Most people don't have formal experience in interior design but nonetheless try to decorate their homes on their own, resulting in inevitable blunders.
This will happen sooner or later. You wander around stores and bring home random items because you believe they'd look wonderful in your living room, but you have no real plan or notion of what might actually work.
Home decoration, at least on the surface, is a personal expression of taste. However, beyond that, there are design factors like colour, scale, lighting, and positioning that must be thought out.
Every one of these factors impacts the final visual composition of the room. Despite these warnings, nearly everyone falls victim to at least one of the following typical blunders when decorating:
When the need to change your appearance strikes, it doesn't take long before your Pinterest board is overflowing with potential new outfits and your mouse is hovering over the "purchase now" button. You should avoid doing this at all costs.
It's always a good idea to take a step back and take stock of the area before diving headfirst into a redesign, or even just a reorganisation.
Don't rush into remodelling a room without first considering how you intend to utilise it, what's wrong with it, and the obstacles you'll face. We can't generalise about the problems and space limitations of other rooms. Plan effectively by drawing diagrams, gathering examples, and making lists.
How To Avoid These Interior Design Mistakes
There are several choices to be made while decorating a room, from the furniture to the paint to the placement of the artwork.
A room can be drastically altered by seemingly insignificant decisions, such as hanging paintings too high or selecting a glossy paint finish over a matte one.
Interior designers have probably seen more great (and bad) houses than anybody else. We polled 11 influential tastemakers to find out the most common interior design blunders and the best ways to correct them.
Budgeting
The beginning of a new interior design project may be a thrilling time for anyone who is ready for a change in the look of their house. The interior designers, however, have seen that clients often get carried away in their excitement and fail to allocate any funds for the project budget.
An accurate estimate of the total cost of the project should be made before work begins. It's not necessary to go into debt to furnish a beautiful home; rather, it's best to take your time and just make purchases as they fit into your budget.
Measurements
It's not uncommon for people to fall in love with an item they see in a showroom, but this can be a disastrous and expensive error for their home's design.
Professional designers stress the significance of accurate measurements, particularly when shopping for furniture online. When compared to the sofa, many people's go-to lounge chair turns out to be either too small or too low. Before making such an expensive blunder, double-check the dimensions of all the parts.
Painting Before Buying Furniture
One common error in interior design is to choose the colours and paint the walls before buying anything else.
It is far simpler to choose a wall colour that will complement furnishings than the other way around, and that is what the interior designers just want all out there with a home decoration project to know. Try to find larger pieces of furniture in the colour you're trying to include.
Matching Different Styles
It's common to get attached to a single design direction when undertaking a house makeover, whether extensive or cosmetic. Overmatching is a design faux pas to avoid, despite the fact that coordinating elements will make any room feel more put together. Lack of contrast in a room makes it seem lifeless and devoid of character. Design experts advise against going to a megastore in an effort to avoid overmatching.
Contrasting Elements
The same way that it's a bad idea to have everything in a room match perfectly, it's also a bad idea to have everything in a room contrast with each other. Rooms with furniture that doesn't go together give the impression of being disjointed and unpleasant to the eye. One of the most important rules of good design is to include both complementary and contrasting elements.
Furniture Elevation
All the pieces of furniture in a well-designed room will be of different sizes and shapes and will be placed at different levels throughout the space.
Imagine your favourite cityscape with uniformly tall buildings instead of different heights and try to picture how you would feel if it happened. Everything from artwork to window coverings to furniture should be raised up.
Including Only Masculine Or Feminine Pieces
Designers at Decor Aid have seen that clients will avoid using particular styles or colours in private areas like the bathroom or bedroom due to concerns that it would be perceived as being too masculine or feminine.
Making a room more masculine does not necessitate using only dark colours, and making a room more feminine does not necessitate using only light colours. Again, this is a common blunder that can be avoided with the addition of a variety of bright and dark elements to the space.
Placing Your Artwork High
Decorating with works of art is a wonderful method to broadcast one's individuality and sense of style to guests. However, a common misstep that homeowners make when designing is improperly placing artwork.
If you hang your artwork too high or too low, it will throw off the visual equilibrium of the room. The artwork you hang must complement the existing decor. A simple rule of thumb to follow to avoid this decorating faux pas is to hang artwork no more than eight to ten inches above the surface of the furniture on which it will be displayed.
Pushing Furniture Up Against A Wall
It's human nature to push furniture towards a wall in an attempt to make a room look bigger. It may be impossible to avoid this, depending on the room's arrangement, but you should do your best to do so.
True, pushing furniture against the wall in any given room does nothing to make the wall disappear or to make the room seem bigger than it is. Designers recommend creating a flow that doesn't hem anyone in by centring your furniture and pulling items closer together.
Falling Victim To New Trends
The latest design trends are a terrific way to get ideas for decorating your own house by watching what other people are doing with their spaces. Decorating with the latest fads is a bad idea because style is always shifting.
You'll spend a fortune on a room's worth of furniture that will look outmoded in a matter of months. Interior designers, on the other hand, will advise you to prioritise picking out timeless pieces of decor and, most significantly, furniture that reflects your own unique sense of style.
Your Living Room As A Showroom
Decor showrooms are an excellent resource for gaining insight into the latest developments in the field of interior design. However, interior designers often find that their clients have transformed their homes into exhibition spaces.
Avoid this faux pas by opting instead for fashionable items with practical applications. Important advice for home decoration tasks is to select furniture and accents that you know you'll enjoy having for a while.
Too Many Objects
Accessories, like any other facet of interior design, should be used in moderation; that is, neither too few nor too many will do.
It's simple to go overboard when furnishing a space you believe is lacking in some way. Even though accessories are a great way to express your individuality, remember that too many can be distracting. Sort up your accessories and decide which ones may be put away until next year.
Exposed Cords
Guests can enjoy themselves with the aid of numerous electrical devices such as televisions and media players. However, snaking wires and cords are not only unsightly but also pose a fire risk. This is a common decorating faux pas, but fortunately it's also quite simple to correct.
It is not always essential to drill a hole in your media console in order to conceal unsightly wires. Using cord covers and organisers is an inexpensive yet popular design concept. These are great for tidying up your entertainment spaces by concealing unsightly wires and cords.
FAQs About Home Design
This is one of our biggest design mistakes: not all lighting is created equal, and some are decidedly unflattering. When considering a lighting scheme, remember that you are not just looking at the design of your light shade or where it is in the room – it’s important to consider how it lights up various aspects of your living space.
One of the most common interior design mistakes is the wrong scale. Too many small things in a room can make the room look cluttered and messy.
Similarly, overloading bulky pieces in a room makes it stuffy. The trick is to mix the scale. A “skyline” of different heights, shapes, and types of pieces keeps the room interesting.
If you’ve ever spent any time in a department store dressing room, you know that harsh overhead lighting is one of the worst ways to illuminate a space. “Layering lighting around a room is always a great fix.
One of the most common mistakes people make when designing a room is overlooking the size of the space and buying furniture that is either too small or too large.
A solid grasp of the design principles might help you prevent these omissions. You can quickly learn the fundamentals of interior design by taking the comprehensive online course “Interior Design Essentials.”
Reasons To Hire An Interior Designer
To what end do we consider it prudent to retain the services of an interior decorator? In Home, we hold firmly to the concept that everyone should have access to a wonderful home filled with things that make them happy and comfortable.
Your home should not only be aesthetically pleasing, but also a true representation of who you are and how you want to spend your time. Great interior design often conjures up the seemingly unattainable.
To Hire An Interior Designer: You'll Be Able To Save Money.
Have you ever purchased an item of furniture that looked perfect in the showroom but ended up being too large for your home? Have you ever painted a scene multiple times before settling on the correct palette?
Despite the seeming contradiction, employing a designer can help you save money by guiding you away from blunders and towards design choices that will boost your home's resale value.
A professional designer will also know how to make the most of your limited resources. An expert designer will be able to break down your budget into line items and explain exactly where your money is going.
To Hire An Interior Designer: You’re Going To Save Time.
As a starting point, we'll discuss the two resources that most people would like to increase their access to: time and money.
Aside from the obvious monetary benefits, employing a designer will also help you save time. A designer will have an innate understanding of what must be done and when, as well as the foresight to foresee potential roadblocks.
To Hire An Interior Designer: You Will Receive Professional Assessment.
Hiring a professional designer provides you with an immediate strategy for the area. Accredited interior designers learn their craft through formal education and extensive on-the-job training.
A professional observer will be able to pick up on details that you would most likely overlook. The best interior designers understand the importance of both the artistic and scientific sides of the design process and how to balance them.
To Hire An Interior Designer: You Will Have A Qualified Liaison.
A competent designer will have no trouble communicating with architects, contractors, or building owners. Because of the importance of efficient time and cost management, this is essential. It is crucial that the lighting, the furniture, and the architecture all work together harmoniously with the interior design.
Where you should put outlets, for instance, will depend on where in the room you intend to put various pieces of furniture. An interior designer is in the best position to raise these kinds of concerns before building begins.
To Hire An Interior Designer: You'll Have More Resources And Contacts.
Everyone is aware of how challenging it is to locate reliable sources. But designers already have a foot in the door of the home renovation industry, so they will have the solid relationships you require. When you hire a designer, they can recommend reliable electricians, plumbers, and other contractors.
Designers and decorators have the training to make a room both practical and beautiful, and they provide all the benefits of their expertise to the client.
Interior designers also frequently collaborate with other professionals in the field that have academic backgrounds related to design.
Designers can also get their hands on a wide variety of materials and supplies that are normally out of reach to the public. A professional decorator can use these funds to make your home stand out from the crowd by using curated pieces you've acquired over time rather than generic furnishings from a large box store.
To Hire An Interior Designer: You’re Going To Have A Wow Factor.
Interior designers learn to perceive the big picture in a room that most customers can't, as well as to think imaginatively and spatially. Interior designers routinely push the boundaries of what is considered possible in terms of house decoration.
You will not only benefit from their creative expertise, but also from their meticulous attention to every last detail, from the optimal arrangement of furniture and lighting to the selection of fabrics, colour scheme, and fixtures.
If you hire a professional interior designer, they may construct furniture and other decor that is unique to your home and fits properly.
Designers also have access to high-end, hard-to-find items like rare woods, exotic fabrics, and rare metals.
A well-designed house attracts more attention. If you don't have the training, knowledge of space planning, and necessary design tools to pull it out on your own, it's best to hire a professional designer. When they're done, your house will not only have a stunning, unified appearance, but it will also be thoughtfully designed and incredibly practical.