How To Blend Interior Design Styles: 8 Tips for Shared Spaces

8 Expert Tips for Mixing Interior Design Styles

Whether you're signing a lease with a new roommate or moving in with a significant other, merging two distinct personalities into one home requires compromise and collaboration, especially when it comes to blending different design styles.

Even if you love a bold accent wall and your counterpart wants all-white everything, there are ways to strike a creative compromise without chaos. Below, we'll share design tips to help you make a home together without building conflict in your relationship. Continue reading to discover how you can create a cohesive, shared space that accommodates both your preferences.

1. Identify the Core Styles You're Working With

Start the conversation by learning about each other's styles. Try to define your aesthetic instead of just guessing: Do you prefer mid-century furniture? A modern farmhouse look? A Bohemian vibe?

Understanding the key traits of each of your style preferences can help you find common ground. If you're not sure how to define your style, browse design sites like Pinterest or Houzz and see what you gravitate toward.

You can even create a mood board of different patterns, furniture and colors that speak to you, then share it with your partner or roommate—and ask them to do the same. You may discover that certain components of your partner's board resonate with you and mesh with your design sensibility.

READ MORE: What's Your Design Aesthetic?

2. Focus on Shared Values, Not Just Shared Aesthetics

Finding common priorities is often easier than forcing alignment between two different design styles.

Pinpoint your values by thinking about how you want to feel in your home. What matters most to you: Comfort or clean lines? Picture-perfect open shelving or kitchen cabinets that let you take a more relaxed approach to organization?

Talk honestly about both your habits and priorities. This will help you go deeper than home aesthetics and discover shared values that can help drive your decorating choices.

READ MORE: 11 Sustainable Living Decorating Trends for Your Home

3. Choose a Unifying Color Palette

A consistent color story can make even mismatched styles feel intentional. Before you start picking out furniture, rugs and decor, come together to create a cohesive color palette you can both live with.

To build a palette both parties agree on, start by picking one or two dominant colors for walls and large furniture pieces. Then choose a couple of accent colors you both love—or let each person choose a color and see which combinations work best together while still honoring both your preferences.

4. Let Statement Pieces Take Turns

When it comes to choosing statement pieces—whether it's a bold rug, an accent wall or a prominent painting—take turns letting each of your design sensibilities shine.

Go into the process emphasizing listening over judgment. Be considerate of each other's must-have pieces: Maybe you don't love your partner or roomie's favorite framed concert poster, but if they're fighting for it, take the time to ask why it matters to them. If a piece you don't like holds sentimental value for the other person, consider compromising to give it a place in your home. You could also allow both parties to pick one or two nonnegotiable items to ensure favorite pieces don't get cast aside.

In small spaces, avoid overcrowding focal points with too many elements from different styles. You may have to lean into just one style in a small bathroom, for example, and let the other person drive style choices in the office space. In a large living room, you can find more ways to blend your distinct styles in ways that complement (instead of clashing with) each other.

5. Blend Through Textures and Materials

"Cohesive" doesn't have to mean “matching." In fact, a rich tapestry of textures can help bridge the gap between styles and add layers of depth and visual interest to a space.

Mix materials like wood, metal, fabrics and natural fibers across both your styles to create cohesion. Embrace an eclectic space instead of trying to force two different styles to merge seamlessly.

6. Edit Ruthlessly—Together

Once you've started filling your space with furnishings and decor, take a step back to curate which pieces should stay and which might need to go.

Throughout the editing process, stay collaborative, not combative. If you decide that your partner or roommate's beloved mid-century hutch will clash with your new dining room, see if you can find space for it somewhere else in the home, or find other ways to honor their style preferences. Compromise could also mean refurbishing a beloved piece to suit your shared aesthetic—for example, staining, painting or reupholstering an old chair if the owner is OK with modifying it.

If tensions rise, take a breather from the design process. It can help to reconnect over your shared values or to reflect on whether your own approach to conflict is helping or hindering your progress.

7. Design One Room at a Time

Decorating a new home or apartment can be exciting—and overwhelming. But you don't need to knock out the whole space at once. Instead, tackle one room at a time.

Start with high-traffic or shared-use spaces, like the kitchen and living room. These are the areas where it's most important to collaborate and honor both of your design preferences. Office spaces, bedrooms and bonus rooms—including outdoor spaces—can provide opportunities for individual expression with less need to compromise.

If you can't reach a consensus, you could also hire an interior designer to get involved and create a design that works for both of you.

READ MORE: Ask an Interior Designer: Top Questions Answered by a Pro

8. Don't Be Afraid To Break the "Rules"

Rules, as they say, were made to be broken. That's especially true when it comes to interior design.

Your space is a reflection of both parties. Even with two distinct styles, you can make a mismatched space feel polished. Make choices together, edit as needed and follow your gut instead of adhering to what magazines or influencers suggest.

By eschewing the design “rules," you can create a space that perfectly reflects both of you—even if it isn't a picture-perfect representation of one particular style. Embrace creative freedom and personality over perfection.

It Takes Two To Design an Authentic Space

As you build a home with someone else, remember that the goal isn't to match perfectly. Stay focused on reflecting both your personalities and honoring your shared values.

By keeping the lines of communication open, compromising and making design choices with intention, you can successfully blend styles—and even come out of it with a stronger relationship than before.

You can purchase things for your home with the Synchrony HOME Credit Card*; you may even find pieces that can pull together your styles. Visit Synchrony Marketplace to find offers.

*Subject to credit approval. See store for details.