Decorating your space should be an enjoyable process that allows you to express your creativity. Owning your own home or apartment means you can fully blend in with the millennials or finally embrace the bohemian style without anyone stopping you from doing so.
However, when you’re building your own home, you can’t simply throw all design rules out the window. To ensure that your home looks as cohesive and stylish as possible, you’ll want to make sure to avoid some of the most common decorating mistakes that designers often encounter when helping clients transform their own spaces.
Featured image by Michelle Nash.
8 Sneaky Decorating Mistakes That Could Hurt Your Space
Read on to learn more about these eight pitfalls and how to avoid or remedy them to make your home truly shine. (To prove that we all start somewhere, Camille reflected on the design mistakes she’s made over the years.)
Ignore scale and proportion
Just because you’re obsessed with a gorgeous 86-inch sofa doesn’t mean it’s the right choice for your residence. (I know that my small apartment layout means anything longer than 70 inches or so is going to be too big, which is why I chose a loveseat, like the one pictured below)
“Using furniture or accessories that are too big or too small for the space can make the room feel unbalanced,” explains Marie Cloud, founder of Indigo Pruitt. “For example, a large sofa in a small living room may take up the entire space, and small accessories may be lost in the larger area.” To avoid these problems, Crowder says you always need to measure your space before shopping , and consider ceiling height.
Push all furniture against the wall
You might think that placing all your furniture against the walls of a room would save space, but Claude disagrees. “This common arrangement can make a room feel disjointed and less intimate,” she says. “This often results in a lack of flow and can make the space feel larger than necessary.” Instead, designers recommend moving furniture away from the walls and laying down a rug or two to define the various spaces in the room.
Decorate your space
We all know we can have too much stuff in a room, but under-décor is also a problem to avoid, says Claude. “Insufficient decoration can lead to a lack of personality and warmth,” she said, encouraging people to better plan their decorations. “Choose pieces that are meaningful or purposeful and edit them regularly to keep the space fresh,” she says. “Don’t be afraid to show your personality through your decor.”
No layered lighting
Your space shouldn’t just contain “big lights” and nothing else. “Relying solely on overhead lighting or not adding enough light sources can make a space feel flat and uninviting,” says Crowder. “Insufficient light creates shadows, makes colors appear dull, and fails to highlight a room’s best features.” Instead, Crowder suggests striving for a designer-approved combination of general, task, and accent lighting, choosing floor lamps, floor lamps, Combinations of table lamps, wall lamps, etc.
Artwork hung too high
No room is complete without art, but you need to make sure it’s hung at the appropriate height. “Hang art too high is a common mistake,” says Amy Switzer, founder of Amy Switzer Design. “Artwork should be at eye level, about 57 to 60 inches from the ground. If it’s too high, the space will feel disconnected and awkward.
No focus established
Designers like Switzer point out that every room should have a focal point. “Without a room, it looks cluttered,” she said. The good news, adds the designer, is that you can choose exactly what to use as the focal point of your space, whether it’s a fireplace, a window or a piece of art.
Choose a matching matching look
Carly Moeller, founder of Unpatterned, said too many pairs in a space is not a good thing. “Don’t get me wrong, matching has its place, but typically you don’t need a loveseat paired with a sofa,” she says. She encourages people to stop buying matching sets and instead branch out, noting, “Coffee tables and end tables shouldn’t look like mom and baby.” Instead, try a variety of finishes, textures, styles and more. “Don’t be afraid to mix metal and wood,” says the designer. “The best rooms have a mix of finishes, old and new.”
Using a rug that is too small
When in doubt, when choosing a rug, go for a larger rug rather than a smaller rug. “If your carpet isn’t At least “Putting it under the front legs of a couch or chair, if not all the legs, is too small,” says Mohler. “Floating rugs drive me crazy because they don’t do justice to the rug, which is essentially hidden beneath a coffee table, room, or piece of furniture in terms of proportion or comfort.”
To make sure the product you buy fits your space, measuring like a pro is key. “When resizing a rug, if you need visual impact, tape the corners of the rug to your space,” suggests Mohler. “Ideally, your furniture should be placed on top of the rug, not next to it. The rug should feel like it’s filling the space, not floating in the middle of it.
