Re-decorating your home can either vastly improve your interior or make it look a lot worse. You may want to do it to give your home a fresh feeling or perhaps you are trying to sell your property. Nonetheless, decorating is a lot more than just buying a few new bits for the house and throwing some old ones out. Here are the most common mistakes people make when decorating:
Fix the existing issues
Before we can even get into decorating, the first and most important step is to check if your house needs any repairs. Trying to cover already existing issues with decorations is not going to work, so you should get rid of those first. This is especially important if you are trying to sell your property. You don’t have to spend loads of time or money on this either, simply using some good quality products to fix the broken bits and pieces should be enough.
Don’t overdo it
We are all aware of how exciting decoration shopping can be. However, you need to keep in mind that sometimes too much can look too crowded and overdone. Maintaining a minimalistic approach when decorating is key. You should try to have a couple of bigger centerpieces and some smaller complementary ones. This should give your interior a healthy balance and let every beautiful decoration have its moment.
Have a colour scheme in mind
When decorating it is important to take the whole picture into account and not just individual pieces. For example, remember what are the usual colours of the walls and furniture in your home and try to keep the colours in harmony. This is a common decorating mistake, as some people end up making their homes too colourful or too blant. You should find a balance with bright and neutral as well as think of which colours work well together.
Not having plants
If you have decorated your house but you still think something is missing, most likely you don’t have any plants in your home. Now, you don’t have to be a plant lover or commit to taking care of them. There are plenty of realistic looking artificial plants that will do the job. There are a lot of benefits of having plants, such as they make you feel more calm and relaxed as well as make the space brighter and more live.
Decluttering old furniture
There is nothing harder than trying to decorate around old furniture that you are tired of. If you don’t like a piece of furniture anymore, you shouldn’t keep hold of it. Otherwise, no amount of new decorations will make you feel content with your home, as some of the largest old pieces will continue to irritate the eye. So consider selling or giving them away to someone who will possibly enjoy them.
Too many patterns
Patterns, just like colours, are important to keep in mind and not overdo. If you have too many shapes and textures in one place, the eye gets lost and you are therefore not sure what to focus on. When used right, though, patterns can make the house significantly more stylish. Reducing to one or two different patterns but using them on larger spaces is the way to give your home a bit of character.
Acting too quickly
The issue with any kind of design is that sometimes you might only like something now, because perhaps it’s on-trend, but you might not like it in a few months’ time. Assessing whether this is a rash urge for something or if the attraction to it will last is difficult. You can ask yourself if you would have liked it this time last year — perhaps ask why you hadn’t already made these changes in the past. Was there something stopping you? The only sure-fire way around this is to make sure you don’t act too quickly. If you have changes or purchases in mind, let it fester for a while. Make it as specific as possible — perhaps even visit the items in store several times — then decide.
Not measuring before you buy
Buying items and decor the wrong size is the biggest waste of time, and potentially money, when decorating. Don’t rely on intuition alone, it’s important to get the tape measure out. This means not just working out the lengths and depths, but trying and placing these at the right height. Another big mistake when measuring is placing the TV too high on the wall. Remember, it’s not only about what looks nice, but you’re actually going to use it. Design needs to be functional. You’re going to get a bad neck if you’re looking up watching TV.
Pushing furniture to the walls
Decorating and design is about sociability. After all, we’re living in this space, not looking at it. A big mistake in living areas is pushing all of the furniture to the back against the walls. This can create too large spaces between seats and sofas. It’s a misconception that the room will always look bigger because everything is against the wall. In fact, this is the biggest mistake with kitchens. A kitchen is a place of socialising and family time, which is why a kitchen island is such a great design. It allows people to not only sit around it, close together in the middle of the room, but also for the person cooking to also be involved instead of having their back turned, facing the wall.
Don’t solely rely on overhead lighting
One of the most enjoyable parts around decorating is getting lamps and other kinds of lighting. Not just because of their fun, flexible designs but because lighting is super important in homes. Relying on the main lights is such a waste, and you will never achieve the same kind of ambience as a great lamp or two. In fact, there could be an argument for having a lamp in almost every room in the home.
