Well I went over my top 5 decorating mistakes HERE. We had a lively discussion, and I enjoyed hearing what you had to think. So I have a few more to add to the mix today. I don’t think any of these are controversial, but we shall see. If I’m off-base I know you’ll tell me, ha!
I do feel the need to say that no matter what I or anyone else says, it’s your home, and you have to live with it. You need to be calling the shots about what works and doesn’t work. Yes I share my thoughts on design with you here, but if you don’t agree, then you certainly don’t need my permission to do your own thing. In the end, I’m here to support you not judge. If you ever feel judged, then please know that is not what was intended.
There are several things that can work against you when you are decorating a room. At my age, I think I have made just about ever decorating mistake you can make, so I am uniquely qualified to discuss mistakes. That’s right, I don’t mean to brag, but I am an ‘experienced mistake maker’.
Ready for my list? Here are 5 common decorating mistakes.
1. Not enough lighting
You can’t have too many lamps in the room. Okay, maybe you can, but they are usually a fabulous source of soft lighting. Mirrors also reflect light and help to make a room brighter.
2. Furniture pushed against the wall.
Sometimes it makes sense to have the furniture against the wall, but sometimes it doesn’t. If you have a big room, then you will want the chairs pushed together to form seating areas for conversation. If you feel you have to shout for someone in a nearby chair to hear you, then the furniture is too far apart.
3. Lopsided rooms
Try to balance the furniture in a room, so that the big pieces aren’t all on the same side. The room needs to feel balanced. If all of the tall pieces are on one side, and the short pieces on another, it will feel wonky.
4. Keeping something you don’t like
I call this the ‘furniture hostage’ situation. We all do it. We spent a fortune on it, and now we hate it. You feel you can’t get rid of it, because you spent so much on it. The reality is you will probably never get your money back. If you really don’t like a piece of funiture, but feel you can’t get rid of because of how much you paid for it, then that piece of furniture is holding you hostage.
Get on with your life, and get rid of it. Just cut your losses and move on. I had several very expensive pieces I no longer liked. When I sold them, I made a few bucks and got things I loved. I am so happy I did. This table was very expensive.
I finally bit the bullet and sold it. No I did not get my money back, but I made enough to buy this table from Restoration Hardware, which I love. Win/win!!
5. Following all the fads
It’s good to keep things fresh, but don’t spend a lot of money on something you know won’t last. For example, roosters used to be in style. I didn’t stop with just one, I had 10 to 20 of them, because as everyone knows, they are French! At some point I got tired of the roosters and sent them packing. Actually I kept one or two. If you love it, buy it. If you are just buying it to keep on top of the trends, then don’t; you’ll just end up giving it away or selling it in a few years.
Any mistakes you would like to add to the list?
Really enjoying the decorating mistakes reminders. I, too, tend to keep pieces that do not really work. Last year was the great purge of 2014. I thinned out, gave away, tossed and decluttered. We have a few closets left, but all in all the clean up made way for really see and enjoy what we love.
Trends. this is a tough one. I tend to be a late bloomer. I am a slow simmer to trends. ….. finding the balance in a fresh look and staying true to our foundational style can be a bit of a merry-go-round. I tend to err on the side of enjoying trends from afar! giggle.
Thanks again! I truly enjoy my weekend coffee while visiting to your site. Enjoy your day!
Gloria
Love this, Anita, you are right on. I am guilt of being a furniture hostage 🙁 I think too much clutter can be a mistake too. And too much furniture in a room. And no cohesitiveness. Have a great Sunday xo
I’ve coined this “decoclutter”. I’ve seen it on so many blogs…
Keeping a lot of things around that other people gave you even if you don’t really like it. Gifts, inheritance, etc.
That was wonderful advice. Thank you for putting it in such a simple form. I know I am guilty of at least two of those, so I will have to do some rearranging today with those rules in mind.
Happy Spring to you.
Carolina
I would add one more tip. Don’t buy large ticket items on impulse. I look at magazines and decorating blogs as a research tool. I shop with my paint chips and fabric swatches and picture of room I am doing. It comes in handy when the sales person can see what you’re working on. I love your style and charm!
Frankly….I loved all of the segments on decorating mistakes. If you’ve learned from mistakes…why should I have to reinvent the mistake wheel? …Huuuum. No. Please, tell me what you’ve learned so I may avoid. Thank you. However, the one I struggled with…not because of resistance…but because of allergies….is using fresh flowers. Even so…using fresh flowers when you can is a very good point. I started looking around where I may buy freshies at a very low price… when I needed them and then…after the event… out of the house they go. And, I’m really pleased to have thought this through. Anyways, please keep the ideas coming. I’m all ears.
I’m allergic to scents so I find most flowers too strong when in the house. My eyes water and my nose runs. So…. I buy white hybrid lilies now. They have no scent and look fresh and wonderful. Would this work for you, Susie?
Anita, I agree on ALL points!! Love the one about furniture hostages. I think I do that with a couple of my pieces that are no longer serving me well. Like you said, I am their hostage. Antiques are hard to let go of.
The other point I would add is DEAD CORNERS!! Corners that have no light or life, add a plant or light or both. I did a post on this very subject.
Also there is a formula for how much light a room actually needs and most people are way under what is necessary for a room. Here is a link to a post I did on that subject……….http://goodlifeofdesign.blogspot.com/2010/01/what-is-ppl.html
Love your post, keep up the great work!
Have a great week,
Kathysue
Anita, I agree with all your points. I would add not mixing up the scale of objects in a room (related to your no. 3) as another mistake. Too many little things can look cluttered (I’m guilty of this one); using only big stuff (e.g. Large vases, art pieces etc) can look blocky and heavy. Mixing it up makes it visually interesting.
Anita,
Love all the ideas and rationale in helping us make where we live surrounded by what we love. I too am hanging on to some expensive pieces I have mixed feelings about.
Time to rethink.
Love your wood floors…can you give me your source?
As for inheritances and gifts. My good friend once said a gift shouldnot be given with expectations…this has helped as I have let go of wedding gifts, etc. Inheritances..I have started to pass items along to my sibs, nieces and nephews only if they want them. I have discovered my grown boys are not interested in some things we have inherited and if We have enjoyed for a while it is now time for another sib or family member to enjoy.
Reading this just made me feel a whole lot better. Mistakes……..out the door! Thanks, Lorie
Great advice, Anita. Right now I’m having trouble with #3. We just switched our living room and family room around. The family room is a little heavy at one end because there is no 4th wall (it’s open to the dining room), and there is a large sliding door on another wall. The new look of the living room is great though. We’re still working on the rest 🙂
Speaking of fads – what’s with the “antler” look. I see them all over the place – blogs, magazines, etc. and I don’t get the attraction.
I agree, Christine ..whats with the ‘ antlers”…?!! I consider such things to be bad feng shui…kinda like having stuffed ( Taxidermy) animals in the home…even if the antlers are fake. I dont get it.
I’m a great believer of lighting and love soft lighting and lots of natural light from windows. Adore your room and great new table…worth the loss…
I agree on every point and have followed those same ideas for years. I have to admit #4 is hard though. It’s hard for me to get rid of stuff =)
Nancy
I am a furniture hostage but can’t see how to get out of it. For weeks I looked at a sofa in a thrift store – beautiful design, pretty fabric. Bought it at a discount, got it home and … no. The problem is my husband absolutely loves it. *sigh* I am just biting the bullet for another year or so, hoping it will fall apart! 🙂
Oh so sorry Betty! Hmm, maybe you can give in on something your husband is wanting, a trip, a purchase, and in exchange he will agree to release the sofa.
Oh, yes, I would like to add decorating mistakes to the list. Number One mistake for me are bicycles. When touring a home, why do I see bicycles prominently featured in one of the rooms being shown on the tour? Another couple of mistakes I often spot are art work hung too high and beds that look as if they haven’t been made.
oh boy can I relate! Once upon a time I sanded ALL the walls in my house (the walls had sand added to the paint by the builder) because I wanted to “wallpaper”…. Uuugghhh… Then if that wasn’t enough I fell hook, line and sinker for the mauve and blue craze. To this day I have a hard time looking at blue. Now… it’s ALL Neutral… white slipcovers, gray walls, and warm wood pieces or painted furniture. I’ll never get hooked on “trends” again. 🙂 I hope….
HaHa…Neutral is a trend as well, but one I love! Lots of bold color will be right around the corner as the next new thing.
I agree that the popularity of neutral ebbs and flows, but it is a classic, like a classic black dress. Neutral never goes out of style. Well I think it is already considered ‘out’ by the magazines. But then I am not going to be chasing trends.
So many rules and some are better to be broken. 🙂
It’s all in what one likes…I love cozy things around me…I love lots of things on my walls…I love my house ANY way that looks good to me. The “3 rule” usually works best but there’s been instances where 2 looked best…my point being we should have things around us that we love and if it breaks a rule or two, so be it. I am really bad to intertwine patterns that might not work for one but makes me happy.
Thanks so much for the post, guiding us towards a prettier home.
Every time I look at this room, my jaw drops! Love the chairs! The colors! THE HUTCH:D I’m pretty sure my husband has the “everything hostage” situation going on:) Great tips! Thank you because I struggle in this area.
I don’t keep unwanted gifts. If someone give sme something like an ornament and I don’t like it, it goes. No if, buts or maybe’s – I got sick of displaying an ornament that I didn’t like and really I am not an ornament person so not suer why people give me ornaments. If it is something that I love when I first see it then I will buy it for myself.
Anita, love the post. It’s always nice when a post helps us learn from experts like you. My mom seemed to have a knack for decorating. She could see what would work together and never had any training in this area. I think I’ve inherited some of that talent. Though sometimes I know something is wrong, but can’t put my finger on it.
One thing is true, hanging onto something that just isn’t your style or working with your other furnishing. I have a beautiful oak wine cabinet that has a very dark stain and a Spanish look to it. It is a beautiful piece of furniture, but is too big for my house and doesn’t really go well with my other furnishings. I think I’ve hung onto it long enough and I will be selling it soon. HELP! I am being held hostile by this piece of furniture! 🙁
Hope we will see more post like this!
We built a house 3 years ago on our farm. I wish I had research old country farmhouses and made the inside match the outside. I feel that it’s too modern inside and would love to country it up just a little bit. I would love to repaint and put 1/2 beadboard walls but finances just don’t allow that at this time. Any suggestions on inexpensive momentary fixes?
Karen, I suggest you join our interior design forum. You can upload photos and get loads of great suggestions from our group. INTERIOR DESIGN FORUM
Some good advice here. I’ll have to keep this stuff in mind when I tackle upcoming spring projects around the house.
Love the sharing of picture blog. My bi/estate problem is to by big great deals, then I can’t move them around or out altogether. Thanks for the list. Inspirational!!!
Love the no-no’s!!
I have inherited so many great and not so great pieces but feel I need to keep them because a relative thought enough of me to leave them to me. I am downsizing now and need to let go but it’s very hard. I don’t want to build a house around this stuff. I need to close my eyes and let some of it go.
Let it go Kathy!
If they are family pieces be sure to check with other family members before disposing of them. You certainly don’t have to keep them but it is very possible someone else would find them meaningful.
Great idea Nita.
For years I looked at our coffee table and hated it. This year it is no longer in the hostage group because I had it painted a beautiful blue! Now I love it! My rule is try to figure out what you can do with it and if that doesn’t work–get rid of it!
Love this post. When I was married 40yrs ago hubby and I bought a “very good” bedroom suite which I have never liked. Finally for our 40th anniversary that’s what I wanted a new bed room. After all these years I finally love our bedroom sorry I waited so long. Yes I was held hostage!!!
The hardest is to come to a balance and function between couples living together .
I was wondering what is the right height to hang paintings??? I liked this article very much.. All great reminders of what not to do.. Thank you
Cheryl Steel