How to (Successfully) Renovate Your Home as a Young Couple

You and your partner have decided to cohabit together. Congratulations! Moving in with a partner is a huge step in any relationship, but it can also be frustrating when you realize your interior design preferences don’t quite match up with your partner’s preferences.

You might imagine painting the bedroom with pastel pink hues, but your significant other may envision a dark blue wall. Needless to say, couples won’t always see eye-to-eye on every design decision, so how do go about putting together a space that suits both of you?

Before you start designing your space, keep these ground rules for successful compromise in mind.

1. Choose a unified design concept

Interior design can be a great way to express yourself, but you also need to think about how your home is going to function. So, before you embark on your home renovation journey as a young couple, discuss with your partner on the design concept that gravitates towards something neutral that brings practicality to everybody living in that home.

Many couples share common interests when it comes to themes like clean Scandinavian and functional minimalistic. So, take some time to compromise and settle on something that both you and your partner will agree on.

This trendy condominium in Cheras is an example of how a couple agrees on a gender-neutral design theme that works not just for both adults but for the children as well. The choice of monochromatic colour makes it easier to flow from one space to the other — living room to dining room to kitchen. It’s perfect for entertaining and for a family that will need to move between spaces often.

Interior Designer: PINS Studio
Cost of renovation: RM290,000

2. Overlay masculine with feminine or vice versa

When renovating as a couple, compromise is key. Consider mixing both masculine and feminine items when decorating your home. One seamless way to put together masculine and feminine elements is by overlaying them. This means making sure that a feminine object or feature in the room also has some masculine aspect to it and vice versa.

For example, in this two-bedroom urban abode, the couple chooses to go for similar grey fabrics on the sofa, dining chairs and the bed frame, while pink vases, pink scented candle and pink throw pillows add a feminine touch to the entire apartment.

Interior Designer: Interior Hunters Sdn Bhd
Cost of renovation: RM19,255

3. Give a little and take a little

As a couple, you have to be willing to give and take because, at the end of the day, it is unlikely that you’ll be able to decorate the entire space with everything that both of you and your partner will agree on. When it’s not possible to come to a joint decision, you will have to compromise.

To achieve a win-win argument, consider carving out personal space that is exclusively his and hers within your home. For example, in this three-bedroom home, the couple sacrifices a section in their bedroom and turn it into a walk-in wardrobe and vanity area where she gets to keep and display all of her accessories and clothes. Meanwhile, another area of the home has been turned into a man cave that displays all of his Star Wars collections.

Interior Designer: Trinity Design Studio
Cost of renovation: RM150,000

4. Decide on an agreeable budget

Before you embark on a home renovation, you should make sure that you and your partner are on the same page in terms of your budget expectations. Setting a realistic budget and figuring out how much you want to spend in certain areas of your home is important. If you have these conversations before tensions are running high, you’ll be able to prevent some of the major blowups down the road.

Consider splurging on lighting. A dramatic, sculptural light fixture can transform a space, and offer a focal point for the room, like this dining area, as an example. Instead of splurging on a fancy bed frame, couples can also choose to invest their money on furnishing their home with similar type of furniture to complement the whole room.

Interior Designer: LoHC Studio
Cost of renovation: RM80,000

5. Make designing your home a fun experience!

Don’t make designing your home a point of an argument, instead, try to keep in mind that home renovating is supposed to be a fun and exciting experience for you and your partner.

When you combine both different tastes into a fun, eclectic space that makes both of you happy, you will have a home that looks something like this condominium in Subang. During the renovation process, the couple mutually chooses to go with an earthy tone and light-hearted colours to brighten up the rooms and make the home look more cheerful and a happy place to live in.

Interior Designer: Nu Infinity

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