Home Design Ideas: How to Avoid the Biggest Decorating Mistakes
In this post: Have you ever bought a piece of custom furniture you absolutely hated? These home design ideas will help you avoid the biggest and most common decorating mistakes.⇒
I knew it was a mistake from the second it arrived.
I had waited the standard 12 weeks for the sofa to be made, planned the rest of the room around the arrival of this custom piece and my heart sank when I saw it take its place of prominence in the center of our family room.
I also knew I was stuck.
Making a mistake on a made-to-order piece is a costly error. Typically you have little recourse, and usually the custom aspect makes the piece more expensive than usual.
To be sure, mine was a quality sofa from a reputable company. It was the correct fabric that I had chosen and despite my years in the design industry, I had simply picked the wrong fabric. It was a gold chenille and I hated both the color and the texture. It was a “what was I thinking” moment.
I “suffered” through that sofa for at least 15 or 20 years. At first I tried to embrace it, letting it work with the patterned pieces in the room in the way that I had meant for it to. I tossed on as many pillows as I could to camouflage it as much as possible. Later I covered it with slipcovers which never really fit right. Finally, when we moved, I felt I had kept it long enough to justify the expense and happily said goodbye to it.
Home Design Ideas
If I had it to do over again, I probably would have taken the hit, invested a little more and had it recovered right away. But that’s not always an option budget-wise. My advice for those wanting to order custom made pieces which I still believe in:
- Do your homework and get a LARGE swatch of the fabric and bring it home. Live with it for a while (at least a few days) and see it in different lighting, at varied times of day, on both sunny and cloudy days.
- Make sure it’s classic or at least a style you have always gravitated toward. This is not the place to try out something new and leave the wild patterns for pillows and accent decor.
- Save room in the budget in case you really want to have it reworked.
So that was my biggest decorating mistake but it certainly wasn’t the only one. Let’s look at some of the most common and some of the worst decorating mistakes and what to do about them.
1. Decorative Clutter
This is by far the number one decorating mistake I see over and over. Not only is it common, but it’s the fastest way to destroy the look of a room and the easiest mistake to fix. In fact, it’s so prevalent, that I have thought of devoting an entire post to it and will likely do so in the near future. But for now, let’s take a quick look.
For starters, it goes without saying that you should put away things that don’t belong in the room. If your home is a mess with things out of place, that’s a whole separate issue (and I’m working on a system to address it – be on the lookout!)
But here I’m referring to decorative clutter. Things you put in your rooms and on your surfaces on purpose. A collection that has expanded into overflow mode, a vignette that’s out of balance because of things you have added over time, an extra bookcase or table tucked between other pieces of furniture, a wall grouping that has grown just a bit too large.
Try to look at your spaces with fresh eyes, like someone walking in for the first time. Step back and take in the entire room. Does absolutely everything feel like you would choose it if you were just starting out? Try clearing off your surfaces and look at the personality of the room without the decorative clutter. Then put back only what the space specifically calls for.
Try also to pare back the furniture arrangement to what it looked like when you first decorated the room, before the little extra pieces crept in one at a time. Leave your spaces with room to breathe. They will be so much more relaxing to spend time in!
2. Decorating the Perimeter
I am definitely a classicist and prefer things in the most appropriate places. I dislike contrived layouts, like furniture on a diagonal, and believe decorating is all about making a room function optimally.
But to that end, we should never be afraid to pull the furniture away from the walls and into the center of the room and in fact often this will deliver the most favorable layout. Intimate conversation areas, floating desks, gaming tables or a bar area, there are many ways to create a region within a room that serves a specific purpose and looks best self-contained.
The larger the room, the more essential this becomes. If you’ve ever walked into a room and seen everything placed around the perimeter with an empty center, you’ve experienced this curious mistake which makes the space look poorly appointed. That room could assuredly benefit by moving some of the furniture away from the walls.
You can anchor such an arrangement with a proper sized rug, so the floating pieces have more of a cohesive look.
3. Too Much Color
I am an artist, first and foremost. I love color. Gorgeous pink flowers or a bowl of lemons and limes. A clear blue sky peeking in through the windows and the lush greenery of a healthy plant.
But the best way to emphasize color and to enhance its beauty is to limit what’s around it. Color looks best played off whites and neutrals and paired carefully with things that balance its impact. This is why designers use a palette and spend time agonizing over the exact shades.
I like colors that harmonize in weight and tone, so clean colors with other clean colors and soft hues with other soft hues. It’s jarring and causes visual friction to mix a clean bright shade with a dirty mid-range tone.
For this reason, pairing clear bright pillows with a dark dusty sofa is a major mistake in my book. If you look at a room and it feels like something is uncomfortably off, it can often be attributed to this exact phenomenon.
Select a palette and then stay true to that color range. If your room is white or neutral, then you have the most flexibility. But if you have a dusty teal sofa or a dark brown chair, it’s not going to look great with a bright yellow accent.
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4. Incorrect Scale
Without a doubt another super important design aspect that often trips people up is scale. And while a piece that’s too large is certainly a problem, the more common mistake I see is pieces that are too small.
Perhaps that’s because a piece that’s too large is pretty obvious. It simply doesn’t fit or it’s very cramped or overpowering. That’s usually easy to see, even for the most inexperienced decorator.
So often I will advise for people to go as large as they can until it’s obviously too large.
Most rooms look better with a few large pieces rather than lots of smaller ones. A single dominant bookcase instead of several petite ones tucked around the room. A statement table or piece of art, rather than a scattering of little ones that fight for the eye’s attention.
In addition to furniture, the same can be said for decor items. A large vase or planter looks better than a variety of tiny items. If you want to display a collection, keep like items together and let them make a statement as a group. A shelf unit filled with all white ironstone gives the perception of being one large entity rather than a gathering of disparate little pieces.
Use pillows that are large enough for your main seating, and again, fewer and larger is better than many and smaller.
Ultimately scale is all about balance and sometimes it comes down to trial and error. Just know that when you walk into a room, everything should feel like it has enough substance to have a reason to be.
5. Missing the Finishing Touches
If you bought a coffee table and left it completely empty, it would look pretty strange. The same can be said for the finishing touches in a room. Empty walls, bare windows, rudimentary lighting are all things that give a room that “we haven’t unpacked yet” look.
Often people spend their entire budget on the key furniture pieces and then run out of steam (or money) when it comes to artwork, window treatments and lighting.
While it’s true we all have to work within our financial constraints and it takes time to complete a room, you’d be surprised at how many people start round two of their decorating before actually finishing the room for the first time. Before you buy one more pillow or vase, take the time to plan out your home’s finishing touches.
It doesn’t take a lot to give a room that completed polish. It could be just one piece of art for your walls, simple drapery panels for the windows and an inexpensive but lovely light fixture.
I will also add that some windows are beautiful left uncovered. Just be sure you’re doing so with intention and purpose, and that the view is lovely. Make sure your moulding, in such cases, is pretty too.
The Rest
The list above encompasses the big picture items, the ones I feel make the biggest impact. But there are plenty of additional mistakes commonly made, that are really easy to fix if you just recognize them. Any one of these could be the subject of an entire post, but for now I’ll just give them a mention so you know to watch out for them.
- Don’t keep something you hate, just because it was expensive.
- Decor should not be all the same height. Mix a low table with a higher chest.
- Patch the holes, paint the trim, fix things that are broken.
- Make sure your rugs are large enough for the space and sit under the furniture.
- Hide all the cords, organize and gather all the wires.
- Make sure your rooms have enough light, whether it be natural or electric.
- Get to know your style, learn where mixing works and where it puts a room off kilter.
- Beware of rooms that are too matchy-matchy – a complete suite of identical furniture is like a denim suit.
- Know when to update. Vintage works if it’s timeless. Not so much if it screams a certain outdated style.
- Too much of anything is too much.
- Dark colors are hard to live with if not balanced by a lot of light.
- Seating areas should encourage conversation.
- Art should be hung at eye level when standing.
- A dining chandelier should be 30-36″ above the table.
- Drapes should touch the floor, preferably with a break. They typically look best starting at the ceiling.
- Drapery rods should be substantial enough. This is not the place to cut corners.
- Trendy should be saved for only the most easily replaced items. Make sure you know when the trend is over.
- Be careful not to block natural light. Likewise vents and heat sources.
My Own Top 5 Biggest Mistakes
1. You already know about the gold chenille couch, so that’s number one. But it’s by no means the only one.
2. The natural wood kitchen. It wasn’t horrible, but I wanted white and I never should have let the contractor talk me out of it. This was in our previous house and I was told 25 years ago that white would become dated. 25 years later I’m still waiting for white kitchens to look dated. I finally got my white kitchen in our current home.
3. The floral powder room. I made a few mistakes when we moved to our townhouse, most which revolved around trying to duplicate our old decor. The floral powder room did not work in the new house as the bathroom had no window unlike the one in our previous house.
4. Pastel wall colors. Again, when we moved, I literally duplicated the paint colors from our old home. Then I discovered my love for neutrals and slowly repainted the entire house.
5. Probably my all time favorite. At some point in the 1990’s, I temporarily lost my mind and found a turquoise southwestern wall unit at a shop in Soho in Manhattan. It was a very cool shop. It was a very bright turquoise. I seemed to have forgotten than I hate southwestern decor and specifically turquoise. It matched nothing in our home. This one wins the award for ‘what was I thinking’. It wasn’t made to order, but I kept it way too long to return it. I eventually painted it. And then put it in the basement. In the laundry room. And I hated it even there… 😉
We all make decorating mistakes. The goal is to limit them and especially to curb the cost of fixing them. But if at all possible, always try to correct the mistake as soon as possible.
Your home should delight you and the biggest mistake of all is living with a house full of things you hate.
Oh, and what did that gold chenille couch look like? Here you go:
Resource Guide
To get the look, click on the items below for direct links to the products. Where actual items were no longer available, I’ve provided similar options. If an item is out of stock but may be restocked, I left it on the list.
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Did you write this post just for ME????? I had to chuckle with the decorating clutter comment. I just moved from a 4000 square foot house to an 1100 square foot apartment. I did all the right things, downsized, had 2 ginormous 3 day yard sales and still managed to bring hundred of “treasures” with me and have discovered that my new town has Dozens of vintage stores, estate sales, etc. so here we go again!!! What I do have that is wonderful is an oversized attached garage and I am using those wonderful large plastic boxes and steel shelving to store treasures and bring them out seasonally. Rotating my “stock” has been very helpful. I am downsizing Slowly through my etsy store, but at the rate I am purchasing, it will be an uphill battle!!! It’s a good thing I love to decorate and am always rearranging things so I have a new look everything month or so. Thanks.
That’s awesome, Eileen! And good luck in your new place!! There’s nothing wrong with *having* the decor. It’s just displaying it all at the same time that makes it hard to appreciate any of it. Sounds like you’ve got it well under control… 🙂
Great article! You brought up a lot of good points.
Thanks!
This was a great post. I am in a lot of Facebook design groups. The amount of bad design I see is astounding, especially when it comes to color, scale, rug/curtain/art sizes and installation, material choices, clutter, and so much more. Even worse is some of the advice given to the design questioners. Your post has such good information that I may start linking your page to some of them. Thanks!
Aww thank you so very much!! (And yes, I agree that some of what you see out there is amazing… ;-))
Good morning Lory,
What I wonderful post. One reason why I am a subscriber/follower of all your posts is your honesty. And this post is very honest. It shows that even knowledgeable designers from what ever reason are making mistakes in their own homes. I bought twenty years ago things that I wouldn’t buy today. Whether my style changed or out of monetary reasons in the past or still today. It’s such a relieve to read your article. Thank you for that. I wish you a happy and successful week!
Blessings, Andrea
Thank you so much for your delightful comment and for taking the time to say that!!
Hi Lory, love your blog and posts. I can relate so well to the mistakes made like custom curtains for three windows that I thought would be cream colour , but were gold. I tried to work around those curtains that cost me a small fortune. I ended donating them .
Also a big mistake was a dining room table and chairs, gone now,
So when I read your posts I feel so much better that I am not the only person who
decor mistakes.
Thank you for your honesty.
Anne
“Don’t keep something you hate just because it was expensive.” I need to have this imprinted on my brain. I’m looking at a wing back chair with the most beautiful fabric upholstery but it’s just not comfortable, oh my! (not even a year old)
Lori, What about keeping a chair just for a large person in the family to sit in? This person only visits once or twice a year. (not the chair previously mentioned)
That’s a hard one. Is it the only place for the large person to sit? If they can find other seating, even if it’s not as comfortable, and they only use it once or twice a year, I would not keep my home decorated around such a piece of furniture.
I have to know where the leopard print rug was purchased! It is wonderful!
It was from Horchow… 🙂
Thanks!!!
Excellent post Lory! My biggest decorating mistake was the purchase of a couch, two chairs and an ottoman. They all matched and were a hideous beige, brown and rust Plaid (yep it was the 1970s!) I hated it on sight but it was the least offensive grouping our budget could accommodate. We were newly weds and needed to furnish our entire apartment from only 2 furniture stores in town. Within a year and a half we relocated to a large city where I had a lot more choices but alas…it was too late! We lived with that hideous living room furniture for a decade and then it had a life in the basement rec room which was mainly a kids’ space. Finally I got it out of the house when it got donated to a space used by a youth group. Those pieces wouldn’t die. They were well made but ugly…ugly! Taught me a great lesson though. To this day I detest the colour brown!
Wonderful post, and all so true. I think my biggest mistake was trying to save money by reusing furniture and decor pieces that worked beautifully in some rooms of our last house but not so much in our present one. I finally decided that I didn’t want to live with those pieces just because they were expensive. Problem is, Covid has limited me going into design studios, so I’ll have to live with the look a bit longer–unfortunate, now that I’m on the bandwagon to buy new lol! BTW, your home is beautiful, and I’ve so enjoyed all the remodels and gorgeous decorating you’ve accomplished. You can certainly be proud of yourself for creating such an elegant, yet comfortable, home. Great job, Lory! Hugs!
Thanks so much, Bobbi! And look at it this way, now you have something to look forward to as soon as Covid is done!!
HA! What a great ending!! I actually like that gold couch! 😉 I’m right there with you though about not living with things you hate. Your list is a great resource for my redecorating projects – I’ll be back to this one!
Glad to hear it… 🙂 I actually did have a plan in mind with that couch but it never realized my vision and I think that’s what ruined it for me.
Great tips! Thank you for sharing this post.
Thanks for these great tips! It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one who has made a few mistakes along the way. My mother used to say, “Misery loves company!” Haha. I love to give new life to old lamps, and make new lamps out of found objects. I used to be able to find nice shades for a reasonable price, but some of my sources have discontinued carrying them. I was wondering if you might know of places that sell reasonably priced lampshades these days? Any information would be greatly appreciated! Thank you for sharing your talent.
Haha! Glad the post resonated with you!! For lamp shades you can try Lamps Plus at this link: https://rstyle.me/+of4Y-lwRJyfX-wzFZqKw9Q I particularly like the linen drum shades… 🙂
Ha! We have all done it at one time or other. In 1990n I embraced the burgundy hunter green trend when I was told by my about to be brand new husband I could buy anything I wanted! I proudly showed him some white furniture in a designer showroom, but he said it was impractical and anyway he preferred darker colors. (So much for “whatever I wanted”!) So I went to another showroom and custom ordered a tapestry sofa in those DARK colors which cost an arm and a leg, then a big wing chair and ottoman in a plaid to coordinate. I hated it on sight! I slipcovered it twice, then attempted to make a more permanent cover without removing the old one, then I gave it to my son when he moved to California. He let friends crash on it for a few years, and when he moved again, he gave it to a needy family in a dicey neighborhood who used it on their front porch! Oh well.
Haha! Well, look at it this way – it got a lot of use!! 🙂 Yep, we do all make mistakes. You gotta laugh!
This is great information! After reading it, I took a good look at my guest rooms and found a few changes that need to be done. My biggest challenge is deciding what to put on my walls. I finished painting all the guest rooms white and threw out all the old stuff that was on the walls. Now I have to decide what to put up! Of course, I will have a great mirror, but I’m trying to decide on something over the beds. Always a challenge! I love intaglios and was hoping to get some when I went to Italy last year…. thanks to COVID that didn’t happen! Until next time, my friend.
Hi Cecilia! I’m really into intaglios too!! Over the bed you can also try a set of botanical prints… :-). So many options!
We have all had these mistakes happen. But I had to laugh at your turquoise wall unit that matched nothing! I also have wood kitchen cabinets because I thought I was tired of white ones. Now 16 years later I want them painted white. So much cleaner and brighter! But I’m still trying to convince myself to wait a few more years to have them painted.
Isn’t it amazing those phases we go through? LOL! Gotta laugh…
Do you have any photos of your bad design choices? Let’s see them!
Well, I shared the sofa in the post. It was the last pic. I don’t think I have a pic of the turquoise wall unit, but if I come upon it in the background of a pic of the kids, I will come back and share… 😉
A lot of my mistakes are smaller ones I change right away – like a wall color I painted 3 times before I liked it.