Ask an IKEA interior designer: combining households in style

“My partner and I are moving in together, but we have different styles. What can we do?” Blending households and mixing interior design styles can be a tricky process. We chatted to an IKEA interior designer to get some ideas on how to mix and match to create a new, cohesive look.

From textiles to crockery, how do you decide which sets to keep?

“Fight the urge to recreate what you had before and focus on making something entirely new, together. Look at your pieces with fresh eyes and decide which combinations from both your collections work. Mix patterns with plain, different colours and textures. The magic will reveal itself when you play.”

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How can different art styles come together in one room?

“Sticking to a single look has its place but this home shows off something much more eclectic. Their sizable, diverse collections work wonderfully as gallery walls, immediately catching the eye of anyone who walks into the room without giving any one piece all the attention.”

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What about bigger pieces of furniture?

“Like the two parts of this blended family, the chairs around their dinner table come from different places yet work so well together. Open your eyes to the new. It’s here you’ll find beauty in the unexpected.”

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