionated than the average woman (opinionated without good design sense is a challenge to the design professional, regardless of gender).

So ask the men you work with, “What do you really want and why?” Then let them freely express their opinions about furnishing selections. Perhaps they love to travel, collect, hunt or read. Let them be the guide. And remember, like women, men want to be deeply satisfied with the results of those selections. And perhaps more than women, men want a longevity and permanence to what they choose. They want it to be good solid quality, dependable in operation or function and comfortable for many, many years to come.