Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm brand new to the forums, but I'm desperately seeking help.
My boyfriend has started talking about building a house, and he told me it was up to me to decorate. Well, that's fine; I love interior design and decorating, so I was thrilled. It was short lived though, because our styles are VERY different. I'm french country/rustic while he's modern/contemporary. Everything we showed each other was shot down by the other. Frustrated, we decided to divide up the house and decorate our specified rooms to our styles, but that's just not going to work. First of all, we're going to have an open floor plan, and I'm thinking it'd be pretty strange if the uber contemporary kitchen opened up into the quaint french living and dining rooms, but I also want to make this work. We're planning on spending our lives together, and I'd like our house to reflect how we've sort of intertwined ourselves with the other. Does that sound weird? Anyway, I've started compiling some pictures of what I THINK may be a happy medium, but I'd really like some outside input.
Surely there are SOME style ideas you can agree upon? Colors, finishes, art pieces? I would suggest that you find something that speaks to both of you, for the main living area, and branch out from there. For instance, he likes really clean lines - could he go for Amish furnishings? They usually have very clean lines but are a warm wood. You could build around that. What about a fantastic contemporary painting? That could be the focal point of the living room but you could pull colors from that painting and implement country French upholstery.
Some of the most striking rooms and decors combine modern and traditional. You need to find your common ground and then build from there.
I would NOT divide up the house into different styles. That would only frustrate both of you. But you know, this is a great opportunity to get really funky and awesome. Let him pick out the artwork and then you pick out some furnishings. You can also mix traditional upholstery with very contemporary occasional pieces, like, for instance, a very contemporary coffee table or end tables, or a traditional dining room table with contemporary chairs. This can really be an awesome look.
For your kitchen, I recommend stainless steel appliances and a fabulous sort of countertop. Then you can mix in traditional lighting or accessories. This look can really work, but it takes some finesse.
I will admit that I was pretty discouraged after our first discussion over decor. He's all straight lines, and I'm more about girly curves, you know. I think maybe there was one thing we agreed on the whole time, and it was a sink LOL. I tossed around the idea of hiring a designer, but I'm still sort of hopeful that I can come up with something we can both agree on, but it may have to come to it if I can't find some sort of middle ground. I sent him a giant file with ideas that I'd found that was pretty much rustic/modern stuff, so I guess we'll see how it turns out. Hopefully I can find somewhere to add french country touches to.
Anyone that's got any idea how I can do this, I'd love some feedback!
I didn't see your post before I replied. Thanks so much for the feedback, and I agree that splitting up the rooms is a terrible idea! I never thought of Amish furnishings, but that's a great idea that I'll have to look into.
Do your bedroom in the French style, and do it so he thinks it is sexy.
I think the more modern styles are better in an open floor plan, but I am sure you could add a piece or two to a room. In a great room setup, the idea is comfort and functionality. I think modern, or transitional furniture, works best in that case.
Another thing to try, is to add a French piece into the modern room as an accent piece. And add a modern piece into the French room as an accent piece.
But I think the French stuff is just made for an boudoir look.
I am in the same dilemma. My boyfriend loves mid-century modern and I lean more along the same lines as you with French Country. We first decided on what pieces we would not be willing to part with (grandmother's buffet and other family items) then went from there. We are learning to combine styles and it hasn't been too bad. I know that Pinterest was a great help for me. I certainly sympathize with what you are going through!
Try to find things you both love, like colors, fabrics, artwork, etc.
I agree, dividing rooms so that some are French Country and some are Modern is going to look awkward.
It might help if both of you made a virtual scrapbook of stuff that you like - finished rooms, colors, fabrics, accent pieces, and you then looked for common elements.
Thanks so much for ALL the advice! @silibran - He was so against a straight up French Country bedroom. That was one of the biggest disagreements as far as the decor. The bedroom. We both obviously want to feel comfortable there, so I can't just go completely against his wishes. @Thila - It's nice to know that other people can relate. I've been scouring Pinterest for a few days now, and came up with quite a few good ideas myself. @DetroitN8V - EXCELLENT suggestion. I'm definitely bookmarking that page. @Wry_Martini - Great advice. I actually started doing that yesterday. Finding stuff that I think we'd both like and showing it to him. I think I had about 20 or so pictures, and we actually ended up with about 5 that we both liked a lot. It may not seem like a lot, but at least it's progress, right? Having him finding some stuff would be a great idea though, so I'll definitely ask him about it.
The biggest breakthrough was the kitchen. He's the chef in the relationship, so that's definitely his territory, but he was very actually very accepting to this:
He says he likes the idea of brick or even raw stone walls with the wood floors, and that's definitely something I can work with.
You guys are giving me great ideas, and I'm starting to feel like this isn't completely hopeless, so thanks again for all the suggestions. Keep 'em coming!!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
