So you decided to take the next step with your S.O. and get your own place together — congratulations! Moving in with your boyfriend is new, exciting, and fun. However, it can be a little frustrating trying to decorate your new place as a couple. Where you envision a cute antique bookshelf, he might prefer to see his video game collection. Whether you and your man agree on every aspect of the interior design plan or you don’t exactly see eye-to-eye, I’m here to help. I recently made the same transition and I have a few tips to help make the process as painless as possible.
Get Inspired
The first thing I did was make a new Pinterest board. I started browsing gender-neutral rooms and color palettes that not only appealed to me, but also what I thought W would like. I fell in love with a few color combos — that didn’t include pink, shocking! — which got me even more excited about The Big Move. Sometimes I would pin by myself, sometimes he would even sit down with me so we could do it together (yes, he’s a keeper) — this way, we could really get a feel for what we agreed on. Although it took him a while to get on board with the fact that yellow is not a girlie color, we finally decided on a bedroom color scheme of turquoise, gray, and yellow/gold (photo below). This is a really helpful first step because you can see what furniture, colors, and patterns you both like – then you can use this consensus as a base to build your home around.
Take Inventory & Shop Together
Before you buy all new stuff, it’s a good idea to see exactly what y’all have. Figure out what you’re keeping, what you want to get rid of (goodbye, fratty futon!), and best of all, what you need to shop for. Then go shopping together and make it fun! This isn’t supposed to be a chore; make a day (or several) out of antiquing, picking out bedding, and getting to know each other in a whole new way. It was so cute to see W get into the apartment shopping process — I loved that he was having fun out of his element and it was nice to learn that we had very similar taste. I can’t stress this step enough — it’s really important to do the majority of the shopping together!
Make It Personal
Don’t start thinking your home has to be perfect — it should be personal, cozy, and feel like your home! My favorite way of doing this is putting photographs absolutely everywhere. Of course there are about a dozen couple pics, but I also made sure to print out several of his friends & family (as well as mine!) so we both felt right at home. I also think it’s important to have areas designated to spending time together, like a cozy carpet in front of the fireplace, home-cooked meals at the dining room table, or a love seat strictly dedicated to popcorn & Game of Thrones. Not only do we have special “us” places (ours is the screened-in porch!), but we also both have designated “me” areas. For example, when I had my own room, I loved being able to have my accessories displayed across my giant vanity and other girlie things all over the place. I didn’t love having to give that up, so I have my own little space in a corner of our room (photo below). Worried about making your place personal? Don’t sweat it – it will become homey and unique with time.
To get a little inspiration for your shared space, check out some photos of how we decorated our apartment:
{ our living room has a loose color palette of taupes, greys, blues, greens, and some warm accent colors like yellow & red. }
{ we wanted the office/guest room to be super cozy, so it has big, comfy furniture, lots of pillows, and bright, warm colors like yellow, red, green, and brown. }
{ we did what we could with our tiny kitchen — lots of pictures + colors! }
{ the dining room doesn’t get as much use as i would like but i love all the natural light in this room. }
{ itty bitty apartments require lots of storage space. this antique baker’s rack is one of our favorite pieces in the apartment. }
{ our turquoise, grey + yellow bedroom — we love the headboard look we get from those paintings! }
{ my little corner! i allow this area to be as girlie as it gets, complete with an antique dessert stand that i use for rings, bracelets, + necklaces. }
{ my sister gave me these sweet wooden letters in my initials [cwf], but w + i figured out that they could stand for our initials too! we thought we were funny by putting them here, making our bathroom british. }
{ our favorite “us” spot – nothing like a screened-in porch. }
{ another way we made our apartment personal — songs that mean a little something to us became wall art that went perfectly in our new apartment! for the left one i chose colors that went with our bedroom color scheme, for the right one i used a map as the base which went well with the lyrics and the fact that we were moving 500 miles away. to learn how to make these, click here! }
As hectic as moving can be, try to have fun with the process and remember what it’s about — the two of you taking a huge step together! It’s okay to fight over the point of throw pillows for five minutes, but spend the majority of the time daydreaming about how nice it will be not living out of overnight bags at each other’s places, laughing at the fact that you’re going to have to get your couch up 4 flights of stairs, and planning out the order of Netflix shows to binge-watch.
Just remember…
(image source: brides.com, pinterest.com)
