Avoid These Interior Design Mistakes
Once you’ve found the right home, the fun really begins. Each room of your home is a blank canvas, waiting to be explored and designed. Before you head out on this new venture, here is our best advice on avoiding some classic interior design mistakes.
The #1 Interior Design Mistake: Scale
Scale is the most overlooked, and underutilized, concept when it comes to designing a room. What is scale when it comes to interior design? Scale is when everything in the room is equal in height. This lack of variety in the size of your furnishings and decorations is a design faux-pas.
As Linda Floyd, an interior designer from California, says, “When you enter a room, it should look like a city scape… a combination of different heights.” Items that are too large and take up a lot of space can make a room fill full and stuffy. Lots of small items all in a row gives the eye nothing to land on. Variety is the key to appealing design.
The #2 Interior Design Mistake: Impatience
As you are out shopping for just the right items to complete a room, here’s a word of caution. Avoid the urge to be impulsive and take home that item on the spot. Without a plan, a budget, and the willingness to be patient and shop around, you could find yourself quickly getting into some financial hot water.
If you must have the item and you are afraid it won’t be available later, keep your receipt. If you find it somewhere else later, you can always return the higher-priced item.
The #4 Interior Design Mistake: Lack of Focus
Does each room of your home have a focal point? To keep a room from becoming dull, interior designers will choose one item and make it the focus of the space. When people walk into that room their eyes should be immediately drawn to the focal point and everything else is designed around that item. Your focal point should be a piece of artwork, a centerpiece, a item of furniture, or even a window. Once you know what you want featured in the room, you can design around that.
The #4 Interior Design Mistake: Buying Paint First
It’s tempting to go out and fall in love with a color right away but if you are purchasing the paint first, you are making this job harder. There’s no guarantee you’ll be able to find the right upholstery, rugs, curtains, or fabrics that match the color of your dreams.
Before heading to the paint store, figure out the room’s focal point, fabrics, and textures first. Then go out and find the perfect paint color to match your vision.
The #5 Interior Design Mistake: Attachment
We are sentimental creatures. From ceramics to pictures to gifts – we collect items of emotional significance throughout our lives. However, all the little knick-knacks and memorabilia you own make your space look cluttered and messy. This doesn’t mean you need to get rid of them all, but if you want a nicely decorated room you will need to be more strategic about what you place where.
Designing your home gives you the perfect Marie Kondo opportunity to ask yourself, “Does this item bring me joy? Does it belong in this room?”
If you have no emotional connection to the item, it may be time to give it away. It could be there are many items that hold emotion for you. In that case, is there a way to evenly, and appropriately, disperse them throughout the house or a way to organize them that doesn’t distract from the room’s design?
If you cannot afford to hire an interior designer to makeover your home, we get it. Most people don’t have those resources available right now. These tips will help you design a space you are proud to live in and eager to show off to friends and family.
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