Good designers are always good listeners. This is especially important when a designer is working with new clients and, while discussing desires and plans for the couple's home, experiences "he said, she said."

This is when one party wants a look for the home that is completely different from the vision of the other party. Big uh-oh! A happy home is paramount, and a difference of opinion should not be a problem, even though some TV shows would have us believe this is grounds for divorce!

The designer listens carefully to the clients' desires and wishes and then creates a plan that successfully combines the two looks without diluting either style. That's a challenge.

Here are some examples that will help you to think through how to combine styles if you and your "roommate" don't see eye to eye when it comes to design.

Let's consider contemporary and island styles, for instance. Island style doesn't have to mean dark floors, mahogany colonial furniture and fabrics in palm tree or shell motifs. Rather than choosing ornate furniture, choose furniture with clean geometric lines and solid fabrics that will impart a contemporary look, yet still create an island feel through texture. For instance, caning can look contemporary, so can bamboo and reed. Flooring doesn't have to be polished marble to have a contemporary look. A cream-colored limestone says "contemporary," yet helps to create an island feel.

Tropical colors can be used in a modern scheme, while monochromatic colors, with a pop of accent color, can be used to impart an island feeling. The challenge is to successfully marry the two for a seamless look.

Even fixtures and plumbing hardware can reflect these styles. Rather than choosing shiny chrome — often used in contemporary — go with a satin finish, or maybe a bronze selection with clean lines to give a nod to both styles.

Do not give in to making one room "island" and another room "contemporary." If you do this, your home will look disjointed. In this case, the whole house should be "contemporary with an island feel" or an "island style with a contemporary feel." Fuse both styles for the best decorating results. When done successfully, either description will be true. The trick is to not go to extremes.

Size and scale make a big difference in bringing two styles together. Say, for example, one person loves Victorian, while the other loves art deco. As long as the scale and types of wood work together, whether in point or counterpoint, the styles can be mixed.

Warning: It takes skill to combine extremes, so this should be done carefully to avoid a mishmash look. It's one thing to be eclectic. It's another to carefully think through color, style, texture and scale so that styles blend beautifully and everyone lives happily ever after.

Joseph Pubillones is the owner of Joseph Pubillones Interiors, an award-winning interior design firm based in Palm Beach, Florida. To find out more about Joseph Pubillones, or to read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: at Unsplash