One thing I hear a lot when prospective clients initial call my studio is that they can’t see eye to eye with their partner. I hear from both women and men who confess after weeks of frustration that they can’t decide on their renovation project because they want and like different styles, colours, materials etc. So here are my top tips on how to complete a renovation with a partner.
Establish an interior design strategy from the outset
Every project has that big goal you’re trying to achieve. The same is true for residential renovation projects. Your goal might be to improve functional aspects of your home. Another goal could be to increase space. Or simply your goal could be to update the interior style and overall look and feel of your home.
While your big goal might be obvious your style goal is harder to define. With every client I work with I establish an interior design strategy from the outset of the project.
A design strategy is understanding your interior style vision and establishing a colour scheme. I don’t begin designing or doing any conceptual work without this important information.
Why an interior design strategy important
An interior design strategy is important for when you start looking for specifications for your project. Specifications could be anything from light fittings to mixers to sofas or the plethora of other things you need to find and decide on.
So, by knowing your interior design strategy from the beginning you start to narrow down your options.
For example, let’s say your interior style preference is Industrial and your need a sofa. You mostly certainly would be looking for a leather or faux leather sofa instead of linen.
Certain materials, shapes, patterns and colours lend themselves well to some interior styles, which in turn help to speed up your decision making.
How to get on the same page as your partner
When working on a residential renovation project with your partner you will no doubt have different tastes and preferences in style and colour.
First step is to understand what you like as an individual. Next step is to understand or break down the key elements of that style that you like and want.
For example you might like Hamptons and your partner might like Industrial. Is the common colour blue? Can you have a tan leather sofa for the Industrial style aspect and blue cushions for the Hamptons style aspect?
Another way to complete a renovation with a partner is to split specifications. For example all the focal pieces are one interior style and all the complementary pieces are another interior style.
Let’s say the woman likes French Provincial and the husband likes Scandinavian. You could have a French Provincial sofa and a Scandi coffee table. French Provincial floor lamp and Scandi cushions. By splitting the selections one for one you ensure consistency and cohesion brought together by a mutually liked and agreed colour scheme.
There are many ways to bring styles together but first is knowing what your style is. Bear in mind that there is no perfect space and there are always compromises. But this doesn’t have to impact the gorgeous end result of your renovation with a partner.
