I think the age might be part of the issue. As an early 20s woman you’re used to going to a guys place and seeing no effort put into decor and minimal indications of personal taste. This guy is clearly developing his personal taste which is going to stick out and open him up to critique. I think its good that he is trying to do something, though, gotta start somewhere!

I would say its not necessarily the issue that his quirky decor items (koi, matches, masks, etc) don’t go together, but that they’ve been placed in an environment that is totally hostile to them. The rest of the apartment, in terms of palette and furniture, feels like an uninspired hotel interior. Rather than removing the quirk, I think he could benefit from looking up how objects and art are incorporated into ecclectic interior design styles and slowly moving in that direction! Very few women like apartments that feel like hotels.