10 Tips for Harmonious Design

Sketch a style
Start collecting magazine photos of rooms and pieces of furniture, clippings, fabric samples and color chips that you both like and keep them in a sketch- or scrapbook. Over time your taste will develop and you’ll have a handy reference guide to your own signature family style.

Mix it up
Just because X, Y and Z items have always been together, doesn't mean they always have to be, especially since your partner may have his or her favorite X's, Y's and Z's, too. Try things in different rooms. Be open-minded. Move things around and live with it for a while. "Anything grouped on a wall can be an interesting display for very little money," says designer Angela Beach, owner of Beachwood Designs in Southern California. This can be an inexpensive way to combine and showcase a bit of each partner’s family history, be it vintage family watches or spoons, quilts or family photos.

Shuffle styles
Rather than sticking to set style categories
(country, contemporary, traditional, mid-century, etc.) create an interesting mix and you'll probably be able to find a place for most if not all of each person’s favorite pieces, says Catz. The design trend right now is to make a space yours, make it personal. It’s not so much about what’s hot; it’s about what you do with what you’ve got and what it says about you.