I thought about doing the same thing - only had Alivio rapidfires in the past and the new bike came with sram x7. It was hard getting used to having to push so hard with the thumb to get into the big ring up front I thought about switching to grip shift but figured the best solution would have been to get one grip shift just for the front - and yes it's not that uncommon.
I never did that though I ended up getting rid of the shifter and derailleur recently and going a 1x9 set up instead.

I think it's ideal and you should get the best of both worlds that way. I mainly didn't take the risk of going grip shift as I would have preferred to test ride a bike with one before doin so.
And hey if you end up liking grip shift you can easily switch to it for the rear.

Not sure exactly what it is but you'll be able to "trim" the front derailleur as well with grip shifters as opposed to triggers.