Millions flock to Farah Merhi, founder and CEO of the interior design lifestyle brand Inspire Me! Home Decor, for help when it comes to decorating their homes. Merhi is now out with her first book, "Inspire Your Home." It in, she dishes out her top tips when it comes to designing and decorating a home.
We got our hands on an excerpt from the book, where she shares how couples can combine their decorating styles without breaking up.
Inspire Your Home: Easy Affordable Ideas to Make Every Room Glamorous
There are three types of home design couples:
- The couple in which one person makes all the home design decisions.
- The couple in which both people work hand in hand to design their dream home.
- The couple who can’t seem to agree on anything, which usually results in a permanent state of home design limbo.
Since I like to preach how important designing your home is for your peace of mind, who am I to let number three’s situation continue any longer? I’m here to help!
I’ve worked with couples who struggle to design their home because their opinions cancel each other out. I think that type of mutual veto power is unproductive. I’ve found that this usually happens because one partner can’t visualize how the finished room will look and reacts to one piece of furniture or detail they’re trying to decide on. They don’t have the ability to envision the overall picture. As we know, it’s not just a sofa or wall color that makes a room. It’s all the pieces coming together along with finishing decor touches.
Here is what I’ve found to be a productive way of resolving this conundrum.
- Have a serious conversation as a couple. Ask yourselves what is important for each of you before you embark on remodeling or redesigning a room. Write these points down.
- Find inspirational pictures to help yourselves better understand and visualize what the finished look could be. This will help you both to trust the process instead of going through it blindly.
- Decide together if one of you can take charge of the project with the other’s full support. Ask for patience and for the other to wait until the room is done before rendering a final judgment.
- Remember that you both live in your home, so it’s essential that each of you gets a chance to incorporate what is important to you. There are ways to compromise without taking away from the overall vision.
Inspire Your Home
For example, if there’s a tug-of-war between feminine and masculine touches, marry them! (See what I did there?) For instance, if a leather sofa is important to him but a glam look is important to her, bring in a leather sofa that has sleek curves to soften the look. Or if he has a leather couch from his bachelor days that he refuses to part with, add pillows with velvet fabric or beading to soften its look. And consider a beautiful crystal chandelier that will add the glam you’re looking for. It’s about compromise and working together to balance out your styles. IT CAN BE DONE!
Believe it or not, my husband and I went through a “stuck” phase. He had strong opinions on what he wanted our home to look like. We could not decide which sofas to buy for our family room and were at an impasse for two months. I finally sat him down and told him that he had to trust me. And if he didn’t like it after I was done, then we could have a conversation about how we could design our home moving forward. A few weeks later, after I was done furnishing and decorating the room, my husband decided he would never doubt my vision again. Now I can’t even get him to give me an opinion. “Honey, should I get this dining table?” Him: “Whatever you think will work.” Not because he has given up, but because I showed him that I knew what I was doing and was taking his needs into consideration.
At the end of the day, when you walk through those doors, make sure your home feels like the sanctuary you deserve to escape the reality of your daily life.Let it embrace you with its warmth and welcome you into a cozy space. Let it be the place where you feel safe, the place that sparks love and joy in your heart,the place you’ve poured your soul into so you can find a sense of peace in your own corner of heaven. Home is where my heart is; it’s where I make memories with my children, who will one day look back and wave goodbye as they move on with their lives. It’s the place where I’ll grow old with my husband, where I’ve had laughter, sadness, happiness,and everything in between. It’s where I dealt with tough times in my life, where I found myself, where I learned so much about myself. It’s where I can be me, surrounded by love and acceptance. Home is love.