Let’s get real about roommates. Whether you’re best of friends or found each other through a roommate matching service, there are bound to be some complications when it comes to decorating your new pad.
To make the roommate piece a bit easier, we’re big fans of Symbi, a roommate-matching startup that recently launched in New York. Symbi uses compatibility algorithms to match roommates together, and provides comprehensive information on parties, allowing you to find a safe person to share your home. Chat with your potential new living partner though a messaging system. Then, once you’re matched–it’s time to move in and decorate!
Even when you’ve found your ideal roomie, it’s important to recognize that everyone has their own unique styles and opinions when it comes to décor–with some more lenient than others. While decorating with a roommate is most often deemed as being a stressful experience, there are certain aspects that can be addressed in order to help ease the process. Here are three tried–and–true tips to help create a tastefully shared living arrangement.
Get Organized: Invite your new roommate to a neutral calm location–such as out for coffee–to chat about the design of your new home. Start with discussing more broad topics, including the layout of the shared spaces, furniture ideas, and other key components that might be important to consider before the move-in date. After these details are established, transition into discussing more precise questions: what’s her overall style? What are her favorite color palettes? What’s her budget? Addressing these types of questions will give you both the certainty you need in order to feel more secure about the process. Plus, it’s a great excuse for a coffee break!
Get Inspired: Create a secret Pinterest board with your new roommate to spark some excitement. Make a board for each room in your home (living room, dining room, bathroom, etc.) and pin designs that are aesthetically pleasing, keeping your roommate’s style in mind. Spend some time conversing about your favorite concepts in order to land on a common ground. If you are still not seeing eye to eye, it might be time to bring in a professional–hire a Havenly designer and offer to split the fee with your roommate. Earn an additional 15% off your design by entering promo code SYMBI15 at checkout. Conversely, you can use Symbi to find your new roommate with code HAVENLY.
Get Decorated: Roommates who shop together stay together. Before you and your roommate brave the stores, create a shopping list of all of the items that you will need in order to make your new house a home. Creating a shopping list will not only help you stay focused on the necessities and keep within budget, but it will also encourage productivity throughout the process. Once you and your roommate have purchased everything, you can now start focusing on the fun part…decorating! Make sure to finalize the layout of your shared spaces before arranging the furniture. After the foundation is organized, you and your roommate can begin perfecting the minor details, including the artwork and other decorative objects. Voilà – your masterpiece is complete! Make sure to have a chilled bottle of champagne handy…it’s time to celebrate!
We’d love to know – what are your guidelines when it comes to decorating with a roommate? Havenly users get two free weeks of our newly-released Symbi Premium service (promo code: “havenly”). Built especially for those of you with a tight timeframe (or limited time on your hands), Symbi Premium includes top roommates hand-picked for you, phone calls directly with the Symbi team, and scheduling with potential roommates, to make sure you get to your new roomie even faster.
Happy decorating,
Mara