Are You Over Decorating? Home Decor Tips to Simplify Your Space
In this post: Ever wondered if your home is over decorated? If you think it might be too much, these home decor tips will help you simplify your space.⇒
I was having a fabulous afternoon.
I’d bought earl grey tea and fresh scones and lit my favorite Baies candle to enhance the mood. Spread out before me on the dining table were all my prettiest teacups and I was happily grouping them by color and shape.
Eventually I found a layout that pleased me, and I tucked them into the cabinet so they could be displayed just so.
Then I stepped back.
And I knew immediately.
It was too much.
I was more surprised than crestfallen, as these were my favorite pieces and I’d spent a good bit of time styling them. But when taken with the surrounding objects in the room, the effect was more chaos than beauty.
This is something that most of us have experienced, at least to some extent, and if we’re at all honest with ourselves and our desire to create a lovely home, it’s something we should pay close attention to and learn from with an open mind.
To be clear, what constitutes overdecorating is in the eye of the beholder and we all have different thresholds for what is too much. And I am in no way advocating stark minimalism.
I am a staunch believer in a warm and inviting home, with all the accoutrements that deliver that feeling.
But I like a calm and tranquil sanctuary and overdecorating shatters that peace by creating visual tension.
So how can you be sure your home is not overdecorated?
Here are 3 things many homes have too much of.
Too Much Color
Using color is an art. Certainly, there are people who can use drama and vibrance and pull it off without a hitch.
But more commonly, people do better with gentler palettes. As a rule, the less confident you are with using color, the more you should lean on soft tones or neutrals.
The biggest mistake you can make when it comes to color is combining pretty colors in such a way as to make them look harsh or unflattering. For instance, buttery yellow can be quite lovely until you put it next to red or burgundy. How much prettier it would look next to a soft blue. Likewise, the burgundy would be better appreciated played off a neutral tan.
If you have a dark dusty sofa, for instance a teal, rust or mauve, don’t add colorful pillows. It would be much better served with textured neutrals like cream or beige.
Poor color mixing is the number one mistake I see in people’s homes and the one that makes the most impact. If you do nothing else, make sure your colors are cohesive.
Tips for working with color
- Choose a limited palette of 2 or 3 colors.
- Use pop colors sparingly – in just a few places – never evenly distributed around the room.
- Consider everything in the room including planters, books, and other functional items. If it’s out, people can see it.
- Balance vibrant color against a white (or neutral) backdrop.
- Avoid mixing clean and dirty colors together.
- Always break up a dark palette with white or natural.
Too Much Contrast
Like color, contrast is one of many tools in the design bucket. But, in and of itself, contrast is neither good nor bad. Sometime it works, and other times, not so much. It should be used to add interest, but not to add discomfort or tension, so always be careful what you are contrasting.
Also realize not all rooms require contrast. Never add contrast for the sake of contrast, as many rooms look best when in complete harmony.
Typically contrast works best when balance is also present.
Types of Contrast
We’ve already touched on color contrasts, but there are many other elements that can be contrasted, as well, including scale, shape, texture, and weight.
I tend to enjoy textural contrasts quite a lot, but prefer consistency in scale and shape. You can get away with varying the scale of small objects, but for me furniture looks best when it’s in a cohesive scale. A diminutive chair in a room with large pieces usually looks more odd than interesting.
Likewise, a room with all straight lines does not require an oddball rounded piece. If you love it, add it, but it’s not balancing out anything that needs to be compensated for. Instead you can just use softened edges.
Too Much Clutter
I know that no one would say they prefer clutter, and yet I’m amazed at how many people don’t see their own clutter. Perhaps they see it but don’t really think it matters. But I promise you, anyone coming in from the outside can’t miss it.
This goes for the two very different types of clutter many people have.
The first and more obvious type is things that are simply out of place. That pile of papers and the stack of magazines from the last decade, the collection of shoes you keep tripping over and the jackets slung over the armchair. The curious assortment of items that are entirely unrelated but somehow got grouped together on a counter as if they had something that united them.
All of these things need to find a permanent home. One that is logical and easy to get to so you always know where they are.
The second type of clutter is a bit more deceiving and it’s exactly the kind that my teacups created. Decorative clutter is what we most have to watch out for, because it’s far less obvious than things that are just out of place.
Of course, it’s a fine line what one person considers a nice vignette and another feels is too much. Here are some tips to help ensure your room decor is not too much:
- Each arrangement should have a clear shape and direction. Objects should relate to each other and not be placed randomly about.
- There should be plenty of empty space around your items and the room.
- Try not to line up your decor across a surface. Create groupings instead.
- Make sure there’s balance among your decorative objects. If you have one composition of several objects, have other areas with only one or two pieces.
- Edit anything you don’t love or that doesn’t coordinate with the other objects.
- Always remember less is more. The fewer pieces you have displayed, the easier it will be to appreciate the ones you’ve selected.
- Use like items together and stick to your chosen color palette.
When evaluating your space, if all else fails you can try this one trick. Stand back and squint at the room and see what stands out. If anything distracts your eye that’s not an intentional focal point, that’s the area that needs editing.
Removing beloved pieces can be difficult to be sure, but sometimes you only have to move it to another room or space. Other times it’s a matter of rotating the items on display.
Ultimately, being open minded and honestly assessing your home is the best way to ensure an inviting and beautiful space…
…even if it means admitting you’ve added one too many teacups to the living room cupboard.
Simplify Your Space Resource Guide
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Would have enjoyed a before and after of the teacup dilemma! I also collect antique and vintage porcelain cups and saucers and have to keep most of them stored away much of the time.
I haven’t cleaned it up yet! 🤣🤣🤣 I think it’s not the teacups that are the problem, but everything else around it. I’m in a very pared back mood and I tend to look at everything and think it’s too much. But it’s a fine line. I do love the warmth of beautiful decor. Once I get it squared away I will post a before and after… 🙌
And I thought I was the only one to squint my eyes in a room or my yard to see what stands out! Great advice!
Thanks! Actually learned that one in art school… 🙂
Love all the tips!
The colored sofa tips on pillows is enlightening and very helpful. I kept thinking my blah creamy white throw pillows weren’t enough but the sofa is a light blue velvet and I like the “lighter” feel..good to know it’s the better way. In an open room concept space it gets confusing as you try to create each space within a larger space. These tips are very helpful.
Great post Lory! My place is in need of a tidy/refresh so this was perfect timing. Thanks for always inspiring me and giving me something to think about too. 🙂 Hope you have a lovely week!
Great post on an important topic in design. As a member of a few FB design groups, I always see this problem.
Good info!
Typically my clutter does NOT include things out of place but the other one, prob so!
I’ll look over our home with a bit more critical eye since I am trying to move, albeit slow, toward a more coastal look since we relocated 5 years ago from the foothills to the beach.
Thanks!
I love this article! It makes complete sense to me….in so many ways. My teacup collection (including one of your moms 🙂 ) is carefully displayed depending on the color scheme I have out that month.
Great words of caution! Thanks for the help!
I’ll try to remember less is more!
Great post. I find that when I make decoration changes I will make changes to the changes I made within hours. Usually it is because my first change was a little too much. [less is more] I display my china cup collection on a plate rail in my dinning room
Thank you for this. It’s such an important concept. We just moved into a new home — what I call the re-set since it’s not really smaller but organized differently. I’ve had to re-think much of what I have to eliminate any granny looks, etc. You always have the right touch — pretty and collected but never cluttered. Enjoy all your posts.
Janet
Great advice! I’m feeling quite overwhelmed with where to start in my home, but I especially like the *limit color/stick with neutrals idea*. Thanks for sharing your expertise.
Lori,
This was very helpful. I need to take a good look at my rooms and do a little taking away so that they do not look cluttered. You have a lovely home and it is very inspiring. Thanks for the suggestions.
What a great subject! I absolutely agree that “TOO MUCH” is a huge decorating problem and, IMHO, probably the number one decorating problem in most homes; not just those of us who enjoy decorating our homes.
Thanks so much for your suggestions and advice; AND for encouraging us to “move on” when our comfortable styles need to be updated or, alas, retired.
BTW: LOVE those playful angels in your Resource Guide 😉
Simplifying color has been my number one best way to simplify my decor!
I’m finally listening to less is more (:
thanks for the tips and tricks for overdecorating
Thank you for so many gr8 ideas! Love your blog! 🙂
From a novice at home decorating, thank you for the tips!
Great post ! We just used a stager to show our house. While that meant stripping down to basics, it also made me think about over decorating and balance. You are so right! Thank you
Theses are such great tips on over decorating. Your decorating style and home are beautiful.
I enjoyed this post. I am terribly guilty of over decorating. I have always tried to stick to the “3” principal, but never thought of it in regards to color. I am also a hoarder. If one of something is good and beautiful, why not 6 or 7!
Thank you for the many interesting points and I will start applying them!
All so beautifully done! I always have to remind myself that less is more, as I have a tendency to get carried away. Your postings are so very helpful! Thank you!
Thanks for the tips! I am currently trying to decide on a wall color. I’m in love with shark gray and owl gray. Decisions!
I love this article. It gives so much information. Too bad I will have try to remember it because even though you have ‘PIN IT NOW” I am unable to do so. No “save and hovering produces nothing.
I’ve emailed you a few screenshots to show you where the pin button is and also answered your other comment. In any case, the pin button is in the top left corner of the images when you hover, and if for some reason that doesn’t work, you can always use the beige “Pinterest” button at the top of the post which is there for that purpose.
so easy to overdecorate! I’ve started clearing off a shelf and reminding myself that putting back just a few special items lets me enjoy them even more.
It seems I either over or under accessorize. It would have been helpful to see some “before and after” examples. Thanks.
Thanks for the tips. I have a lot I need to get rid of. It’s hard, because I know as soon as I do that will be the thing that I need.
Great tips!