Moving in with Your Partner? 12 Expert Tips for Combining Design Styles

Whether you're moving in with your significant other or accommodating the belongings of several roommates, combining decorating styles can feel daunting. But even the most disparate styles can come together for a cohesive look—and it's easier than you think. From tackling entire houses to integrating lifestyles in shared living spaces, five design pros share their tips and tricks that work for any equation. These real-life examples and expert insights will have you confidently combining pieces for a comfortable and consistent home.

What to Know Before Blending Styles

Encouraging everyone to get involved initially will go a long way to making the merging of styles successful. It not only helps everyone to be invested in–and understanding of—the process and outcome, but it will also start to illuminate the threads that tie together a cohesive look.

Acknowledge Limitations

One of the first things to do is acknowledge size and space limitations. Likely, you won't be able to keep every piece of furniture. When choosing which pieces to keep and which to say goodbye to, find duplicates and keep your favorite. Then, move on to pieces that are just too big for the available space.

Determine Nonnegotiables

Early on, it's also important to identify the must-keep items that you can't part with, says Maria Adcock, founder of Bicultural Mama. "Perhaps your partner's outdated tea set is actually a family heirloom. Or your child's doodles on scrap paper are part of a project she's working on," she says. According to Adcock, asking about nonnegotiables is important because it shows respect and collaboration.

Adcock says determining nonnegotiables helps everyone understand where they are coming from. It also encourages everyone to identify what they like and why. Rather than just making observations about someone's style, allowing everyone to talk about what they like can help find commonalities to build upon. Shared features are a key part of creating a blended look, and recognizing items both parties like will create a more welcoming home for all.

12 Ways to Combine Decorating Styles

Use the following tips to easily merge different decorating and design styles in a beautiful and thoughtful way.

1. Don't Divide a Room

It might seem easier to designate specific styles to individual rooms—a modern kitchen, a cottage bath, a farmhouse bedroom—but the result is less than cohesive. Similarly, don't fall into the trap of only grouping similar items within one space, like a collection of nautical decor in one corner of an otherwise floral space. Combining style elements within the room, and in most rooms of the house, will create a better balance overall.

2. Choose a Neutral Foundation

Amie Freling, owner of the interior design brand Meme Hill Studio, recommends warm neutrals like greige as a backdrop for merging styles. Neutral surfaces are a great foundation for those who are nervous about combining styles or pieces that contain multiple colors because they accentuate what's around them rather than competing against it.

On the other hand, a dark, moody color can be a great canvas to blend traditional and modern, says Freling. Not every room in the house has to be the same, but setting a base for every space will help with integrating other elements.

3. Be Intentional with Color

"An easy way to keep an eclectic style cohesive is to stick to a methodical and intentional color palette," says designer Jewel Marlowe of Jeweled Interiors. "If the color scheme is tailored, then it is easier to pull off the surprise of mixing two or more unexpected styles together." Look for color inspiration from must-have items and pay attention to the shades the existing styles already include. A color palette can help determine which items come together in a single room, too

4. Consider Scale

The scale of furniture pieces should also be balanced. "One of the hardest hurdles to combining two styles is to master the scale or size of the furniture pieces to each other," says Marlowe. Some styles are traditionally oversized and bulky, while others are sleek and short. Though there are exceptions, Marlowe says it looks best when most items are generally the same scale. For instance, a tall coffee table that sits higher than a low sofa might look off and be awkward to use.

5. Repeat Shapes and Patterns

A cohesive combined style is not about a homogenous look, but making sure elements don't feel out of place. The repetition of shape, pattern, and texture within a room and around the home will help differing styles live harmoniously. Try a mix of subtle reiterations and bold similarities in textiles, furniture shapes, wall decor, and flooring patterns.

6. Update Old Furniture

For recently married clients merging their beloved art collection and travel acquisitions, Ariana Lovato, owner and principal designer at Honeycomb Home Design, suggests using existing and updated pieces to tie everything together. She says old pieces can look new with something as simple as a fresh coat of paint or stain. "Paint is the most inexpensive way to transform anything," she says. Lovato also recommends replacing dated fabrics of antique pieces with more modern ones, like velvet.

7. Don't Get Hung Up on Themes

If one home has a contemporary look, while another leans farmhouse, it's easy to think about what defines (and differentiates) those styles. "When combining opposite or different design styles, I try to find one detail that each person absolutely loves and work around two features rather than an entire theme," says Freling. It's just another reminder that talking about what you like will make it easier to create a unified look.

8. Build Around Must-Have Pieces

"When families move or blend, there is always a piece that I am asked to make work," says Freling. For example, a family with a modern aesthetic wanted to keep their grandma's more traditional sofa, so Freling positioned it in a bright space to balance the size and saturated dark color. She added clean-lined, open furniture as modern counterparts. "It turned a dated piece into an inviting anchor of the room," Freling says. An alternate route is to take something different than the rest of the space and showcase it, using the contrast as a focal point.

9. Carve Out Individual Spaces

Making room for personal space can alleviate some of the stress of combining styles. This might be a specific room for one person, like an office, bedroom, or recreation space, or it can be as simple as having an individual desk or nook in a shared kids' room.

"Carve out a space just for one and let them have free reign," says Joy Williams, the designer behind Joyful Designs Studio. Williams' fiancé took over the attic, where records, DJ equipment, and other personal items can be used, arranged, and displayed without worrying about the rest of the home. These individual spaces also allow the person to make decisions about their own style and choose what is important to keep.

10. Compromise for Success

In Williams' experience, a compromise comes with opportunity. "I gave up the idea of not having swivels or recliners in the home, but I got to choose style, color, textiles," she says. In their bedroom, a comfortable chair serves the function that her fiancé loves—his preferred lounge spot for relaxing and watching TV—while she picked the look. The rest of the room balances their shared love of dark colors with the feminine flair that she favors. "He gets his comfort and I maintain the overall aesthetic of our home," says Williams. Another example: a sleek, contemporary tiled floor can be warmed up with a plush rug.

11. Incorporate Blank Space

Incorporating plenty of blank wall space and open floor space not only gives our eyes a break but also helps stop us from trying to fit everything together. This physical and visual breathing room prevents crowded and chaotic spaces. You can always strategically add or replace decor, furniture, and other fixtures later.

12. Think in Vignettes

If it's a bit overwhelming to tackle an entire room (or home!), think of it as an opportunity to create statement-making vignettes, says Marlowe. She says she has an Instagram side of the brain—thinking in terms of vignettes or smaller areas of a room—and a design side of the brain, which looks at whole rooms. Narrowing your focus to specific areas allows you to find the right mix of items that embrace various styles—like pairing a midcentury modern credenza with an ornate Victorian mirror.

Once you've found pairings that work together, you can take in the whole room and identify ways for each vignette to flow together. "Sometimes being forced to learn to decorate with multiple styles can ultimately lead to a beautiful unique and unique personal style," says Marlowe.