How to Combine Interior Decorating Style With Your Significant Other- 6 Designer Tips
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Image via Unknown & Moded Amour
Have you ever been furniture shopping with your husband or significant other? He points to the robust brown leather sectional as you’re pointing to a cream-colored linen sofa, and just like that, you realize your decorating styles are way different.
For most couples, the man’s interior style is more on the industrial and rustic side, while the woman’s is more classic and glam. Maybe it’s not a piece of furniture you’re disagreeing over, maybe it’s a paint color or cabinet style. Whatever the case, combining your interior style with your partner is an inevitable conversation that’ll come up at some point. And although it’s not something that you’ll talk about every day, figuring out what your style is as a couple will save you lots of time and money down the road…. not to mention an argument or two.
So what’s the secret to mixing two different styles without it looking like a mishmash of junk? I’ve gathered a few helpful tips that helped Jacob and I find our style as a couple.
6 Tips to Combine Your Interior Design Style with Your Partner:
- Define what each of your interior design styles are
- Communicate and talk about why you like and dislike certain items or styles.
- Determine how you both use your space
- Don’t be afraid to mix furniture styles
- Find common ground in a color scheme
- Don’t rush the process
Images via Megan Winters & Di Loia and Bedard
1. Do you know what your individual decorating styles are?
Before you can combine your style together as a couple, it’s important to have a clear idea of your decorating style. Start by making separate Pinterest boards and pin pictures of different rooms you like. You might not know what you like until you see a pattern develop in the images you’re pinning!
If you need some help discovering what your interior style is, be sure to check out my other blog post “7 Ways to discover your true decorating style.”
2. Establish why you like and dislike something.
After you’ve pinned some images, show them to each other and try to find some common ground.
If you don’t like something your partner pinned, talk about why. There’s nothing worse than saying you don’t like something and not giving a reason. Does that chair remind you of your Grandpa’s old, puffy recliner, and that’s why you don’t like it? Whatever the case, figuring out your why will point you in the right direction for a color palette and shopping list!
Images via Kingkey Yu Jing Central Residence & Crystal Sinclair Designs
3. Keep an eye on how you both use your space
Combining your style goes beyond just how things look, you also need it to be functional for your life. Obvious, right? But really, observe how you and your partner use each room in your home.
Does one of you throw your keys and wallet somewhere when you walk in the door? If so, then maybe you need a small console table, wall shelf, or bowl to collect all your necessities in the entryway.
Do you entertain a lot? Then maybe having some flexibility in how you use your space is important. In that case, having easy furniture to move is might be on the top of your list.
Do you forget to use a coaster? Think about opting for a glass coffee table, rather than a wood one to avoid those pesky water stains. Not only will these little things keep the peace, but it’ll also help narrow down what to shop for!
Images via Unknown & Canny Architecture
4. Go ahead, mix furniture styles!
Don’t get discouraged if you find out that your style is waaaay different from your partners. Opposites attract… and that couldn’t be more true in interior design. Some of the most beautiful spaces incorporate both masculine and feminine pieces, and a mix of old and new styles.
Start with assessing furniture shapes you’re drawn to. Are they curvy or straight? Furniture with curves tend to feel more feminine and traditional, while straight lines feel more masculine and modern. Chances are, your interior style as a couple will be an eclectic blend of the two.
Use this guide below to help you determine what’s masculine and what’s feminine. The perfect paring will probably be a mix of both masculine and feminine styles.
FEMININE
Glass
Velvet
Brass
Gold
Acrylic
Fur
MASCULINE
Leather
Suede
Microfiber
Wood
Chrome
Steel /Iron
5. Figure out your color palette
Now, let’s nail down some details. Was there a certain color palette you both kept pinning? Was the wall color the same in most of the photos? Certain types of wood keep popping up?
Start by picking two or three complimentary colors and/or materials that you both gravitate towards. Careful of choosing colors that are too similar, like two whites, two grays, etc. Treat these colors as the ‘base’ of your home. Think wall color, trim color, floor color, or maybe a color that will consistently show up in some furniture pieces.
After you have that figured out, pick two accent colors you both agree on. If you’re sticking with a more monochromatic look, choose shades that are slightly lighter or darker than your base colors. These colors are perfect for sprinkling into your artwork, books, rugs, and pillows.
If you want a more hands-on approach, head to the home improvement store and start looking around! Look for paint swatches, hardwood floor samples, tile samples, knobs and pulls, carpet, etc., and start pulling together your style…literally!
6. Don’t rush the process
Your home is a work in progress, and probably will be for the rest of your life, so try to enjoy the process. I’m saying this to you just as much as I’m saying it to myself as I type this. Everything won’t come together overnight, so don’t stress yourself out about it. Plus, buying everything all at once is no fun anyway!
Images Via Neptune & Brian Paquette Architectural Digest
I hope these tips help you ease the transition of combining your interior style with your significant other! It’s common to bump heads as your discovering your style as a couple, but as long as you’re open to compromise and communication, you got this! And when in doubt, reconvene over a cocktail and have a good laugh at it all!
Do you have any tips that helped you combine and mix your decorating style with your partner? I’d love to hear in the comments below!
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