Can Mural Resolve Interior Design Conflicts and Restore Marital Harmony? Yes!
@Amanda started a great discussion here in the Community asking "What's your favorite way to use Mural not for work?" way back in April, and her question triggered a chain of events that has just led to the harmonious resolution of some serious relationship pyrotechnics!
My husband and I have been going back and forth for weeks about how to turn a small, very dilapidated "stazzu" - a traditional Sardinian rectangular shepherd's hut - into a cozy and inviting nest that includes modern elements while remaining authentic.
Given my nonexistent artistic talent and limited technical skills, he was just not able to see my vision. That's when I thought of @Amanda's thread of inspiring ideas, and fired up a blank template.
First, the pdf with the expert's advice to us and the pertaining specs were imported into the board.
Next, I recopied it below his, using white shapes to cover up his unwanted suggestions so I could start fresh with my own.
Once I had a blank interior, selecting icons was so much fun - surely my husband's hardened heart would not be able to help but soften upon beholding the new bathroom proposal! Creating semi-transparent colors to represent, for example, shower steam might have been a bit over the top, but it was so easy, and made it easier to imagine being there. 🛀
Then came links to furniture options so he could both see what goes where, and get the details on each piece at a click.
To further put him in a good mood by creating some positive associations between HIS good memories and MY ideas (hey, who doesn't use psychology to make their relationships less rocky???), and remind him of the big-picture look we were both going for, in went a photo of a stazzu remodeled to be both contemporary and deeply Sardinian that had thoroughly besotted us during an afternoon at the Siddura wine vineyards last summer.
I sent the Mural link to him and waited...tensions were high! Finally, he ventured into the board.
Once he started playing around with the icons, I knew the day was mine.
We started working on the board together, dragging the icons, walls and doors to different areas and building on each other's proposals. The conversation literally went from "No!" to "Hmm, well, what if we put this here..." until we reached a consensus that we now both love and can't wait to get started on this fall.
In other words, the template channeled our going-nowhere bickering into a productive solution.
If you have been unceremoniously hurled into the Remodeling Wrestling Ring, try this approach to knock out conflict, not each other 😅. Here is our current consensus: