5 Critical Home Decorating Mistakes To Avoid

5 Critical Home Decorating Mistakes To Avoid

Posted by Doug Gardner on 22nd Jul 2014

There are certain interior design trends and techniques that can negatively impact the look and feel of a room. Whether you’re decorating the living room, bedroom, foyer, dining room, or any other area in your home, you’ll want to avoid making the following mistakes.

Mistake #1) Matching Everything

Using the same color or design for every element in a room tends to create a bland appearance with no real sense of style. The color takes over as the focus of the room, drowning out surrounding furnishings and decorative accessories.

Don’t feel like you must using all-matching accessories and elements in your home decor, as mixing things up with contrasting colors is oftentimes more effective.

Mistake #2) Overdoing The Living Room

Yes, the living room is a communal area that’s probably used more than any other room in the home; however, this doesn’t mean you should overdo with an excess amount of furniture. Take a step back and focus on the core furnishings for your living room, and if there’s still space available, add some accessories for aesthetic purposes.

Mistake #3) Lack of Variety

A third all-too-common decorating mistake homeowners make is not using enough variety. There’s a fine line between creating an interesting, lively environment and going overboard with the clutter. With that said, variety isn’t clutter, and you can still achieve a varied home decor without generating clutter.

Mix your home decor up with by using traditional wall art, framed photos, paintings and more unique accessories like glass bowls filled with beads, vases, etc.

Mistake #4) Pushing Living Room Furniture Up Against The Wall

Some people naturally assume the best course of action when decorating the living room is to push all the furniture up against the wall. Unfortunately, this leads to poor feng shui, as it distributes the function of the room while creating an unbalanced environment. When the couch, sofa and other seating furniture is pushed against the wall, guests and family members are forced to wall in front of it as the enter and leave the room.

If you’re struggling to find a location for your living room furniture, consider using the L-shape arrangement. This is a simple yet effective arrangement that’s naturally welcoming.

Mistake #5) Choosing Furniture Before Paint

The golden rule when decorating a room is to choose your paint before the furniture. Paint can either make or break the look of a room, so it’s important to take care of this element first. Once you’ve chosen the right paint, then you can focus your efforts on the furniture and decorative accessories.