My husband and I made a deal when we began our remodel. If either one of us was FIRMLY against something, then it goes. It worked both ways. There were things I wanted and he didn't, and vice versa. It sure kept us from clawing each other. lol.

I'd tell your husband that this is your house too, and you are a female and you will NOT feel comfortable in a room with dead animals on the wall. Now don't get me wrong, cause my dh hunts too, but only during dove season, lol, and he was allowed to put his guns on a rack back in one of the bedrooms. I hate it, but I'd rather he do that instead of putting them in the LR. We're in a rural area where all the men hunt and they have great Testerone Parties. lol

You need to put your foot down. :)

Ummm.... can you suddenly develop an allergy?

It sounds like your husband is envisioning a dead animal parade on your walls. I am not sure how you can keep that from looking like a backwoods lodge.

Trophy room was clever. What about his office at work? Is there something you can demand to have in the living room... like a pink couch, something he would HATE so that both of you can negotiate a compromise of one giving up the animals and the other "giving up" the pink couch?

Since the living room is one area that is customarily visited by members of both genders, to socialize, our philosophy is that is should be comfortable and attractive to both sexes. My husband did a fair amount of hunting in his younger years, enough so to acquire duck, wild boar, wild turkey and deer mounts. He donated the wild boar mount to his local hunting and fishing store, where it holds a place of honor, (with a nameplate beneath it), in their hunting section. The wild duck graces a wall in his office, as does the turkey tail. These mounts don't seem to offend anyone in the proper setting, but having them hanging above us in the living room would have. Many women are openly uncomfortable with mounted trophies, and I would think your husband would want to consider this when "decorating" a mixed-gender setting where socializing and conversation are key.

I agree with oakleyok, you need to put your foot down and keep the mounts out of this part of the house. There are more appropriate places for them where they can be enjoyed best by those who appreciate the sport. Marriage is a two-way street, and as long as there is other space available for your husband's animal displays, he should consider your wishes and the comfort of others.

Tell him to convert the garage into his "man room" and he can have whatever his little heart desires in there. Otherwise you are going to decorate the bedroom with as much lace, florals, ruffles and frou frou as you can stuff in there. Oh, yes! Be sure and add floral incense to increase the ambiance.

Oakleyok: I'm afraid if I use the "this is my house to" thing he will throw in my face that he is the one that has put all the hard work into building the house (he is the one that has built every single wall in the house, all block, including inside walls, b/c he is a brick mason). And I sure don't want to hear that speech again lol

Paint Chips: I'm laughing so hard about developing an allergy, never thought about that, I don't think he would fall for it, but still a very clever idea!

Nanny2a: wild boar.... that one never crossed my mind, but that sounds like somthing my DH would want, b/c he does hot hunt....

Pris: We have an office area in the house I have offered to him I have even offered him the whole basement. He seriously thinks people want to come and sit in the living room to admire his trophys, b/c that is what he would do lol I will have to try telling him fine I will put flowers and lace everywhere lol I'm not sure he will fall for it b/c it isn't my taste, but you never know....

Thanks for the pep talk I'm powerd up now to go in for another battle over it lol We still have a ways before we move in, so I'm not giving in... lol

Tell him that if HE gets the animal heads, YOU get:

-- to choose the paint color: bright pink. Or perhaps floral wallpaper. Go to the wallpaper store and borrow a few of the most revoltingly feminine sample books, bring them home and leave them laying around. Ask his opinion on them. If he says he doesn't like them, cry.

-- to indulge your long-suppressed desire for an expensive babydoll collection, which you will need to display in the living room.

-- to put dried floral arrangements everywhere, including in the mouths of all the dead animals. If your DH questions this, tell him that you read about it on an online decorating forum, that it's the Latest Thing. Then tell him about your plans to sew cute lacy hats for all the dead animals.

-- a new husband.

OR -- offer to buy him a pool table. This of course will have to go in the basement. What guy can resist a pool room?

And what's a pool room without a few trophy heads on the wall?

Mclarke: I'm cracking up!! lol Great ideas!! Wall paper samples are great! With the dried floral arrangments and telling him it is the latest thing is brilliant! And he would believe it b/c he calls this my kitchen gossip, b/c I'm usualy bringing ideas back for the kitchen. lol One of the rooms in the basment is going to be his "band room" so i've tried using that, but the pool table may work better. And I thought about telling him I would sew some cute seasonal things to hang on the dead animals, somthing for each season....

I was in need of all the laughs ya'll are giving!! thanks!

Well if all of the above doesnt work go very clubby, with overstuffed traditional leather furniture with rich colors, in the room. oriental rugs, a very rich looking room, as if the gentleman farmer may walk back in with his shotgun broken open over his arm and grab a brandy.
Stay away from cammo anything!
I think the same decorating rules apply to hanging the mounts as hanging paintings or photos. perhaps it would help you to think of them as 3d color photos. A neighbor of ours had some trophies in his family room which served as the living room for friends.Their room was to die for
( no pun intended but hey pretty funny huh?)She is a wonderful decorator and her house was on the historical house tour, dead animal heads and all. No one said a word, hunting is still legal after all.

If he insists on having stuffed animals on the wall then I'd decorate the bedroom with flowers from floor to ceiling. Bring out some catalogs, show him all the lace and flowers you can find and tell him this is the trade off for his dead animal room!! If he thinks you're bluffing, go to a thrift store and find the tackiest thing you can find to start your new "style."

I hate the thought of any animal being stuffed and hung on a wall and to have it in a living room is a horror to me. Tell DH I said so. Also tell him that my DH built my entire house and at no time does he even mention it when we get into a discussion about the decor. Then again my husband doesn't hunt. We respect each other's wishes so it's easy to compromise.

I just read all of mcclarke's comments and I ditto her sentiments on everything except buying him a pool table. Tell him to use the money he spends on stuffing those heads to buy his on pool table.

Since he's a hunter then he should know "there is more than one way to skin a cat". Well in his case, anything he can kill!

Seriously, if I had a husband who insisted on something that tacky, he'd be sitting in that room and living in that house, without me. LOL Good luck.

I like the hunting lodge look, but you might start showing him very expensive Ralph Lauren everything as the ONLY furnishings that will work with his trophies. After pricing this stuff, he might see the light. You also might remind him that sitting around with lots of dead eyes staring at you and your guests is sort of a conversation killer, after he tells his hunting stories. (I'd put them in one room, like a den or something.)

My Dad's prized full-curl stone sheep (we called him George) always had something chewable hanging from his mouth--mistletoe at Christmas, sunflowers in the summer. My mother wasn't much of a decorator but she was and is funny as hell.

LOL, love the baby doll collection.

This reminds me when dh & I married, his aunt made us a purple floral bedspread. Where she got the idea of purple is beyond me except I chose glassware that was purple. Anyway, it was a shiny purple floral bedspread with solid purple drapes with a droopy gathered valance. The look was somewhere between funeral parlor and whore house, but he wouldn't let me get anything else because we were poor college students. I lived with that for two years until something mysteriously happened to them.

After that, we got a plain bedspread and curtains because dh hated anything pink and ruffled. Whenever we had a big fuss, I'd go out and buy the pinkest sheets I could find, and more ruffles the better. lol

My dh wants dead heads too, and he did most of the work on this house too, but I think he knows his life could be fairly miserable if he insisted on having those things in the living room. Marriage is a compromise and a division of labor. Maybe you didn't lay all the block in the house, and would your dh have let you? But while he was doing that, didn't you do other things that allowed him to do it? Cleaning up afterwards, cooking, taking care of household chores? I know you didn't sit back eating bon bons while he slaved on HIS house. You worked together on YOUR house. Doesn't sound like he is seeing the whole picture.

Please, this lady asked for advice, not condemnation, criticism and complaints. This has resulted in piling on. We are better than that. Some of you have taken a very immature approach to this.

Howmuchlonger - I have a book at home called Feather your Nest by Mary Carol Garrity. There are pictures of a home in there with mounts and prints on the wall and toile and transferware were incorporated. It gave it a whole different look than a hunting cabin. If you're compromising with the mounts maybe he'll be alright with this look.

I'll take some pics of the book tonight for you.

You're right Patricia. She wanted to know how to make deer heads in a living room look nice. She also spent a few sentences telling how much she didn't want them there. I think someone posted pics one time of a very classy living room with a deer head on the wall, but I couldn't find it.

I have some friends with vaulted ceilings who have the deer heads on the wall near the peaks, and the other things like mounted fish in a wall grouping. Their furniture was contemporary cloth and now it is leather. The overall look is not unattractive but is very masculine.

I think it's all being said in jest, at least my comments are. I think she's in a terrible predicament with a stubborn man and needs a little humor to get through it. Then again I could be wrong. LOL

I read it as a woman who is being bullied and trying to make a bad situation bearable.

marti, you hit the nail on the head.

Cooperbailey: Either way we are going with a deep chocolate leather living room suite. Good pun! I wish I could have seen your friends house for inspiration, if need be.

Brutuses: I will tell him you said that hehe I totally agree about taking what he spends on having the animals stuffed to buy his own pool table. Those taxidermy fees are outrageous and the sad thing is men are willing to spend that kind of money on it.

Indeefixe: Good idea about showing him the expensive décor to go with the look. I donÂt think he will see it as a conversation killer though. He loves to tell those dreadful stories that last FOREVER! Lol IÂm very good at making him think that IÂm really listening and into the story, but when it is over I honestly canÂt remember a single word he said lol AW the details they put into the stories and all I want to hear is did you kill or not? I mean if I find a good sale on something do you want to hear about if from the moment I pulled into the parking lot to the moment I bought it? Lol I love the idea of putting something in "Georges" mouth, I love your momÂs humor.

Marti8a: You are very right about me contributing in other ways. They always had a warm lunch ready for them on the days they worked and I was the one to always have to clean the dirty floor and dishes they left.

Patricia43: Thanks for the thought, but I realy am enjoying all the comments. It may not be inspiration on what to do in the LR but none the less it is still inspirational. I agree with brutuses that all the comments are made in jest at least that is the way that I am taking them. I hope this is not making my DH look like an awful man, b/c he is not, and when we discuss this we are both smiling and laughing, so it will not end up in a heated augment. ItÂs not worth fighting over, but is worth discussing. If that makes sense.

Sheesharee: I canÂt wait to see the pictures! Thanks so much for taking the time to do that
for me.

Marti8a: IÂm not being "bullied" lol We just both have very different ideas on how to decorate the LR and I donÂt see it worth fighting over.

Auntjen: You are right. If I canÂt win the playful battle I might as well make the best of it. I did tell him he has sole responsibility of keeping those things dusted though. lol

Here is an earlier link to a post on deer heads on decor. 'Monicakm' has some in a beautifully decorated room

Here is a link that might be useful: see room photo in this post

Brutuses: I donÂt think the nail has been hit on the head and I hate that I have made it sound that way to you 2. I may be wrong, but I take it as the condemnation that Patricia43 was talking about. IÂm here for the humor and advice not pointing fingers. Auntjen seems to understand. I will keep trying to encourage him to put them in another room, but that is all, IÂm not going to fight over it. HeÂs not telling me in a bossy manner that they will be in the LR, he just lets me know how badly he would like them to be in the LR.

Here is to taking this all in good spirits and humor with no toes to be stepped on :)

my3dogs: thanks for the link I love the richness in the room, but hope I don't have that many deer heads lol

I agree, it's all in jest, merely because most of us have been in similar predicaments with our stubborn husbands. lol

Howmuchlonger (love your screen name!) you are in a bigger pickle than I thought since he built the house with his own hands. I bet it's beautiful!

Is it a large room? If so, then you all can compromise somehow. Our new room is a combo of masculine/feminine because it's Old World mixed with Victorian and it works pretty good!

But seriously, I'd try to talk to him and have the conversation my husband and I had right before the remodel, and tell him what I said above. I've heard about many marriages suffering during this process and building a new home, so that's why we decided if one is adamently against something, then not to do whatever was requested.

I'm anxious to hear how it turns out though! Men are funny creatures, aren't they? Someday I'll show you my "Steg." ;)

Oakleyok: Thanks. We have been building our house for over 4 years now, hence the name "howmuchlonger" until it is done. Hopefully we will finish up this year, fingers crossed. We have done good not to let the building stress get to our marriage. Lol It is a normal size LR. I would love to see pictures of your LR. It sounds like a lovely combination. Men are very funny and different. :)

hml, I really didn't mean to offend you. When you said DH was going to throw up to you about how he built/remodeled the house and use that over your head, that's what I took as bullying. I know better than to get involved in marital problems on this forum. First of all I guess you realize I don't care for hunting or parading dead animals on a wall. I find it repulsive. That does not mean I find you repulsive. It's difficult for me to first, understand how someone could be married to a hunter, but since you are and obviously love the man, I guess you'll have to figure out a way to deal with the animals on the wall. I don't think giving him his "way" is how marital bliss is obtained I think your DH is beig totally unrealistic wanting a bunch of animals on the wall in your living area if you do not live in a log cabin or lodge. If you want to compromise I'd tell him one is the limit. Then again, that would be my compromise and is not necessarily yours.

I would never let a husband or anyone force their will on me. It's just not going to happen in my world. My DH knows that and we get along fine that way. He would never dream of telling me this little stuffed fish this is in this office, will go anywhere near the inside of my new house. It will go in his workshop in the garage. He's very reasonable and smart and agrees that's where the little dust catcher is going. LOL

One thing you have to realize when you ask advice and make known your personal business, you will receive some advice you don't want to hear.

Again, I didn't mean to offend you and I apologize if I did.

I live with a man who rarely offers an idea about decor and always applauds what I do, even if it didn't appeal to him initially. But my best friend is married to a wonderful guy who is more into decorating than she is, so she rarely gets her way.
I am supposing that most of your mutual friends are also into the sport hunting thing and he is right in expecting conversation and maybe even admiration for his kills? If that is so, then, most who are invited in for a couple of hours won't be put off like those of us in the "general pop" would be..............and I do not think it's really possible to 'disguise' deer heads or "work into the decor" more than one stuffed trout and NOT have it look a lot like a hunting lodge. So, let him have his masculine hang-out leather furniture/heads on the walls........even if it is your large room for entertaining. YOU take the office or basement and decorate it like you want. Then, when his hunting cronies come in they can oooohhh and ahhhhh over his trophys. When you get a couple who aren't into that kind of thing and might be put off or disgusted, usher them into the 'public' area you have arranged. They don't have to make a big deal over his sport, they can come dine or talk in headless pleasure and leave by the back door if necessary.
He'll be happy and think he's got his dream room. You, I'm afraid, will need to make the best of it because he doesn't sound like a compromiser.

Red

Yes, I think the words "he insists", "I've tried to talk him out of it", "throw in my face", and "I sure don't want to hear that speech again" sound like bully. Sorry if I offended. I hope the two of you can work out a solution.

If your ceilings are high enough. it's not so in your face.
BTW, this is NOT my house.

Library

Reception

I need to get some pictures of my Aunts house and post them up for you. She has bear rugs (heads still on) on the floor, deer heads, stuffed birds of some sort, a stuffed cougar, and the list goes on and on. It isn't tacky one bit. She added a softness to it with other decor and the room looks BEAUTIFUL! It can be done, and it may even end up being a room you love as much as your hubby.:-)

So what is the difference between women "forcing their will" and men "forcing their will"? Some of you are saying you wouldn't allow your husband to put that in the house. What's up with that? Sound like bullying to me.

I would imagine howmuchlonger knew her husband hunted before she married him and I'm sure the trophies mean a lot to him. She can make a lovely room if she wants to. The photos posted above and linked to above are very nice rooms.

Here another example. It's a lodge in South Africa (no hunting allowed since the early 1960's).
Cindy

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I don't know how you feel about paintings, but if you could fill the room with beautiful landscape paintings, in addition to the oriental rugs and clubby furniture, the darn dead heads may just fade into the background.

But, I still hope you can bring him around.

Best wishes for ultimate success.

"So what is the difference between women "forcing their will" and men "forcing their will"? Some of you are saying you wouldn't allow your husband to put that in the house. What's up with that? Sound like bullying to me."

I can only speak for myself. My dh is also a hunter but has never had anything stuffed to hang on the wall, not because I told him not to, but because we've never had the money for it. Still, he knows I don't want them in the living room EVER and I know he never wants ruffles in any room EVER.

In all our rooms, we have shopped together for the furnishings and even most of the pictures. Dh doesn't enjoy it, but he has an opinion, and that way we can compromise. I don't really like recliners in the living room, but that's about the only chair dh finds comfortable, so I work around it. I don't hate them, in fact, I like sitting in them too. There are no ruffles in our rooms (except when I pull out the pink sheets and that is a joke between us now) because I know dh really hates them. He compromises by putting up with my antiques even though they aren't as functional as new furniture - because he knows I love them.

So as far as putting my foot down, I don't think it's bullying to say no to something as long as you are willing to give up something he says no to. It's not my way or the highway here, it's a creation of something we can both enjoy.

Also, and I think this is why everyone got off telling her how to get him to put them somewhere else.

If howmuchlonger had phrased her post something like: my husband and I have deer heads we want to mount on the wall in the living room, how can I make them look nice without looking like a hunting lodge - I think the responses would have gone in a completely different direction.

I think elegant lodge rooms are wonderful. I wish you all the best for a beautiful room. I think it is possible to create a space that both you and your husband will enjoy.

Unless you enjoy negative comments about your husband and his chosen sport, you are better off doing an image search on google for inspiration for this room.

As promised here are those pics from the book. Sorry the picture quality isn't the best. Not sure if it's my camera or the one working it. :)

There are a lot of spode plates in these pics. See the link below. I personally really like them.

The prints on the walls are different animals. Foxes and deer, etc.

The bathroom has a antler rack on the wall and cute monogram hand towels draped on them.
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Here is a link that might be useful: Spode

Mclarke, you had me in stitches!

Also, and I think this is why everyone got off telling her how to get him to put them somewhere else.

I won't tell you where I would tell him to put them. ;o)

I am not a hunter, nor am I married to one. But I lived in India for a couple of years and often visited the homes of former Raj's and British colonialists. All avid hunters. Those rooms were lovely, and rarely overdone with animal trappings. There was the occasional stuffed tiger in the corner (ugh) but overall there would be one or two things on a wall (as above) and then invariably they'd have a sort of "cabinet of curiosities" in a corner of the room, filled with more hunting trohpies, some small, some quite large. So you actually had to mean to see them, in order to see them.

Later, when I lived in Egypt, where hunting is not big, they had the same cabinets of curiosities, but were filled with Pharonic relics, tidbits from travel, pieces of Roman glass, bedouin pottery 4,000 years old, etc.

Brutuses: You have not offended me, I just did not want the wrong impression about my husband, and there is no "marital problems" lol I am a very compromising person so I am willing to compromise with my husband and make the best of it. I donÂt mind the "dead animals" but that is what is in our LR now and would like a change when we move into the house. Thanks.

Suero: Our ceilings are going to 8ft, so I am worried about it looking "in your face" higher ceilings would work a lot better.

Holrbak: You have a good point and I would love to see pictures of your auntÂs house.

Thanks sundownr! I love the black around the hides and then the black rafters.

Marti8a: you are right I probably phrased my post wrong, I just wanted it noted that the dead animals are not my idea lol but IÂm willing to live with them and make the best of them. Hoping for someone to show me how good the room could look with them in there. Then we could both get what we wanted a nice looking LR with our style mixed together instead of a separated LR with my stuff on one side and his stuff on the other lol (not that I would realy do that, but I picture kids that have to share there BR and they draw a line down the middle and say this is your side this is mine, donÂt come on my side and I wonÂt come on yours lol).

Roguevalley: Thanks I never thought about a google search I will have to try that.

Sheesharee: Thanks for taking those pictures, very nice.

Howmuchlonger,

I just want to say, on behalf of our regular posters here, how much we appreciate you coming back to this thread and posting individualized replies.

It can be very frustrating for us when we offer advice (silly or not) if the original poster never comes back to follow up.

Thanks!

-- Maureen (mclarke)

LOL, Pirula, I was just going to say that those who think lodge look have not been in the fine castles around the world, especially in Europe, even in the USA.

Thanks mclarke, I learn from the best, I have been a ghost on here and watched everyone elseÂs post and comments. Everyone on here is so friendly and funny.