Designing a Compromise

By Chayse Dacoda

Bedrooms are areas of great compromise, as often couples' tastes will differ drastically. For instance, whether to let in or block out light, what color to paint the room, and should the bed linens have a pattern or be monochromatic? Plus, there's always the issue of whether to have a TV or not.

The Solution: We gave them both what they wanted – dark curtains along a small windowed wall made the room seem bigger, yet the window stayed exposed to let in lots of light. Scott loved the cave-like feeling, while Mimi got her light.

Around the bed, we chose to have movable curtain panels suspended from the ceiling. On the inside, the curtains were a light cream color for Mimi, while the outside of the panel was a dark navy blue for Scott. The curtains created the look of a canopy bed, but the height kept the space feeling airy.

What They Needed: In this situation, the couple thought they would have to find a compromise and yet they didn't. Both got what they wanted in the bedroom without feeling that they had to each make a sacrifice to please the other.