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	Create New Topic   My Posts   My forum buddies   Invite friends   Private messages Russian brides > Main Forum > Small Cultural Question Author Post durak Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 1/10/2011 3:32:17 AM   Those of you who are (or have been) married to Russian women, might have an idea about this... I am remodeling my kitchen, and like the idea of renewing my old (150+ year) pine plank floors. I wonder, how do you think Russian women are likely to feel about an antique wood floor (with small gaps between some of the boards, some of you guys have probably seen this type of old floor)? Might it seem crude or primitive to them? Most Russians live in modern concrete apartment buildings where the floors are likely to be tile, linoleum, or the like. This is a bit silly to make into a topic, but it seems the best place to ask! baron555 Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 1/10/2011 9:57:32 AM   If it fits the decor then it's OK. Do involve them in decorating decisions. ragingbull Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 1/10/2011 5:23:49 PM   Baron has a good point, Mr. Durak. Wait for her. She might have you take down that antique wood floor and put linoleum or tile. roberts Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 1/11/2011 12:27:45 AM   I agree with baron. I would guess that she will love the idea of being able to choose what to buy and the process of looking through stores and magazines for ideas. lonelyranger1701 Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 1/11/2011 12:57:54 AM   Durak,, The best advice; is to include her in the decision!! Even though it was your house,,, I presume,,, it is now “her” domain!! My Irina was a bit of a tyrant at times, when she had an idea, or view, nothing could change her mind! My house is old too, but was remodeled before we moved in together. On our way home from the airport,, (JFK to Wisconsin) we needed to stop at the grocery store! She asked me; what we needed?? I said; Everything!!! When fall came and we needed heat for the house, I started the old “Jungers” stove! It was nice, quiet heat, and very economical! It could heat the downstairs by only using the small burner!! But, the stairs going up, was not far from the stove, and heat goes up!! So, I hung a blanket across the steps!! No way; she said!! Her family had blankets hanging across windows, and she would not allow it!!! I guess her Mother had breathing problems,, and the blankets were the cause??? The compromise was to install a sliding door across the steps!! Today,, I use both!! Since she was so worried about dust,, I bought a HEPA air purifier!! Doesn’t this sound like a good idea??? It did to me!! But,,, not to my Irina! I set it up in the dinning room, and turned it on, then left the room. Irina walks into the dinning room,,, and turns it off!! Why?? I have no idea! It didn’t make much noise! Irina told me very often; that she was an educated woman!! But yet, I wasn’t the one who washed a toaster in the sink,, or put chip-dip in an ash tray!! (no, I don’t smoke) Maybe you shouldn’t include her in the decisions!!!?? PS. I wouldn't call the Soviet era apartment buildings modern!! They look exactly like the project buildings (PJs) in Milwaukee!! kiwinorth Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 1/13/2011 4:11:00 PM   durak its just a floor and its your floor:) really Russians and there designs i feel are out of touch. just look at a lot of their homes, inside. outside is amazing and very articulate, I'm talking about old wood houses, they beat us hands down.. many inside designs i feel are shocking, colours you can choke on. no Russian will ever be involved in designing of my house inside period:) specially the floor. she was pissed about no part per taken on my place totally,,,, "they just don't get it, good deco" i smoothed it over by saying you can finish visitors cabin,,, oh my god, hope:) actually i have visited many places just as you described in Russia and i think is very cool, and is normal here, just stunning with right timber. I'm rather surprised at a lot of you been half and half on projects like such, these girls really know nothing about house design, specially western likes.. "you may love her but she still needs to prove a good style and an understanding of how our homes are set out yes" unless you like outrageous colours, along with frightful mornings. well anyway, if all fails,, put a massive plaster mantle piece in gold around fire place or what ever, russians adore these it seems:)) it can be removed and tossed easily. durak Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 1/15/2011 4:04:11 PM   Thanks for all your comments... I have no lady "in prospect" at present; if I did, I would simply talk with her about it. I posted the thread, because I still am searching in FSU, and I prefer not to go in a direction that would be really disconcerting for Russian women. If I am lucky to find a traditionally-minded woman, the kitchen will be her domain, and I would want it to pleasing, that's all. I am getting the old floor refinished (at somewhat painful cost). But I think it will look lovely. @kiwinorth: I've noticed among Russians a big preference for dark colors (especially red), with everything in a room darkly colored and giving a gloomy atmosphere. Harvey Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 1/16/2011 6:45:01 AM   durak -- it is possible that over the years these were the only colors available, I don't know. When I joked to my wife that she will will want to get RED curtains, carpets or furniture she emphatically stated no way. She did an outstanding job of redesigning the bedroom. And as spring approaches we will go to work on the dining room. But I assure you no drab colors. She hates my country kitchen look and leans more toward the elegant designs. But that is just her taste. Still she wants us to buy a small farm. We cannot group women into a certain category. They have different tastes. While one might like my hunting motif in the family room - the one I live with absolutely hates it. And for sure she doesn't like store bought copies of paintings or framed prints. Her idea is to make our own photos into wall art and only original paintings. etc. lonelyranger1701 Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 1/17/2011 1:38:02 AM   My wife Irina also hated the color "red"!! I don't remember if it was for a shirt or jacket, or whatever, but the answer was; No way!! Irina would put everything out for display, from an ashtray to a radio, everything had to be just so!! I have a nice China cabinet with some really old china with silver trim on it. She spent a whole day making sure each piece was in the right place!! She showed me a photo of her parents home, with her parents standing next to their china cabinet,,,,,,, everything made a lot more sense after that!! jetmba. Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 1/17/2011 8:59:08 AM   Just a cooment of floors. You know, those old Soviet style apartments with the sepearte little rooms for a toilet and next to it a seperate little room with bathtub and sink (usually sharing a single swing fuacet)? Check it out when they remodel and lift whatever cruddy linoleum or other floor covering is used. Underneath is generally intricately patterned hardwood floor pieces lsid out in what must have been a very time consuming way. I expected to see concrete or plywood as these buildings were certainly not epensively constructed. (That was the whole point of the.) But these Kruschev era building have some really nice floors often in them I know Russian typically love hardwood floors. A regular writer here (who seems to be taking a break currently) built a home for his new wife in Indiana. She insisted in having no carpeting as it cannot be lifted and shaken out. So he used just hardwood. nasfan6 Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 1/17/2011 1:25:22 PM   Most of the women I've talked to in Ukraine think carpeting is unsanitary and it is. Though I didn't build a new home for the wife I totally remodeled the house we live in it is with hardwood floors and marble tile, no carpeting. nasfan6 Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 1/17/2011 1:27:16 PM   Oh, I did the work, the choice on each room was totally hers. I have my man in my detached garage so life is good. The one place she had no input on. So it's a card room sports bar. nasfan6 Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 1/17/2011 1:28:41 PM   Should be man cave jetmba. Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 1/17/2011 4:07:32 PM   Hey nasfan: I was refering to you - but since I couldn't recall if the house was new but I thought it was. Anyway didn't want to speak for you so I was deliberately vague. Good to see you still around. nasfan6 Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 1/18/2011 7:27:22 AM   Jet, good to see you back. Doing good hanging in there. Getting sick of winters. Rag'n'Bull Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 1/18/2011 4:21:20 PM   Hiya Jet, Are you sure that nasfan has hardwood floors and not driftwood floors? I wonder about him sometimes. :) Martin durak Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 1/18/2011 4:23:56 PM   The first coat of finish is just drying. Looks really nice :) jetmba. Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 1/18/2011 6:35:19 PM   Yeah - Parquet floors - that's the word I was looking for. also called parquetry. First time I ever saw those I was im Lviv - and we had rented an apartment that was BEING renovated. I thought the parquet floors were part of the renovation till I noticed that they were warped in such a way that suggested age. The guy was also sanding them flatter. But I was amazed. I though these old Soviet style apartments were the Russian equivalent of concrete trailer homes - built cheap to house the masses. I mean the OUTSIDE of some of these buildings just twenty years old - look worse than twenty year old mobile homes. But floors like that are time consuming and require some skill. Was surprised. jetmba. Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 1/18/2011 6:40:11 PM   "suprisingly its not hard to do or time consuming " I'll take your word on that - though it is hard to beleive. I suppose that once nice hardwood is cut to the right size and shape it can be put laid out and put together like anything else. And likely such pieces would be easy to mass produce in quantity. Just surprising - because they look expensive. Kirkland Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 1/20/2011 4:10:21 PM   Danny...just like to say that's a great post. Very informative. I'm thinking of doing the very same thing myself...I'll use the crayons if I need to. 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