For Couples: How to Create a Gender-Neutral Home

A gender-neutral home that doesn’t lean too masculine or feminine allows the couple living together to both feel welcomed and comfortable at home. If you’re trying to figure out how to stop the incessant arguing with your partner perfect the balance between yin and yang in your love nest, here are the tips.

1. Pick a theme that you both like

Decide on an interior design theme together

Design: Voila Whether it’s a timeless modern design or an effortlessly chic Scandinavian style, it’s important that you decide on an interior design theme that you both love. Some themes can be more feminine (like the cottage style), while other themes can feel more masculine e.g. industrial. So if you’re going with a less gender-neutral theme, avoid going all out on the style. Instead, incorporate small design features that allude to the style.

2. Start with a more masculine foundation

The base of your home should be more masculine. Add feminine touches along the way, through soft furnishings, plants or gentle curves.

Design: Icon Interior Design As a general guide, masculine designs tend to be more subdued, while feminine styles are visually louder. The former leans towards neutrals and darker hues, usually encompassing clean lines and modern silhouettes. Feminine designs are bright, more colourful, and feature plenty of wavy patterns and textures.

Gilded details and the curved backs of the dining chairs are nods to femininity in this otherwise masculine space.

Design: Icon Interior Design Starting with a masculine foundation gives you a cleaner and more pared-back backdrop to which you can add to. Go with basic neutrals. A monochromatic scheme is a stylish safe bet, while grey hues will work just as well. Or, you can opt for different shades of the same neutral colour.

3. Think contrasts in a gender-neutral home

The pops of colours juxtapose against the rustic wood and cement screed surfaces in this apartment.

Design: Notion of W With a neutral backdrop, invite feminine touches by thinking about contrasts. Contrasts, besides being a key component of gender neutral spaces, also make for a more visually interesting home.

The delicate glass globe pendants sit alongside visually sturdier materials like that suar wood dining table.

Design: Fuse Concept For the many straight, architectural lines in your space, throw in furnishings with curvy edges. Match strong, geometric patterns with organic motifs. Pair manly rough and weathered surfaces like brick, wood and leather with more delicate materials such as glass, lace or velvet. Place visually lighter décor items next to sturdy, heavier accessories. Incorporate a bright colour or two (jewel tones are great for a gender-neutral home since it’s not overly feminine yet still energising) to bring up the neutrals in your space.

Straight black lines in this home contrast against the casualness of the couch and the sensuous curves of the wingback chair.

Design: In-Expat An ideal ratio is 1:3—for every feminine accent you put in, make sure you contrast it with three masculine pieces because as we’ve said, feminine pieces tend to be more amplified.

4. Incorporate personal spaces

Carve out personal spaces that are exclusively his or hers.

Design: Design 4 Space While shared spaces can be gender neutral, you might want to consider carving out personal spaces that are exclusively his or hers within your home. These “man caves” and “she sheds” don’t have to take up an entire room if you don’t have the square footage to spare. It can be a little nook by the window or a cosy corner in the study. Let him or her have free design reign in these personal spaces and keep them private and out of sight so that they don’t intrude into your overall design.

Let your partner design his or her personal space. Keep it in a private area so that it won't intrude on the overall style of the home.

Design: Sujonohun Concept & Design

5. Be mindful and make compromises

A gender-neutral home is as much about aesthetics as it is about function.

Design: Couple Abode A gender-neutral home isn’t just about aesthetics or colour choice. When planning your home together, consider also function. For instance, that deep-seated couch might look amazing in your living room but if your partner’s legs can’t even reach the floor when they’re seated in it, it probably wouldn’t be very comfortable for them. Another example: matching workstations are cute, but you might want to consider their working styles before going matchy-matchy. He or she might need a bigger or taller desk or none at all!

Be mindful of each other's daily habits when planning your space.

Design: Fuse Concept When discussing your plans together, a give-and-take approach will make the entire process a lot smoother. Sure, you like pink. But perhaps consider a more gender-neutral shade like coral or salmon pink or incorporate your favourite bubble-gum hue in a subtler way like in a cushion. Instead of selecting furnishings that are all made from dark, richly-stained wood, consider just an iconic piece.

A dark stained wooden bed frame sits in a light and airy bedroom featuring elegant gilded pieces.

Design: Design 4 Space Above all, embrace this renovation journey together. There’s nothing like looking back on all this and knowing that your home is not just his or hers, but a space that belongs to the both of you.