Yours, Mine and Ours: Home Decorating Tips for Newlyweds

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You’re finally married — yay! For many couples across the country, that means finally blending your lives as one and moving in together. But while you’ve already considered everything prior to the move, it’s time to take the ultimate plunge and decorate your home with the aid of your spouse. Now here comes the tricky part because even though marriage is fun, it becomes incredibly frustrating when you realize your styles and taste in décor may clash.

While you and your partner might never see eye-to-eye on a particular kind of design, this is where negotiation comes into play to achieve a happy medium. All it takes is a little teamwork and patience.

Figure out your styles together

Right before you two decide to break down walls or even paint rooms, or get those awesome polycarbonate sheets, talk it out. By now it should be known that communication is key in any relationship, so before tackling a home renovation or design, sit down and talk about what you feel your home needs together. Are you more of a bookworm looking for shelf space while your spouse lays out on couch? Does either one of you need a home office? Do you both like blue? What are your thoughts on wallpaper? By talking it out before getting a wrecking ball or sledgehammer involved, ask each other questions about what you hope to see in your home together and eventually, you both will either agree or disagree on elements that might also help in your expenses.

Create an inventory

Buying furniture is basically the meat and potatoes of your life together, so make sure you create an inventory of what you both really need. The last thing you want is either going over budget or buying things that just clash. Aim for building rooms that create a cohesiveness to them, whether it be with color, décor or even accents. If you look back at your older residences and pull pieces from that design, chances are one of you might already have something that you want in your new home together. That said, if it’s old and yucky this calls for a re-purpose! Re-purposing furniture is not only a practical method for decorating, but it’s the ultimate way to preserve and recycle.

Go shopping together

One of the best parts of a relationship is spending time together and shopping for the home is a beautiful way to get closer, strengthen bonds and really get a sense of each other’s styles. Think of it this way: if you can head out for groceries together or even tag items while strolling the aisles at Target together for your wedding registry, this will be a breeze. Additionally, shopping together for the home will also make you both more level-headed when it comes to practical decisions and create a sense of a joint-budget so that you two avoid future arguments about things like money, or how that ugly lavender ottoman was the worst decision you two ever made.

Find inspiration together

Magazines and your mother’s suggestions are welcomed sources of inspiration, but the real inspiration ultimately comes down to the two of you and how creative you are together. We stress “together.” After all, the best relationships are the ones where two people can contribute ideas without feeling like they won’t be heard and the same goes for designing and decorating your home. To help you organize and sort out décor, set up Pinterest boards for each room and focus on one board at a time. Pin images you both feel you two would love to recreate or build off from when looking for design elements that both of you can really appreciate. Not only does this help you both get a better grasp of what your design ideas are, but it will help you both to compromise for the sake of design, comfort and likability.

Make it personal

One of the best ways to decorate your new home together is to make it personal by blending pieces of your past together. We don’t mean like, photos of their exes plastered on the wall because that’s weird. What we do mean is, when you walk through those doors, make it feel like a home and not a house by adding a personal touch to the décor of mementos throughout the years. It can be perhaps a curios case of his or her trophies or awards from high school football or their stage days, or even souvenirs on the mantle or shelf that you two picked up together on your first trip. Display what makes you two “you” with style and experiences that accompany memories. Not only will it make the home more warm with a familiarity, but it will be a comfortable place that reminds you two of each other.

What are some of your tips for newlyweds? Share with us in the comments below.