Style Clash: Interior Design Tips for Creating a Harmonious Home

You’ve created a mood board in your mind for your perfect home. You think you have the perfect partner. But what if you find you have different ideas when it comes to restyling your home? Making compromises and creating a perfect vision that works for both of you isn’t always an easy task.

Blending home styles can definitely work when done carefully. We know that tastefully done, antique furniture can slip effortlessly into a contemporary home. To create a seamless style throughout your home, allocating alternate styles to different rooms doesn’t really work. You’ll have no fluidity. So how do you get the perfectly styled home to suit both of your tastes?

If you really can’t work together on this one, then it’s a good idea to seek advice. You want to live in perfect harmony, right? Interior designer, Furnished By Anna is used to bringing new ideas to the table and will help with as much or as little as you want her to. Consulting an interior designer is definitely a great move if your interior style ideas are miles apart. Here are our 9 top tips to help you get over the style clash:

• Decide what to keep

The first thing you need to decide on is what furniture stays. You’ll have to agree on everything and be prepared to make some compromises. Your chipped vintage coffee table you think adds an eclectic touch to the living room might be a bit too much for your partner if he or she prefers more modern furnishings. Be prepared for a bit of give and take.

• Create a mood board

Explore the different styles you both like by creating a mood board. You might actually be surprised at what you come up with. It’s a great way to be a bit more adventurous before you attempt the real thing and will help you to find a way to work your two styles together.

• Choose the décor: the colour

If you are redecorating, you’ll need to decide on colours and patterns (if any). If your colour charts are miles apart, it really is best to stick with neutral. Splashes of colour can be added with furnishings and artwork.

• List the items that need both of your approval

List everything you are likely to disagree on, from TV sets to sofas. If you have a list of items you both have to approve, there’ll be no chance of having to live with something in the future you really can’t stand. If your choice of dining chairs are 18th century French and your partners are modern Scandinavian, you’ll definitely have to meet half way.

• Shop together

We’re not talking a fractious 3 hours in IKEA here, but big home items do need both your inputs. Factor in a romantic lunch and don’t feel rushed to make a decision. See it as an opportunity to spend some quality time together.

• Work out compromises

If you’re really not fussed about the study, give over a bit more creative license to your partner. It could be the perfect place to hang the hobby paraphernalia. For individual furniture items you might be able to find a compromise with colour. If one of you has your heart set on an industrial-style grey sofa, pastel colour throws and cushions might be a way to soften the look around the edges.

• Go room by room

Don’t try to pin down a style for the whole house in one go. Start gently. If you try and build Rome in a day, you’re more likely to end up at loggerheads. Hopefully after a couple of rooms, you’ll have found a better way of working together. Let the person who loves that particular room the most take the lead, but always heed a healthy respect towards your polar style preferences.

• Keep personal issues separate

The fact that you hate that Big Lebowski poster could be indicative of more severe underlying problems. If the styling arguments are getting out of control, it could be time you sought the help of marriage guidance rather than an interior designer!

• Don’t make it a lonely endeavour

If one of you is totally into the idea of restyling your home and the other one couldn’t give a fig, definitely don’t make it a lonely project. The chances are resentment will build its way in at some point or another. It’s fine to play to each other’s strengths, but never forget you are a team.

Most of all remember your dream home is the place where the person you love lives too! You both need to love your home as much as you love each other.