Many couples enjoy building a home together and that includes decorating. If you visit a large home improvement store on the weekend you’ll see couples shopping together for lighting and other things for their home.

Decorating as a couple will mean that your home will reflect both your personalities. Of course this can be done when just one member of the couple is in charge of decorating, but a collaborative effort is best. Collaborating on any project means compromise.  The all pink master bedroom might be toned down with grey walls and pink accents.

More gender neutral spaces like bathrooms, kitchens and living rooms are great examples of places where couples should collaborate on décor.  Choosing flooring and other major purchases like lighting and seating should be agreed upon by both. For larger pieces you might find you both agree to go neutral or can compromise with a color you both like.  Favorite colors can be included as accent pieces. Details and accents can be more personal to each of you.  Include photos of your life together as well as sentimental items for your past to remind you of your life together. Remember, this is a home for both of you.

Even if you don’t love your existing flooring, choosing your flooring at the beginning of the design process is a good idea. Think of how you will use the space. Kitchens and bathrooms have different flooring needs than living and bedrooms. Do you have pets? Kids? High foot traffic? All of these should be taken into consideration when choosing flooring types and colors.

Once you have your beautiful floors selected, you can begin building your room.  Get samples of paint, wallpaper, fabric and accent colors to create a unified design.  When selecting colors for the room, take into account the color and tone of your floors.  Dark or light, warm or cool tones in the flooring will make wall and fabric colors look differently.  Keep floor color in mind especially if you have wood furniture on wood floors. A little bit of contrast between the woods will make the furniture stand out more; similar colors will make the two elements blend together.

Remember, if it all seems too overwhelming, involve the help of a flooring professional. They can help you pull everything together.

This room might seem an extreme example of what you can do with paint. The graphic pattern on the wall is very lively yet the look is achieved with just two colors of paint. Creating patterns with paint can make a simple project have a complicated result.  Using stencils and tape can yield a myriad of patterns. Vertical and horizontal stripes can be done with painters’ tape and a level. Stencils can be as simple as a circle or as complex as a lattice print or classic onion pattern.

The techniques that are most typically used on a wall can also be used on furniture. Wood furniture should be properly prepped before being painted. Prep work may include puttying, sanding, priming and more sanding before you begin to paint.  Stripes are easy to achieve vertically or horizontally on the wall.  Painters’ tape should still be used to mark off the stripes to prevent the color bleeding through. Stenciled walls can imitate traditional inlay or patterned tiles.  For a large expanse of wall, bigger patterns will feel less busy.

Having a range of shapes in a vignette or room adds variety to the lines of the furniture and accessories.  Long rectangular sofas with square or round cushions are a good example of using different shapes in furniture and accents.  If a room is dominated by rectangles in the furniture and area rugs, round and curving lines of circles can be brought in with accents and patterns. Using a round coffee table is an easy way to break up all the straight lines of sofas and chairs.

A round area rug in a living room, or a rectangular rug under a round table in the dining room, is a great way to introduce a new shape to the space.  Runners and area rugs are often rectangles but can be found in squares and circles as well.

Vases, bowls and other tabletop accessories are a great way to introduce or repeat shapes in a room.  Grouping items by color rather than by shape will put the focus on the unique shape of each object. This can be done with glass or pottery collections. Variety of shapes and sizes is the key to creating interesting vignettes and rooms.

If you have light floors like maple or dark floors like ebony stained hickory, you are not held to only have light or dark furniture to match the floors.  Placing dark wood furniture on light floors and vice versa can make the wood of both pop. Using similar wood, dark on dark or light on light, will cause your furniture to blend in more with the flooring. This can be remedied by using a colorful or patterned area rug to break up the unified wood tones.

The contrast between light and dark has a more modern and contemporary feel than the traditional style of using similar wood tones. Using different wood tones can give your space more visual interest while also creating a more eclectic style that is favored by many designers today.

When mixing woods, pay attention to the undertones of the color just as you would when mixing paint colors or fabric colors.  Cherries and mahoganies have red undertones while maple has a more yellow undertone. These undertones will be more noticeable when you mix your woods.

This all white bedroom is layered with various shades of white from crisp designer white to whites tinted whispers of grey. The layering is what gives this room a finished looking design rather than an unfinished or even boring look of stark white. Along with layering shades of white, texture plays a role in making this design work.

Pure white bed linens stand out against more grey tones of white on the bed frame and walls. The subtle contrast between the two whites is enough for the eye to differentiate. The bench at the foot of the bed and the nightstands are also painted in the palest of greys.

Texture can be found on both the bed and floor. A shaggy, sheepskin or Flokati rug adds texture to the smooth wood of the floors. Bedding contrasts between smooth cotton sheets and a more textured coverlet. Smooth walls and floors contrast against the texture of the rug and bedding.

Uncovered windows to the left of the bed and above it flood the space with natural light. Combined with the snow white palette, this gives the room an airy and light feeling.

Organized message boards can be done on a wall of the kitchen with several different materials. Chalk board paint can create a message board on any wall. Today’s chalk board paint even comes in a range of colors to suit every color palette. Magnetic paint can also be used to create a simple message board. Other options include a white board like one would find in an office or a cork board.  Coordinating the look and color of the message board with other design elements in the kitchen like wall color, cabinetry and floors will help the message board feel like a cohesive part of the design.

To keep the message board from getting out of control with clutter, clear it once a week. Make room for the latest A homework grade, artistic masterpiece or this week’s coupons. Continually vetting the message board and updating the calendar will keep it organized. Children’s artwork and good grades can be hung in a revolving gallery on another wall in the kitchen or hallway. Keep the fridge clear of clutter except for the magnet collection.

There is a cottage industry that creates nostalgic and girly rubber gloves for doing the dishes. Some gloves even have rhinestones and pearls on them to add a little touch of bling. If these feminine style rubber gloves can make even one person like doing the dishes more, then they are a good thing. These rubber gloves can protect hands and manicures when cleaning, mopping as well as doing the dishes.

Aprons are also practical as they are pretty.  Aprons can protect your clothes from water when doing the dishes or food splatters when cooking. Our mothers and grandmothers were smart to wear them when doing projects around the kitchen.

Today’s aprons and gloves are often color coordinated with other kitchen accessories like tea towels and toss rugs.  Runners and mats in front of the sink are a great place to add an accent color or tie in with other colorful accessories in the room. Why not coordinate other accessories like aprons and dishwashing gloves into the overall color palette.  Whether your kitchen style is vintage or not, a pretty apron and a charming set of fancy gloves can be stylish and practical vintage inspired accessories.

Flat screens have moved up onto the wall in many homes. Mounting a flat screen to the wall means you free up floor space in the room. No longer do you need a large entertainment center or armoire. This means flat screens can be hung above a fireplace, returning the fireplace to a focal point in many living and family rooms. Mounting a large television on the wall should be done with the proper television mounting kit that is attached to the studs.

Smaller entertainment consoles can be placed underneath the television to hold DVRs, DVD and BluRay players as well as game consoles and movies.  Today’s entertainment consoles can be lower and smaller in profile, taking up less space on the floor than older models.

Many homeowners do not decorate around the big black rectangle on the wall, instead they leave it as the sole focal point, as in this room. Adding shelves or artwork around the TV can help balance out the size and dark color, making it blend in more with the rest of the room’s décor. Creating balance on the wall that holds the TV can make the TV feel more a thoughtful part of the room’s design.

Lavender as a color is often a more pale, pastel version of the color found in nature. It is a calming color because of all the blue it contains. Because of this lavender is a wonderful color for a bedroom.

Shades of lavender can range from a pale whisper to a pastel with lots of grey undertones. Lavender can work as a wall color for a living room and is lovely when paired with silvers and gold. Lavender accents and rugs are a nice way to introduce the color into a space.

The herb itself can have many uses in the home. Lavender is one of the herbs in the herbs de Provence blend used for Coq au Vin, the famous French chicken dish. Because of its fresh fragrance, lavender and lavender scents can be used in cleaning and laundry. Lavender is a popular scent for laundry detergents and fabric softeners. Sachets of lavender can be tossed in the dryer to give clean laundry a lovely, natural scent. Cleaning products as well can be found scented with lavender.

For freshening up carpets and area rugs, dried lavender can be sprinkled onto the carpet before vacuuming.