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When Styles Collide
Five Tips for Merging His & Hers

Couples spend months planning every detail of their wedding day, but what about the planning that goes into creating a new home together and combining two separate styles into one living space?

The bride and groom may have lived in their own space and have furniture and decorative accents to merge They may be starting their first home together. Either way, the merging of his and her tastes when it comes to making a comfortable living space — can be a major stress.

Philips Electronics Home Designer Stephen Saint-Onge provides helpful tips for merging his and hers styles together in perfect wedded bliss.

According to Saint-Onge, "Creating a new home is a wonderful opportunity to bring two styles and two personalities together. However, meshing those styles begins long before the wedding."

Here are a few tips designed to help couples easily merge their tastes:

1. Start a "look book": The same way couples discuss details of their wedding, they should begin talking about what they like and dislike in terms of furniture, themes and color. To help organize design ideas, Saint-Onge recommends creating a "Look Book" - a simple sketchbook or scrapbook where you can gather tear sheets from magazines and notes on ideas or products. A "Look Book" will also help when it comes time to register for specific household needs.

2. Use lighting to enhance design: Designing with light and color can dramatically change the mood and look of any room. Keep the honeymoon alive by creating a cozy corner with softer lighting for more intimacy. Candles are a great way to help create a mood. With rechargeable, wireless Philips Aurelle LED Candles you can get the flicker of candlelight without the heat, wax, fumes or fire. Safe, versatile, portable and elegant, Aurelles sit in beautiful frosted glass vases and flicker like real candles.

3. Create advanced home living: Today, both men and women look at home technology as décor, and as couples combine their styles, they should consider technology a design element in every room of the house. Fortunately, sleek, streamlined products make it easier to find hi-tech items that are not only useful but also fit beautifully within the room.

4. Inventory what you have as well as what you need and want: Merging households is a chance to begin anew and create something exciting as a couple, but it doesn't mean you have to start over from scratch. Couples should take an honest look at what they already own, weed out old or out-dated furniture and consider what they need. This is also the time to discuss big ticket items that will dramatically alter a room, such as a dining room table or flat screen TV.

5. Bring style into your new space: Many couples are still using the toaster or coffeemaker they have had since college. Look to upgrade your kitchen appliances and incorporate your own unique style.

6. Register for your entire home: As soon as a couple begins to register for gifts, whether it is in a store or online, they begin to create a unified style for their new home together. Couples should be smart, creative and, most importantly, collaborative about the choices they make - keeping space, current furniture and each other's taste in mind.

Courtesy of ARA Content