Two households unite to become one and inevitable there are fixtures, furniture pieces, and objects d'art that end up homeless...orphans relegated to the trash pile, or sold to the highest bidder on eBay, or your garage sale. All because neither of you can figure out how to combine that seven foot long country plaid couch with the Queen Anne style settee and the dogs playing poker lithograph. Negotiations begin, sacrifices are made and more often than not...one half of the couples tastes prevails. The opportunity to showcase yourselves as the power couple you are has been lost...Your home is no longer uniquely yours...the cookie cutter approach to decorating ensues.
It doesn't have to be this way...it shouldn't be this way...
You can and should work to integrate your unique tastes into a harmonious environment that reflects who you are as a couple. Unless your partner was living in a cave, with egg crates and cardboard boxes as furniture accessories, chances are they do have an opinion, style, and pieces that are worth incorporating with yours.
Trust me, it can work...but it is work.
Through the next few weeks I will guide you through some of the techniques I use to ensure that homes are the unique statement that reflects their occupants. The most important (and in my opinion) most fun step is what I call the Discovery and Planning stage. I think this part of designing interior spaces is so much fun because it invites couples to explore and learn more about each other. I often think that sometimes decorating our homes are an afterthought…there is a rush to establish a couple’s life together…and the end result is the dilemma I described in my first paragraph.
Let’s stop the madness now, shall we? I am here to help!
Stay tuned…my next post will describe a technique I use to develop common themes. This is what I use to start integrating all the existing pieces of “Mine” and “Theirs” into “Ours”.
In the meantime, leave a comment and tell me about your experiences in combining households.
2 comments:
Excellent Point! Lighting can affect decor colors in so many unexpected ways.
I wrote about this before in my July 2010 post "Resist the Easter Egg Home Syndrome...Create a Home Pallet Book." and will surely touch on the subject again in this series!
I am so excited to be back and writing again.
This year is certainly shaping up to be an interesting season for The Interior Muse at the Amusing Reflections blog.
I'd tell you more...but I don't want to ruin the surprises, so stay tuned!
Whoops...I accidently deleted this comment from Ourgirl:
This is a great topic! When we moved into our townie, we decided not to paint or decorate immediately, since we wanted to see how the sunlight moved through the house and the seasons. It was a great idea—we were able to make good choices.
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