Check out the three (polite) comments afterwards.
Lenona.
http://lifestyle.msn.com/relationships/article.aspx?cp-documentid ‰92494
Dear Miss Manners,
I am a fairly successful professional, living in a modest one-bedroom
in a lovely area in Manhattan. My problem is that my friends and
acquaintances often can't help but comment in a very critical way on
my minimalist home decor.
My home is somewhat like a college dorm room -- I have everything I
feel I need and then some (bed, table, couch, extra chairs, a few
bookshelves, a clothes cabinet and closets), but I guess it doesn't
correspond with what my many visitors feel is a standard commensurate
with my professional status or net worth.
I just don't put a high value on having fancy couches and expensive
trinkets. I am a very active person with wide and varied interests and
am often on the go, traveling, working, working out at the gym, going
to spas, being out with friends -- having the latest sofa or the
oldest antiques just isn't on my list of priorities (having some
savings is).
In Manhattan, most people entertain outside their home anyway, so it
is not necessary for me to entertain friends (or clients, for that
matter) at home. I grew up in a family of modest means and am thrilled
to have a nice place in a gorgeous neighborhood.
What can I tell my friends who tell me (unasked) that I need to spend
and have my apartment re-done, who tell me to spend more to have
something bigger, etc. This happens almost all the time. A potential
boyfriend recently teased me mercilessly about my Spartan living
conditions. I feel it is affecting my social life to some extent.
Gentle Reader,
"The latest sofa"? Even Miss Manners has heard about the strange idea
of rapidly changing fashions in hideously expensive handbags -- but do
sophisticated Manhattanites also have to turn in their sofas every
year for the latest thing?
If faced with such critics, she would say, "But haven't you heard?
Minimalism is the cutting edge now. My decorator calls it Dorm Chic.
Wait, you'll see, everyone will have this look in a year or two. And
then maybe I'll go out and get myself some overstuffed chairs."
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