Decorating Mistakes and How to Fix Them
If I’m a expert on anything, it’s decorating mistakes. I feel like I’m made them all. And when I start to feel bad about making these mistakes, I convince myself that I am doing you a service. I’m making the mistakes so you don’t have to. It’s what I tell myself, so let’s just leave it at that.
Here are some of the mistakes I’ve made and I’m including ways to avoid them.
MISTAKE 1: BUYING A RUG THAT IS TOO SMALL
We’ve all done it. The rug that is the right size is too expensive, so we go with the smaller size. We put it in the room, and it ends up looking skimpy. If you can’t decide which size rug to buy and you are looking at two different sizes, typically the larger size is probably the better size.
FIX 1:
One fix is to move the smaller rug to another location and buy a larger sized rug for the space. Another solution is to buy a large sisal or other neutral rug to go underneath the too small rug. Layered rugs look great, and they can help extend a rug that is too small. Above I used a larger sisal rug underneath our too small wool rug.
MISTAKE 2: PAINTING A WALL WITHOUT TESTING THE COLOR FIRST
You look at the paint swatches, buy a couple gallons of paint, then start painting. The color doesn’t look good but you press on, hoping the paint will look better when it dries. It doesn’t. Have you don’t that? I have! Please, please, please paint a test board or a test spot on your wall first. Paint can really look different once it’s on a wall. It’s worth the time to test first.
FIX 2:
Sadly the fix is to repaint the walls, or move.
Check out today’s episode where we talk about our biggest decorating mistakes and how to avoid them.
MISTAKE 3: BEING HELD HOSTAGE BY FURNITURE
I know I’ve mentioned it before. We sometimes spend a lot of money on our furniture thinking we’ll lovet it forever, Then the unthinkable happens, and we want to break up with our sofa or dining room table. But we can’t because of how much we spent on it. We know we’ll never get that money back. I call that being held hostage by your furniture. It’s also called a ‘sunken cost.’ The money is not coming back, it’s gone.
FIX 3:
Just sell the furniture you no longer like and move on with your life. Furniture now is less expensive, so you can probably buy something you like for less money. Sell your old furniture at a consignment shop. Who knows, you might be able to find something you like there to replace it. The table above was very expensive, and I couldn’t bring myself to sell it for a long time. But I didn’t want to keep it either. I finally accepted it was time to move it out the door.
MISTAKE 4: OVERCROWDING A ROOM
I know this mistake all too well, because I’ve made it over and over again. I like furniture, I buy furniture. I add it to my room. Room gets overcrowded. If you keep buying things for your home, but never get rid of things, your home can because overcrowded.
FIX 4:
The immediate fix is to remove as much excess furniture as much as you can stand. Then take a strict policy of no new furniture comes in, unless you get rid of something. Right now, nothing comes in my house, unless something goes out.
MISTAKE 5: TOO MUCH WALL ART
If you have large expanses of wall, this is a tough one; however, having too many pieces of art on one wall or one room, can make it feel confused and cluttered. Think ‘curated’. We like to say, less is more and bigger is better. Think of just a few large pieces of art rather than many pieces of small art for a wall.
FIX 5:
I suggest fewer pieces and larger pieces for a wall. Smaller pieces work well for a small wall or a small room like a bathroom.
The great thing about decorating is that it’s mostly subjective. If you agree or even if you don’t, I would love to hear your thoughts on what you think the biggest decorating mistakes are.
Hanging pictures or wall art too high!!!!
Amen on the hanging art too high! Thankfully my Mama learned this when I was young, so I knew it early on. It often is a small piece of art in a huge wall, too.
Great information and food for thought. I agree we all make these mistakes and one can make small changes to improve the room you are working on. Thank you for your information. Jean
One thing that I continually have to watch is getting interested, and then bored, with too many styles! I like a variety of decorating styles and can get distracted by that. I am slowly coming to terms with my true loves and that makes editing easier, for sure. Once I figured that out, it made a decor focus for me. Now I ask myself how a particular item would blend in with my home in general before I go there!
I am so guilty of overcrowding a room with furniture, and having too much wall art. I’ve always thought I needed a bigger house but I really don’t, I just need to learn to use some restraint, that’s very hard to do sometimes.
Wait, WHAT??? A copperhead??? Where there’s one, there’s a family! They are good for eating rodents, but only about one a month. Not venomous to the extreme like rattlesnakes. Surely you have a shotgun at the country house in case of rattlers.
Can’t even think about decorating mistakes now!
Ginger
Ginger, I know! Of course we’ve got a shotgun. But the snake took off to fast!
I’m still not over it! I get the snake willies everytime I think about. Forget the pillows, slipcovers, and coveted velvet throw!!! You need to sew a shotgun holster and wear it just to sit on the porch!
Ginger, you are a hoot!
I saw an article this week about a Virginia woman that was bit by a copperhead in a restaurant three times at least!!
Thanks for sharing this information. These great points for home owners, especially new home owners who would be more guilty of making these type of mistakes.
I understand what you’re saying about art that is too small for a wall, but I’m also a big fan of the “gallery” -style art arrangements which often feature a number pieces of different sizes.
Oh I think that can be a great look Rebecca! Great call.
Great advice. Especially about the art work. I love large pieces, but have many many smaller ones collected over the years, plus my son is a photographer so there are many of his lovely pieces all in a grouping. And, yes, I’m guilty of overcrowing !!! :)’s
Marsha, I think a grouping is a great idea, and can often give the feeling of one large piece. So I’m with you on that one. I think it’s the old pictures all over the wall that are not in a grouping that can feel disjointed.
Great advice! I am bad about crowding in furniture Thank you for all the great info Have blessed day
The Sunken Cost issue you raised is my most difficult to overcome. Thanks for the push.
Where did you purchase your living room chairs?
The ones shown are from Birch Lane. They are beautiful in person.
Fabulous job, I love it all. Your home is beautiful
Great tips. Another mistake that I have made and I see a lot, is displaying too many accessories at one time. I actually wrote a blog post a long time ago called “Don’t Get Knick Knack Paddywhacked” about the importance of curating your decor accessories so that your home doesn’t look like it’s the place where all things Pier One go to die!
Lots of great information.”Rules to decorate by.)
Thank you
Nancy
Lots of good advice here. So true about not wanting to let go of furniture…but always better when we do.
I love tip 4!!! ???
My daughter gave me 17 pieces of her original art, all in smallish frames .
My solution is to group them in 4 , or 5 , as if one piece…. they are all on one wall and look awesome !