There's no better way to get to know your partner than living together in a cramped NYC apartment. Once you get past unpacking, merging spaces and styles -- and getting rid of inevitable junk -- are your first tests as a twosome.
How do we merge our styles?
The answer lies first in finding a middle ground. His life-size cutout of Marilyn Monroe and her fuchsia throw rug might mysteriously "disappear" in the move, but don't completely delete their style from your apartment. Nurture each other's interests and comfort-colors with splashes of personality to make the place still feel like home to both of you. For example, buy a coffee-table book of Marilyn photography or get pink picture frames to place on your bookshelves.
Secondly, experiment. So she's country and he's rock -'n' roll...that's not even a problem for the Osmonds anymore. While it might seem like a design disaster at first, remember that opposites attract (just like your personalities) and can yield fabulous results. Buy a black leather couch and hang an heirloom quilt on the wall behind it as art, or pair a farmhouse-style dinner table with industrial-looking chairs.
How do we decide what stays and what goes?
You need to get organized. A lot of times things can stay if you just have an (out of sight) place to put them. If his baseball collection rivals Cooperstown and her magazine rack hasn't been picked through since she read Seventeen, forget the spring -- it's time for some fall cleaning. Once you file the must-haves in binders, boxes, and trunks you can have fun with decorating around them. And if you want to do your partner proud, honor the booty with a unique display that makes it look more like art than junk, i.e. you don't need every single Barbie in your collection but one or two strategically-placed ones as book ends for a kitschy cool style. But the rule for clothes and gadgets is if you haven't used it in two years it's a goner. Just think of all the money you can make selling the junk on Ebay.
How Do I allocate "me" space?
Be sure to create a zone. In a small apartment, all 500 sq. feet of your pad might be affected by one rowdy sports game -- or one tear-jerking episode of Extreme Home Makeover. But you don't need Ty Pennington to designate a quiet area where one of you can zone out and find comfort not talking about your future. Set up a comfy chair and ottoman that don't face the TV and place a side table next to it with books, journals, and possibly candles to set a Zen mood. Then, when one of you is taking over the main living space with a gender-specific interest, head to your chair for some me-time. It's like time-outs just got fun.
by Judy Koutsky
6/19/08
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cleaning & organizing,
Decor Tricks