My Decorating Pronouns Are He, Him, His.

American cherry. Quarter-sawn oak. Antique barn wood. Charcoal, blue-grey, deep green, midnight blue. A Tweed sofa, sand colored walls. Black accents. Rigorous geometry. Brushed metal.

These masculine terms increasingly describe the decor of my current place. Lately I find myself drawn to certain ideas generally associated with the way men think of design. Not that there's anything wrong with it, as Seinfeld might say.

Having decorated more than a few homes in the past, I confess the result was often anything but masculine. I even once had a pink bedroom. I just liked the color.

It occurred to me recently when I replaced the basic beige carpet with dark distressed oak-look vinyl plank floors just how masculine my place looks. My typical 60s apartment has dark plywood doors, and plywood cabinets until recently. The layout is rectilinear; the details plain. No flourishes, just order.

Yeah, I changed the floor, updated the kitchen a bit, built a headboard from the discarded wood cabinet doors, but I'm not doing a full reno on a rental. Light upholstery and pale woods just don't work here. Aso, I just wanted to try something different.

I started adding moulding to the flat plywood doors to make them look like a panel door. My original intent was to add moulding and then paint them. Until I chose a color, I figured I'd stain the moulding to match the doors. Turns out I kinda liked the look of the stain.

The warmth of the wood tones began to draw me in, and I brought in rich colors to compliment the look. In the past I would paint everything in pale hues. Lately, I've been redoing all the pale stuff in darker colors, and I'm pleased with the direction I'm taking.

Maybe it's my age, maybe it's the gender hysteria in the media of late, but I embrace being a guy. I like decorating, I like to cook. But I know my way around a power tool. I like cars. I'm a guy dammit. And my style reflects that.

Just don't ask me about sports.