HOW TO HAVE A COHESIVE HOME

One of the ways a home can feel cohesive is by creating rooms that flow together. Seamlessly and visually beautiful! It is important to think of your home as a whole and not only separate rooms! It’s all about creating a cohesive look.

Does your home, as a whole, feel curated? Do your rooms work together as part of a whole? Or do the rooms in your home feel disjointed

Do they look “choppy”? Or do they play nicely together? Is walking from one room to another a beautiful transition?

A WHITE LIVING ROOM

I get emails all the time from readers wondering how to create a home that seems to FLOW! It’s all about a cohesive look! What we all want is a cohesive home.

WHAT IS A COHESIVE HOME?

I often talk about the eye/mind connection and how decorating is all about what our eyes see and how our mind perceives it.

We first need to think of the rooms in our home as a whole. One experience! One big decorative journey!

DINING ROOM AND KITCHEN THAT ARE COHESIVE

When we go from one room to another and our minds see some continuity and they can make sense of room to room transitions our mind will see this as beautiful or interesting. That is what we mean by rooms that flow well together. And that is a cohesive look. All the parts make up one big beautiful whole.

However, if our eyes pick up decor that is very different or with no easy transition from room to room our minds perceive this as disjointed, unpleasant, or odd.

It is our job as home decorators to keep our eyes and minds happy and interested! And keep the transition from one room to another a pleasant experience!

HOW TO CREATE ROOMS THAT WORK TOGETHER- A LESSON FROM FIXER UPPER.

One of the reasons we all love Fixer-Upper is Joanna’s fabulous knack for making the rooms in her fixer-upper houses flow together so the overall look of all the rooms in her home is cohesive.

Well, that and Chip’s funny antics and how they transform the worst homes on the block, and those adorable kids, and the amazing vision they have for each home, and Chip and Jo’s farmhouse and….

The list goes on and on!

But I know that part of the reason I love Fixer-UppOWer is how amazing all the rooms in a fixer-upper homes work together!

We don’t have to appear on Fixer-Upper to have a home that seamlessly transitions from one room to another!

Here are 5 great tips for creating a home that flows well together! And moving to Waco is not one of the five on this list! Darn!

USE THE SAME OR SIMILAR PAINT COLOR

This is probably the easiest fix for rooms that don’t flow well together. Painting all the rooms in your home using the same 1 or 2 colors will visually connect them. You will be amazed by how a home will look larger and more cohesive if all the wall colors (and ceilings) work together.

You might like to read more about HOW TO CHOOSE THE PERFECT PAINT COLOR.

WALL COLOR

As a home decorator, I don’t have the experience or the professional know-how to use vastly different wall colors in different rooms and have them transitional well. Actually, I don’t think professionals do either!

But, as a home decorator, I do know that keeping the wall color in my home to one or two or three colors will instantly create a cohesive transition between rooms!

PAINT CHIPS

And here’s something important to remember…

KEEP DIFFERENT WALL COLORS THE SAME HUE BUT SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT SHADES AND TINTS!

Here’s an easy way to get this right! Pick one color as your primary paint color and then have the paint store make it a bit darker and/or a bit lighter!

Another easy way to pick a paint color is to look at a paint chip. Choose the paint for the whole house from one chip.

Or how about painting your entire home one gorgeous color. We did that with our current home. The whole house is Simply White by Benjamin Moore.

The color dot is a lot creamier than the paint appears on our walls.

DOT OF WHITE PAINT

If you have been reading StoneGable for any time you know I love white. I always have! But I love white done right. The soft white background of our walls is the perfect backdrop for our furnishings. And really, don’t we want to highlight our furnishings? I sure do!

TRIM COLOR FOR ROOMS A COHESIVE HOME

Keeping the trim around doors and windows the same throughout a home will help the rooms in a home flow easily together too.

Don’t forget to do the same with baseboards, crown molding, and doors.

Things like crown molding and the trim may not be the first things we see in a room, but when these things are uniform the look like they belong together. 

I think one of the biggest mistakes home decorators make is to paint or stain trim differently throughout their homes. Keep all trim the same color! 

LIVING ROOM WITH A COHESIVE LOOK

All the trim in our home, including all the built-ins and fireplace, is Simply White by Benjamin Moore. And yes, it is the same color as our walls. Because our walls are flat and the trim is semi-gloss the light reflects off those surfaces differently and looks a little different but nice.

HOW FLOORING AFFECT FLOW

One of the best ways for rooms to work beautifully together is to use the same flooring so one room flows into another. This is especially important for large open areas in a home.

I would treat wall to wall carpeting the same as hard surface flooring. Keep carpeting the same from room to room. It will make such a difference in the way rooms that rooms flow together easily.

Area rugs should share the same color palette throughout your home too. They don’t have to be exactly the same.

Yes, you can put a couple of the same rugs in one area but they can often look boring and a little too safe! If you feel better doing this stick to rugs like sisal. They have lots of texture and are a neutral color.

LIVING ROOM AND DINING ROOM WITH A COHESIVE LOOK

I love mixing and matching rugs in our home. If you have area rugs you might like to read HOW TO MIX AND MATCH RUGS. There’s a ton if ideas and savvy decorating tips in this post as well as lots of pretty rugs that work together with their sources.

All the rooms in our home have the same hardwood flooring and this gives our home a very cohesive look and feel! And our area rugs are very similar in color palette! They all work together to make transitioning from one room to another easy.

When there is a difference in flooring from room to room our eyes pick it up right away! Instead of transitioning into a room, they will stop at each change in flooring and our minds will try to make sense of the difference. Thus stopping for natural and seamless flow!

YOUR STYLE

Your personal style has a lot to do with room to room transitioning and a cohesive style.

It’s so important to know your style and basically keep in that style lane!

Once you find your style and you decorate your home within the limits of your style your home will look at home! It will look like you!

That does not mean you cannot be creative! No, just the opposite. When you know your style you can reproduce it in so many ways!!!

My style is TRANSITIONAL. And my entire home reflects my unique spin on trasitional style!

You might like to read more about HOW TO KNOW YOUR DECORATING STYLE.

And if you like my style you can read WHAT IS TRANSITIONAL STYLE.

FABRIC COLORS AND PATTERNS

Fabric color and pattern can have a huge affect on the way rooms flow together in a home!

GREAT ROOM WITH A TIGHT COLOR PALETTE

My best advice is…

  • don’t be too matchy-matchy
  • don’t use too many colors throughout a home
  • pick a color palette and stick with it
  • repeat colors and textiles in a room and throughout the house
  • neutrals with lots of texture are the easiest way to go

I think it takes a lot of practice to feel confident about switching colors between rooms. So, unless you are an interior decorator or have an incredible natural gift for color and pattern stay with a specific color palette for a seamless look!

A pop of color or wood tone or texture can also be carried throughout a home especially if it leans towards neutrals. It’s always nice to incorporate a fun color and carry it throughout your home!

You might like to read, WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT DECORATING WITH COLOR or HOW TO MIX WARM AND COOL COLORS IN A ROOM.

REPEATED ELEMENTS

I love this easy decorating tip! I use it all the time in my home!

If you have any distinctive architectural elements in a room try repeating them in some way in another room.

REPEATED VASES ON A TABLE

Here are other things to repeat that will help rooms flow together..

  • shapes
  • patterns
  • textures
  • size of objects
  • color
  • flowers
  • pattern

WHY EVERY HOME DECORATOR NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT RHYTHM AND REPETITION is a must-read! It will help you be a better decorator!

ABOUT THE WOOD AND METALS IN YOUR HOME

Using different woods and metal finishes in your home is not only a good thing but a great thing. When we use all one wood or metal our homes are too predictable! We are talking about wood and metal home furnishing and not woodwork!

REPEATED FERNS ON A TABLE

But we all love a little consistency. So go ahead and mix metals and different woods but have one metal finish and one wood tone that is consistent throughout your home. Remember our eyes are always looking for repeated elements!

You can read more about 5 FABULOUS TIPS FOR MIXING METALS here.

I hope this helps you understand how to create a cohesive home with easy transitions.

What are you doing in your home to help you have a home where all the rooms play well together?

These post might help you decorate your home…

HOW TO USE COLOR IN YOUR HOME

AN ELEMENT OF DESIGN YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT… SCALE AND PROPORTION

10 DECORATING TIPS THAT WILL HELP YOUR HOME LOOK AMAZING

GREAT ROOM WITH COHESIVE PALETTE

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15 Comments

  1. Great tips. I do have a question regarding paint finishes. Our new build had typical builder’s flat finish. So when we had the interior painted we chose a creamy soft yellow color in the same flat finish. Fast forward, we recently had the entire interior painted. We chose creamy off white and our painter said we should use egg shell, so we did. For the main bathrooms he used a semi-gloss. I was wondering how do you choose the right finish? I had always been told that a flat finish wouldn’t show any flaws in the walls, but that the eggshell is easier to maintain. Thoughts?

    1. Unless you have a very old home with plaster walls there are really no flaws in today’s walls that will be a problem. Flat walls are wonderful because they can be touched up with the same flat paint and the wall looks like new. Once a month my husband goes around the house with a touch-up brush and covers and little marks he finds. Our walls always look freshly painted. Other finishes although scrubbable cannot be touched up. When they are painted over to cover marks they leave a paint streak that can be seen. If a mark cannot be scrubbed off the whole wall, door, etc must be repainted. And when a mark is scrubbed off of a wall some of the paint is removed if we scrub too hard. I don’t care for the shiny finish of semi-gloss on a wall. A finish like that is better left for woodwork. Hope this is helpful.

  2. Laurel Hopper says:

    I love your home decor and decorating tips and Stone Gable. I am planning to paint my home interior BM Sonnet with Atrium white trim throughout. I know your new house is painted BM simply white, but my husband won’t go for the all white decor. Do you think that Sonnet and Atrium white are still current? Thank you.

    1. Yes, it is very current. One thing to know, Atrium White as the slightest bit of pink in it. You won’t really see it but if you have red oak flooring it will look a bit pink. I love Atrium white because it is creamy and a bit warm. Hope this helps.

  3. M walls are all the same off white color throughout. I do transition from hardwood in all the main area to carpet (same)in the bedrooms. I like the warmth underfoot and the shushness of carpet in a bedroom. Furniture woods do change in rooms but I like a mix of wood in a room for interest. My two guest rooms have a different color pallet. I picked cheerful fabrics for those rooms, whereas the great room and master are neutrals. I never thought of it as being jarring. ? I thought with the walls and carpet the same color and the style the same ( transitional) it would still flow. What do you think Yvonne?

    1. First of all, I never said Jarring. What I did say was that a change in flooring or wall color or style does create a stop for our eyes. Of course, we notice when something is different, right? If you want a bit of difference in your home the places to do that are in the bedrooms and bathrooms. However, it does stop the cohesive overall look of a home. Joanna, my best advice always is to do what you love. It’s your home! As a decorator, I try to share the best decorating practices I can. But as decorators of our own homes, we must always create beauty and comfort for ourselves and our family in our own unique way. Hope this answers your question. Happy decorating!

  4. Thanks for your great advice!
    I love the window treatments in your living room! Just what I’m looking for. Will you please share where you found them?

        1. Hi Jane, you are so welcome. I hope this post helps you decorate your home.

  5. Where did you get your rug in your family room?

    1. This rug is the most spectacular rug I have ever had. It is so much more gorgeous in real life. I think it made the room. Not bragging, just telling you how much I love this rug! And now saying that… it was a big splurge, but so so glad I did it. See it here:https://rstyle.me/+HsiXMInJqK-c2O1OPmRoUw

  6. Yvonne, I love your website! I am wondering if you would share with me details of the rug that you have under your dining table? Thanks in advance, Pamela Haymes

  7. Hi Yvonne! I have tried in our house to make all of our rooms cohesive but the colors are gold, green and burgundy, colors that are really not in style now and I think it makes our home look very dated. All rooms are some kind of variation of those colors, my mom and I even found decorator fabric at a garage sale for $12.00 and we made valences for three windows and the French doors and covered a window seat and built ins in the kitchen, all with the same fabric!! The fabric is floral. I’m not sure how to begin to update the color palate and the whole house now. Any suggestions?

    1. Hi Paula, your issue about the colors you chose for your home is very common. I went through what I called my “Tuscan” stage where everything in our home was gold and red! So I know where you are right now! Paula, updating your home will be a process and not a quick fix. It took me almost 6 years to update our StoneGable home! I think the first thing you need to do is to choose the style you want your home to be and choose a color palette. And then stick to it! Everything you do in your home and everything you bring into your home needs to be filtered through that style and color palette. I would first take down all your dated window coverings. This is an easy way to start! Then I would paint your walls a neutral color. Remember this is going to be a process. So you might want to tackle one room at a time. Then either slipcover the sofa or reupholster it or get a new one that works with the color palette you choose. Start changing or replacing or painting what you have to work with your new style and color palette. REMEMBER this is a process! It sounds like you are a very creative and handy lady so making changes like recovering your window seat in a fabric that works with your new color palette should be easy! I hope this has given you a little help! I think I’ll write a post about this common issue soon! I wish you the best! Happy Decorating.