How to Create a Harmoniously Coupled Home
Keep the honeymoon period going strong by settling down in a home you and your significant other both enjoy and find rest in
One of the things I enjoy about writing about people’s homes is that I learn quirky – and useful – life lessons from them. For example, a newlywed husband who was walking us through their Victorian-inspired HDB flat (complete with crown mouldings and a faux fireplace) said that although the style was absolutely his wife’s, and his sole contribution was financing the renovation, he was sure that “happy wife equals happy life”.
Remember that scene in the movie Sleepless in Seattle, when Meg Ryan’s character is still attached to Bill Pullman’s? They’re in bed, and she hands him all his nighttime ritual things – he has bad sinuses – from her bedside, so she’s unable to ease into her own sleep mode. That demonstrates the importance of thoughtful space planning and considerate decorating for a couple (obviously that was a bad example!). Here are some expert tips that will help you create a healthy, happily-coupled home:
Compromise: Decorate with intention
Keep the peace when decorating tastes clash with a commitment to respect each other’s wishlist, prirorities, passions and limits.
Keep the peace when decorating tastes clash with a commitment to respect each other’s wishlist, prirorities, passions and limits.
Collaborate: Blend your two different personalities and preferences
When two become one (household), you’ll need to communicate, collaborate, cooperate and edit, edit, edit.
When two become one (household), you’ll need to communicate, collaborate, cooperate and edit, edit, edit.
Create balance in the bedroom
While the two of you may not often be in the same room together – you could be in the study while he’s in the kitchen – the bedroom is one space that you will both have to find balance in.
While the two of you may not often be in the same room together – you could be in the study while he’s in the kitchen – the bedroom is one space that you will both have to find balance in.
His-and-her bedside tables don’t always have to match! In fact, it might make you both feel better and considered when you can put your unique stamp on your bedside table.
TELL US
How are you and your significant other finding balance in your new marital home? Share your solutions in the Comments section.
How are you and your significant other finding balance in your new marital home? Share your solutions in the Comments section.
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An architect who was showing us a home she had designed for a high-powered couple indicated his-and-her sleeping quarters within the master suite because “the husband is a night owl, so he will sometimes leave her to sleep in her space, as he goes to read or work in his space!”