I should probably start this post with a disclaimer. I’ve had to worry very little in my married life about mixing our design styles. I’ve been blessed with a husband who could care less. So, while I could probably cover every piece of upholstery in floral fabric if I wanted, I do actually like a room with a good mix of feminine and masculine design elements. (Well, okay, I did just paint our bedroom pink—but it’s a very “masculine pink.” Ha!)
So, how do you mix his and her styles? (Especially if both parties are super opinionated?)
I guess first you have to assume there’s any style at all. :) I decided to dig out these gems from our first townhouse after we got married. This was circa 2000, and I hadn’t quite discovered my love for decorating, in case you couldn’t tell. . . My idea of “blending our styles” was to slap some sunshine yellow paint on the walls to “complement” the hunter green pleather monsters he had bought in his bachelorhood days. (Side note: I remember being completely ticked when he bought that couch set. We weren’t engaged yet, so I wasn’t offering up all of my opinions. But I kept thinking, “if we get married, I have to live with that!” I offer up ALL of my opinions now, btw. . .) I was also big on the ole “stick a fake ficus in every corner” trick. (Duh.)
We registered for that globe (What in the heck?? We needed towels!), and I hadn’t yet learned that buffet lamps should actually go on a buffet. ;) To my credit, I do see a little peek of leopard print in there. . .
My decorating style isn’t the only thing that’s changed in the last 16 years. . .
Well, after that, I’ve probably lost all credibility with you, but I’m still sharing my three best tips for mixing his and her styles in this week’s YouTube video I did for Wayfair’s Inspiration Insiders series:
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So, what’s the biggest obstacle you’ve faced when mixing your styles together?
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My biggest obstacle was getting back in my husband’s good graces after I sold all his stuff at a yard sale! Ha! It must not have made him too mad though because we are still married almost 20 years later!
Luckily my husband does not have much of an opinion either. I tend to do whatever I want because he has a hard time visualizing anything. He always thinks everything looks fine and doesn’t understand why I want to change things. I am more of the “ask forgiveness than ask permission” camp anyway. Then he usually agrees that I was right, that it does look better. I’m not sure what I would do if I had a super opinionated husband with bad taste. That would be bad.
You know, back in the day, this was considered stylish. Sure, it’s not all that great now but you were rockin it back then. lol. The date on those pictures freak me out though. :(
I just went back and looked at the date and didn’t even realize that they were made on 9/10/01. How the world changed the next day. . . Crazy.
My husband & I like the same things & have the same taste. And he came to me with nothing so there was no blending to be done. I lucked out.
My husband is an amazing artist, so we butt heads quite a bit. Two creatives living under one roof has its challenges. I made the mistake, when we were newlyweds, of agreeing that he could buy whatever he wanted to hang above his nightstand. I chose three European style prints in museum quality frames to hang above mine. He commented that my arrangement was not “aesthetically pleasing.” I was annoyed but stood my ground. As we were walking through the mall one day, there was a Spencer’s gift shop with several posters hanging in the display Windows. As we got closer, my husband had this gleam in his eyes and I could hear the hallelujahs in his head. My heart started pounding as I was thinking, “what have I agreed to? No! No! No!” We walked away that day with a three feet tall poster of Cosmo Kramer, framed in an ornate gold frame. He was so proud. I learned a lesson that day: we have to completely agree on EVERYTHING relating to our decor.
I mean, who wouldn’t want to look at Kramer every night–and every morning? :)
I just watched your video. Very cute. I don’t mind TV’s either…as long as I don’t see any cords.
I was wondering what size your pillows were on your couch. They look large & in charge. Love them.
When my husband and I were newly married, we visited some friends who had also recently married. When I commented on their very frilly, flouncy, flowery bedroom decor, she laughingly told me how she had convinced her husband that it was a woman’s job to decorate the bedroom. I felt sorry for the husband having to wade through all the frills just to get in bed. I was sort of disgusted and promised myself that I would always consider my husband’s opinion in home decor. Fortunately he does have good style and there is always compromise, but it works for us.
Back in 1970 we got a set of flowered sheets as a wedding gift. It wasn’t something we’d registered for, but they were from an aunt and uncle so we kept them. The first time they were on the bed my husband said – a bee’s going to sting me. He still doesn’t like floral anything!
I always struggle when we have to make a decision on a new piece of furniture. He just wants something big with more place for storage (no matter if it fits the style and colours that we already have) and I’m the evil person who has to consider everything else and say ‘No’ to his idea for a gigantic cabinet that will block the door to the balcony.
I basically stay away from anything floral…unless it’s real flowers! As long as I do that…we live in harmony….40+ years. I love your first apartment pics…so real! I think we all had extra large furniture like that back then! ;)
Love this post! My husband is actually very opinionated about how our house is decorated but luckily his taste is good and there have only been a few ideas I really liked that he said no to. In general I try to avoid spaces that are ultra-feminine out of respect for him, but he somehow convinced me to let him design the downstairs family room and it’s pretty masculine so I think I can slip some floral into one of our other rooms somewhere!