I often have couples come to me and ask for help designing their first home as a pair. Whether you are married or just roommates, designing a cohesive space can be sticky. Lucky for you, it doesn’t have to be! Here are some of my favorite tips for making the transition into a shared space an easy one.

Asking the right questions. I firmly believe in open communication from the start. This eliminates any confrontation during the renovation or design stage.

“To avoid conflicts along the way, consider sitting down with your partner and  be sure to ask all of the right questions. What’s important to you in this space? What colors make you happy? How would you like this space to feel?”

This approach ensures that you design a space that incorporates both of your styles and everyone feels heard. The living room below was quite the unique project. The wife wanted a prefect entertaining space. Something soft, feminine, elegant and welcoming to their guests. The husband agreed, but also wanted the space to showcase to his many prestigious NFL awards, including his Heisman trophy!

Establish ground rules. Before the design work even begins, go ahead and establish some ground rules. Communicate with your partner about what elements in design that are “make or breaks.” This will make choosing the hardware, finishes and accessories much less stressful. I recently created a “hot pink” dining room for a very special client. The wife works in an emergency room and wanted something to come home to that made her happy. Pink happens to be her favorite color, she even wore it on her wedding day. I was instructed by her husband to “take everything my wife says and cut it in half and we will both be happy.” And so I did!

Unify the space. When it comes to designing a space, I typically suggest starting with a blank slate. However, there is nothing wrong with utilizing pieces that you already own. If the styles of your furniture clash, try finding decorative pieces to help blend everything together. One way to blend your styles and keep the peace in a relationship is to focus on commonalities. Keep the common areas of your home more neutral with colors and styles you both agree on, and allow your partner some creativity by incorporating their design preference in their private spaces. I had a female client who wanted a master bedroom dripping in gold, a chic retreat that was both contemporary and warm all at the same time. To please the mister, we compromised by mixing up some of the lines, angles and textures in the space. We balanced the bling of the light fixtures and fabrics with the hard angles and masculine stateliness of the large gold boxed bed, the rich and sleek bedside tables and the luxe chocolate velvet headboard!

This room is all about a statement but we needed to create one that spoke to both his and her styles! Viola!

Repetition creates style. The use of color is a great way to reduce design conflicts between couples! Research shows that many people enjoy living in a space with colors found in nature. Using neutral tones like taupe or green will satisfy one’s need for color in a space, without leaving the other feeling uncomfortable. If you have an overwhelming desire to use a color such as pink or red, incorporate it through an accent wall or with decorative pillows. This large family room is just that, a room for this large family. This room had to meet many requirements including, serving as a comfortable place for a family of 7 plus friends and two pups to relax, lounge and watch TV together. So a lot of comfortable and durable seating was in order! All of that comfortable seating had to look great, as this room is seen and used by many guests for entertaining throughout the year.

My job as an interior designer is to transform houses into homes. I love nothing more than helping my clients find unique design pieces that really bring a room together that has just felt off. Figuring out how to bring life, texture and warmth into your space can be intimidating; there are SO many options to choose from! But, I promise it’s much easier than you think. Here are a few of my favorite tips for how to spruce up your home, one room at a time.

Florals. Adding plants and flowers is one of the easiest and most cost efficient way to bring texture and color into a room. I love adding flowers to a coffee table or placing a small plant in the corner. Incorporating greenery will create a natural focal point in any space, but won’t make the room feel overcrowded. I love this tip because it really hits two birds with one stone.

“You can refresh your space with something beautiful, while supporting your local farmers by purchasing your flowers from a local farmers market!”

Pillows with character. Pillows are a simple and quick way to bring a space together with color and texture. Swapping out pillows for each season is an awesome way to continuously incorporate new colors into your design. This keeps your space fresh and gives you the flexibility to change things up a bit on a whim.

A beautiful rug. Rugs are an easy decorating piece to overlook, but they are so important for bringing a room together and providing that WOW factor! When searching, make sure to look for fun patterns or textures that will catch your eye in all the right ways. The scalloped rug pictured below is a true triple threat. The light gray matches the overall color scheme of the master bedroom, while grabbing our attention by contrasting against the dark wooden floors. This rug is also giving us not one, but two types of texture, from the physical scalloped print and from its material, which I absolutely love.

Draperies. I could talk all day about draperies if anyone would let me! Incorporating window treatments is  one of my absolute favorite ways to bring a room to life and to provide the finishing touch to any room. Wether you want simple, sheer window treatments to let in lots of natural light, or go bold by incorporating thick draperies with a fun pattern, these are something you should never overlook! Bonus tip: Hang your drapery rod as close to the ceiling as possible to make the room feel higher and to “fake” a bigger space