The compromise of decorating a space starts as soon as you as you care how you live.  For some, it begins when your parent tells you that how to keep your bedroom differently than how you want it.  What ensues is either a capitulation or triumph, or a compromise.

Living with a significant other can be like that too. I have friends who’s husbands do not care one bit about decor but they vehemently care about the cost. Others, who are more rare, have carte blanche to spend luxuriously on furnishings of their choice without a peep from their significant other.

And then there are the partners that care about both. That is the hardest. I am lucky that my husband and I are most often than not, on the same page with both cost and design sensibility. In fact, when I trust his judgement I am often happily surprised how wrong I was.

A certain, very expensive leather recliner is 10-12 weeks in my future. Aesthetically, I am concerned. But lovingly, I am not. Good design includes love and tolerance.