Ok I (33F) want to preface this by saying I love my bf (33M) and many qualities about him. He asked me to move in and I definitely see that in our future (not rushing, but it feel like time). I also love his little house. It’s small but has great bones – good woodwork, nice layout, and the yard is this wannabe gardeners dream. That said, my boyfriend isn’t that interested in being “handy”. Overall it just gives young man cave vibes, except it’s a whole house. There are mirrors and lights that haven’t been hung, beds without frames, no rugs, and the furniture that he does have, while comfy and kind of expensive, aesthetically I HATE. Same with placement of most furniture. I saw the Zillow of the house (when we first started dating – girls gotta make sure she’s not going to some sketchy place) and the house looked so nice!!! Like furniture and layout was great (not my style exactly) but looking like a family could live there.
So my question is to what degree can I move in and make changes? He owns the house and I don’t know what my payment situation would be. I’d love to buy some new furniture and paint some walls, decorate to make it feel more homey. Boyfriend has a little bit of trouble with change. He’s let me come bring a few things I got for free from work (rug/coffee table) but it took convincing- and that was free stuff! I don’t want to overstep but also I don’t want to live there and have it look like a single messy dude lives there. How do I approach this without overstepping or hurting his feelings??
TLDR: I hate my boyfriends style at home. Is it appropriate for me to want to redo everything when I move in? If so, how do I approach this?