It’s exciting to get to that stage with your man where it’s time to move in together. Maybe you found that perfect apartment, or maybe you bought a home. Whatever the situation, it’s a new chapter and full of possibilities.

So you each pack up your place, have a conversation about what furniture pieces you are keeping and getting rid of, talk about how cool it will be on Sunday mornings to walk to the breakfast place that will now be across the street.

Moving day comes and it’s rough but you get through it and now it’s time to unpack. This is about the time when reality sets in because you need to figure out where everything goes. He doesn’t like gold accents, everything you own is gold. He isn’t down with furry pillows, you have a ton of furry pillows…suddenly you realize that your decorating visions are completely different and now what do you do?

Well sister, I have some tips to help you out before it ever gets to that point.

In case you don’t know, I just went through all this, a move into a new house with a guy who’s idea of decor is a dorm room Johnny Cash poster and images of his beloved motorcycles.

Now I could’ve approached this one of two ways:

1. I could steam roll him into submitting to my decor decisions, OR 2. I could create a home we can BOTH be comfortable in.

I opted for the second and here are some steps I took to do it.

DISCUSS DETAILS IN ADVANCE

Unlike the scenario I described above, I did not wait until I was unpacking to figure this out. We knew the layout of the house, I went in and took measurements and mapped out where I wanted things to go. I went over this with him and also discussed decor deal breakers – the gold and fur were a hard no, johnny cash and motorcycles were also a hard no.

CURATE AND LET HIM CHOOSE

Most guys really don’t know what they like until they see it. So I found the best way to do this was to narrow down options, then let him choose.

I took to pinterest and created a board I titled “New House” and proceeded to pin home decor styles I liked and I thought were gender neutral, but also chic and sophisticated. I sat with him and went over them and he would say, “I like that, I don’t like that” so I got a sense of what he would be happy with.

Basically what I was doing was curating options I already liked and letting him choose which he liked. This way, he was participating, but choosing styles we could both be happy with.

GO GENDER NEUTRAL

You can have a very chic decor style that represents you both by choosing color stories and pieces that are gender neutral. Grays, creams and tans are all great options.

Start by curating styles that have those on Pinterest and then when you know what kind of style he likes, you can build off that with neutrals and add any pops of color (blues are a great option) with accent pieces.

USE ART WORK

At my apartment I had very feminine artwork which definitely created a specific vibe and his apartment had Johnny Cash. For the new house, I knew I needed to go in a different direction so I took to Desenio because of the amount of options they have. I went with a beach scene print called ‘Crowded Beach Aerial’  in the bedroom because I wanted a calming vibe and a desert print called ‘Joshua Tree National Park’ in the living room. I decided to do those two rooms first because we are in them the most. Both of these pieces are gender neutral, and neutral in tones so they go perfectly with the style I’m creating.

Art REALLY transforms a space so take your time deciding what walls will work best, if you want to do a gallery wall, a large print, two side by side etc.

To help in the process I partnered with Desenio to get you guys a discount! Use the code “GLAMLATTE” for 25% off posters between 18th-20th of September. (I make no money from this, it’s just for you!)
Frames and handpicked-/collaboration posters are excluded, but everything else is fair game! I truly love this brand and I know you guys will too. You can also follow them on IG for more inspo!

DESIGNATE AREAS FOR PERSONAL STYLE

This worked out perfectly for us: I have a home office which turned out to be the perfect place for all my gold and fur, and he has the garage, which is where Johnny Cash and the motorcycles live. Both are our happy places and we get to express our own personal style while still having the common areas be the neutral zones.

(I’m thinking about doing a feminine gallery wall in my office. Let me know if you guys would like a tutorial on how I do it! )

TAKE YOUR TIME

Understand that this process takes time. I have a lot of temporary things in place until I splurge for what I truly want. But this gives you so much time to really great the space you can both be happy with. The most important thing is to enjoy the process!

I hope these tips help! Let me know if you have any tips I might have missed, or if you implement them, let me know how it goes! Also, if you pick up any art pieces, make sure you tag me on IG and show me how you style them!

XO,