Designing your home may feel like a chore, but when you get into it, you'll realize that it's more of a gift that you give yourself. However, there are a ton of mistakes that you might make the first time you start designing your home. This is a guide to avoid those mistakes. Learn from these so you don't have to make your own.
Why Buy Fake Plants?
Fake plants were an unfortunate trend from the past. Whether you got them to try and protect your pets from potentially poisoning themselves, or maybe because you sometimes think about crunching down on a leaf, it's time to grow up. Toss out those fake plants, let's get into some real ones.
When You Can Raise Real Ones
If the only thing that's been holding you back from raising real plants is your fear of killing them, then you should seriously consider not feeling that way any longer. Do your research. There are dozens of different types of house plants that will shock you with how easy it is to keep them alive.
Try to Clear Up the Clutter
Clutter is the enemy of a comfortable home. It can also come in many shapes and sizes, but most commonly, it's stuff you own but don't need. Once you break through the "emotionally supportive trash" barrier, you can transcend into a clutter-free lifestyle.
Is It Really Necessary?
If you find yourself questioning whether you still need something, chances are: you don't. It's easy to bust clutter, but it takes daily dedication to the cause. If you can eliminate one needless object a day, you'll eventually destroy the entirety of the clutter in your home.
Relax With the Throw Pillows
Throw pillows can be a fun accent to any modern home's decor. However, when harnessed improperly, throw pillows can end up being your worst nightmare. A throw here and there is okay, but if you've got a couch that's dominated by the square demons, just "throw" them in the trash.
Here's the Deal
You see, you can make a space look much, much larger if you have more sitting room. Throw pillows are a trap that some home designers fall into early on in their quest for inner beauty. If you have too many of them, people will not feel comfortable sitting on your couch, which is something that a lot of people do not do in their own houses (seriously, read the statistics).
Focus on Proper Lighting
Please, if you're arranging light fixtures on your own (first, contact an electrician so you don't accidentally fry yourself), be mindful of what your space needs. Some spaces need low light, some spaces need hanging light, some spaces don't need light at all. It's up to you to decide ultimately.
The Truth of the Matter Is
Honestly, most single-bulb light fixtures will eventually infuriate you. If you live in a space that has no windows, or minimal natural light, opt for low-laying lights that will not bother your eyes after long exposure to them. Make sure that you're maximizing the natural light in your space, it's better for you, and it will make your house feel more like home.
Avoid Theming Your Room
This one should go without saying. Please do not theme your room. Please, please, please, please, please do not do this.
There Is No Circumstance In Which You Should Theme Your Room
Unless you want to look like the guy who auditioned for "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and didn't get the part, don't theme your room. If you want to display your affinity for pop culture and the like, just get small trinkets and items that reflect your affinity for whatever your hobbies are. Please, do not theme your entire room.
Style VS. Comfort
In the never-ending quest to seem unique, sometimes people make the strange decision to put their image over their comfort. In some cases, this can be excused to a certain degree. In other cases, this is a cardinal sin that needs to be immediately rectified.
1-800-Comfort
When selecting furniture, it's most important to focus on the primary function of said furniture. Usually (not always) couches and chairs are intended to be sat upon. If you have or are considering purchasing a piece that is more of a chore than a chair, toss that ish in the garbage and buy something you can actually sit on, you goof.
Leave Some Wall Space, Will Ya?
Some people feel like empty wall space is lazy design. However, the case is the opposite. Intentional emptiness is a really important design decision that can make or break a room's appearance.
Be Conscious, Don't Overdo It
Listen, if you've got a ton of stuff to hang up, make sure you do it mindfully. Here is an example of crowded walls that work, even though they can be considered overcrowded. This can make a room feel smaller, more intense, and overstimulating. Usually, people reserve their massive art collections for rooms that the public doesn't see as often as they do.
Keep It Classy, But Not Too Classy
Once you have fancy things, it's hard not to show them off. Instead of packaging them all into one space in your home as your grandmother did, consider playing devil's advocate with yourself and think about how much fancy stuff you need. The days of classy formality have been usurped by minimalism and clean design, don't fall into the traps of the past.
Too Busy All the Time
If you've ever walked into a room in someone's home (or your own, hopefully not though) and there was so much meticulously placed fancy stuff everywhere that you instantly got a migraine headache and had to leave, you might know what we're talking about here. There is no need to have a crystal chandelier, a cleanly designed overhead lamp does the trick. Keep your fine china in a drawer or a box tucked away. Displaying your wealth as a decoration is dumb, don't be a dummy.
Mind the Rug
Be mindful of the size of the rug you choose. If you accidentally get the wrong sized rug, it's like buying a pair of shoes that don't fit. You should send it back (or, like, go back to the store with your receipt).
Keep the Proportions Intact
When you're styling a large room, you should find a rug that, at least, fits underneath the front legs of your furniture. The rug should frame the room for you. Don't be afraid to question your own rug choices. Consult the experts.
Painting the Walls Before Buying the Furniture
This one isn't self-explanatory, we offer our sincerest and most patient apologies. An important trick to learning how to properly decorate your home is to make sure that you know what you're going to put inside of it before you style around it. If the carpet doesn't match the drapes, you should have just gotten the drapes first.
Not That Terrible, Until It Gets Terrible
While this act isn't a cardinal sin, you should recognize that we're just trying to save you a little time and some money. Nobody likes a mismatched house, and when your shades are just one or two tones off of what they should be, people will notice. Follow our lead here, it's the right thing to do.
Get Rid of Your Oak Cabinets
There are a few different reasons why you should throw out your old oak cabinets. The first one is: they're extremely ugly. The second reason is: they make you look like you're living in an Ikea showroom.
C'mon, Are You Really Even Trying?
If you own a house, you should seriously look into getting custom cabinetry. Avoid oak, and avoid intense, fluorescent overhead lighting. This will make your cabinets look absolutely terrible. Opt for some sort of darker wood or painted wood.
When Push Comes to Shove
This isn't always the case, but some people try to push all of their furniture against the walls to attempt to make a room look larger. This can be a good tactic for maximizing center space, but more often than not, this is not the best move for establishing a comfortable environment.
Don't Back Yourself Into a Corner
If you have an already larger room, or if that room has a lot of natural light pouring into it, you might want to consider putting your furniture in the center of the room. When there is a lot of center space in a large room, people can feel estranged from one another. Don't worry, the back of your couch isn't THAT ugly.
Not Everything Has to Match
If you find yourself questioning whether one thing will fit perfectly in your themed room, you should take a second and step back. Rooms that have total themes can feel contrived and strike fear into the hearts of your visitors. Do you want to keep having visitors come to your house? DO YOU?!
This Gives Off a Weird Vibe
Here's a thought. Instead of having one Star Wars Episode 1 themed room, just make it a normal room. People will want to spend time with you, and you won't trigger their fight or flight response when you invite them to your house for the first time. You're welcome.
Choosing the Cheapest Option
The vast majority of people are pretty low on cash. It's not uncommon that individuals choose to invest their money into transit and other life-supporting things like food and rent. Buying the cheapest furniture you can find isn't the best way to go, and there is a multitude of different alternatives that you should consider before buying low-end department store furnishings.
Buy Secondhand
Your first consideration when purchasing furniture should be: "how do I get the most out of my dollar, while also purchasing as ethically as possible?" Before you go on a purchasing spree at one of those department stores that sells everything in the same showroom, consider local options like Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist. Buying secondhand furniture can help you get better, nicer, and more attractive pieces, while simultaneously stimulating your community's economy.
Get Rid of Your Weird Stuff
This is not a statement piece, this is a threat to everyone who enters your home. Do you need to have a giant porcelain statue in your living room? You could just as easily throw a plant down where Jar Jar Binks used to stand and people will start to consider hanging out with you again.
Committing to Weirdness
Having insane statement pieces in your house actually doesn't make people seem more interesting. Highlight your space with your personality, not your belongings. You yourself are the most important statement piece in your home, and any other ridiculous artifact you have detracts from your personality.
Do Not Buy a Toilet Cover Rug Set
This is a trend that is both unsanitary and unsavory. Plush toilet seat cushions are havens for bacteria and mold in wet environments. Additionally, who's sitting down on the top of the toilet long enough to justify needing a cushion?
Here's an Alternative
Instead of buying a matching rug set for your toilet seat and the floor, just buy two separate rugs, Place one rug in front of the shower (you know, to collect water drippings), and place the other in front of the toilet. Your bathroom shouldn't be the most relaxing place in your home (arguably), and keeping it neutral is the best way to get the job done quickly.
Don't Hang Art So High
Framed pictures, artwork, posters, and everything of the like are extremely important things to have in your house if you don't want to seem like a serial killer. By hanging up artwork, you show people that you're cultured, you understand what it's like to enjoy the finer things. However, not all hanging pieces are considered equal, and HOW you hang things is arguably just as important as WHAT you hang...
Make Sure You Know This
It's always best to hang artwork at eye-level. Have you ever gone into an art gallery and saw that the artwork was hung all the way up at the ceiling? No, of course you haven't. A good rule of thumb is to make sure that you're hanging artwork no more than 60 inches from the floor, depending on your ceiling height.
Fix Your Knob Bro
You should be concerned about every single detail about your home. Doorknobs are no exception to that rule. If you're not working with new knobs or used knobs that you love, then what are you even doing?
This One Can Be Put Off
Knobs can be an afterthought, as long as you're thinking about them in general. If you can open the door, then waiting until you have sufficient funds, or waiting until you find the exact doorknobs that you love, is something that you should do. You should also prioritize getting your doorknobs second-hand!
Vertical Blinds Have Got to Go
It's not 1992 anymore, you need to update your blind situation. According to experts (not us, other people), any room with vertical blinds or drapes will never reach its true potential. Here's why...
The Failure of Vertical Blinds
As a short term investment, vertical blinds will be functional for roughly one year. Not only are they ugly, but they're also one of the most break-prone household fo-pas on the market. The gears within the vertical blind structure are simply not engineered well (at its core), and the PVC that has to be used on the vertical blinds becomes brittle and breaks over time. Save yourself the trouble, just go with curtains.
Try Not to Settle
Choosing furniture is extremely stressful. It can put unnecessary strain on your relationships with other people that live in your house, and it can also make your house feel incomplete if you don't make a decision right away. However, that pressure is good. It will help you create an informed decision on what to purchase before you purchase anything...
Think Ahead
It's best to have a vague idea as to what you want your space to look like before you pull the trigger on buying furniture. Focusing on your design intention prior to committing to a purchase will help you avoid dealing with future annoyance. You wouldn't purchase the pieces of a puzzle without know what it's supposed to look like prior, right?
Don't Design Every Room Separately
Sometimes people want to use their room as a place to constantly experiment and shift their design perspectives. That's a perfectly reasonable thing to do. However, houses can seem chaotic if every room is a different work in progress...
Focus on the Big Picture
Every room in a house should be styled at least similar enough to seem like they belong in the same space. If one of your rooms is pink and covered in flowers, and the rest of your house is painted matte black with white accents on the walls, that's going to clash.
Don't Even Get Us Started on Table Doilies...
We get it, you have a lot of extra time on your hands. For some reason, you stumbled upon someone doily maker's Etsy page and you "accidentally" spent $2,200 on hand-woven snowflakes. You shouldn't have done this, but you did, and you need to learn from this mistake...
It's Only Retro if You Think The 1850s Were Retro
Doilies are simply impractical pieces that are just for show. They are beautiful, but they were originally created just to reinforce thread for later usage. If you spill something on a doily, it's toast. You can't get it wet, you can't wash it, and you just wasted $700 on a red wine stain.
Do You Really Need Those Retro Electronics?
When was the last time you listened to that Neil Young record that you bought at a garage sale eight years ago? Oh, you've never actually listened to it? Then why do you even have a turntable set to begin with?
A Cool Talking Point, But Not Really.
Trust us, you do not come off as sophisticated because you have an old record cabinet. Retro appliances are like statement pieces: if you have one, then just make sure it's not in the way. Hang onto small things, like Gameboys or Walkmen, but don't be afraid to re-donate stuff to the thrift store because you don't use it anymore.
Consider the Entryway
First impressions are important, and if you don't put the same amount of effort into making sure that your foyer or entryway is attractive that you put into the rest of your house, you will look like a lazy home designer. Here are a few things that you can do to spruce up this space without even really having to change much about it...
A Little Foresight Goes a Long Way
Adding a little light fixture, a door mat, or any sort of framed artwork to your entryway will change the way people enter your home. If you can turn your entryway into a hospitable spot with some "wow-factor," people are going to start begging to come over to your house.
Get Organized For Your Own Good
Clutter is a terrible distraction. It can be an indivation of declining mental health, lack of care for one's space, and general laziness that is truly difficult to work through. However, if you put your mind to it, you can crush your clutter and reclaim your space.
Everything Has a Place
Getting organized is a blessing that you can give yourself for your own good. Make sure that you have determined that everything you own belongs in a place that you know about. If you have kids, make sure to talk to them about that too. Establishing healthy habits is the most important thing that you can do for your offspring.
Test Before You Paint
Please, for your own sake, make sure that you test paint on your walls before you dive in headfirst. We understand that you're eager to get the job done, but if you make a serious mistake, there is no coming back from that. Well, unless you're into completely repainting your whole space...
Think Before You Paint
Purchase swatches, get some free tester paint and ask a friend to provide a second set of eyes for you. It's easy to make mistakes like this, especially if you're trying to rush through making your house beautiful and livable. Be patient and disciplined with yourself and your space will thank you.
Avoid Gaudy Shower Curtians
This is an easy trap to fall into. Say, you saw a shower curtain you liked online. It has the shadow of the person holding the knife from the movie "Psycho." You've never seen it, but you think it'd be cool to hang that in your bathroom to show your visitors that you're a cinephile. Little do you know, you're actually just showing them that you don't know how to design a bathroom...
Don't Do It, Just Keep The Curtains Simple
If you just get normal shower curtains that match the same color scheme of your bathroom, then you'll look like the adult that you're pretending to be. You don't need that themed shower curtain. It will make you look like you still have the design sensibilities of a college freshman.
Throw Your Floral Patterned Furniture Away
In the high fashion world, everybody likes floral patterns. However, there is a big difference between wearing a floral shirt with an outfit and committing to purchasing an obnoxious floral piece of furniture. This is something that's going to (hopefully) decorate your home for a long time...
You're Not a Grandma
There was a brief period of time where grandma couches were popular. That time has come and gone, and quite frankly, we're happy about that. Opt for a solid color that contrasts with your wall paint. If you want to add a floral accent to your living room, just get a floral rug.
Always Measure Before You Buy
This falls under the same umbrella of "creating a design scheme before you search for furniture." If you just buy things for your space that you don't know will work or not, then you might be baiting yourself into making a massive mistake. If you can't fit a couch through your door, you can't own that couch anymore...
Think it Through Bruv
Instead of taking shots in the dark, you should measure your space first, then consult your furniture store (whenever you decide to purchase your 'sittables' from) based on your measurements. Narrowing down the search will be imperative when your final result comes through. Like we said earlier, if you can't fit your couch through your door, that's not your couch anymore.
This Room is Too Bland
Minimalism is nice, and having furnishings and walls that are similar neutral colors opens up a lot of design opportunities for your space. However, if your space is completely devoid of color, it's going to end up looking loke a doctor's office. Additionally, if you have too many muted colors in a room, it can look drab and uncomfortable...
Lighting is Key
Keep in mind that lighting is the most important factor when trying to make a room less boring. You can get away with using a lot of whites and beiges if you get a lot of natural light in a room. If your room doesn't have a lot of natural light, make sure that you use paint and furnishings that compliment the lighting that's available. Make sure that you add pops of color as well. Plants, paintings, and colored furnishings can do the trick.
Tear Down the Loud Wallpaper
Everyone has a soft spot for loud floral print wallpaper. Just like the floral couch, floral wallpaper was a trend that became obsolete when designers determined that loud patterns and colors actually make people feel anxious. If you've got it, it's time to say goodbye...
Take Some Notes
Do yourself a favor. Spend a day tearing down your wallpaper. Paint over the wall with a neutral, warm color. There you go. Your house no longer looks tacky, and you're suddenly sleeping better at night because your brain isn't imploding due to stimulus overload.
Don't Corner Yourself With Frames
Wall galleries are a trend, but like most trends, there is a right way and a wrong way to follow them. Additionally, every trend has its expiration date. If you want to be cooler than your friends, then you should get ahead of the curve...
Filling In the Gaps
Having a ton of things hanging on your walls might make your space seem much smaller than it actually is. You may be tempted to hang everything that you've ever paid to get framed on the same wall, but using art as an accent is much more powerful than using it as wallpaper. Just remember, simplicity is key when designing a wall. Statements should be suggestions, not demands. If you catch our drift.
Toss Out the La-Z-Boy
If you're someone who calls their home "the mancave," then this logic doesn't apply to you. However, if you are a good citizen who cares about the people around them, then you should throw out your La-Z-Boy. Allow us to explain...
Consider the Facts
While La-Z-Boy furniture is very comfortable, it is also extremely clunky. Having one of these bad boys is okay if you have an enormous amount of space to work with and you don't entertain people ever. But, if you're a social person who cares about the design of their home, it's usually better to opt for a more sleek set of furniture that can seat more than one person at a time.
Shag Carpeting is a Thing of the Past
Shag carpeting was on its way out when your parents graduated high school. Nowadays, the only carpet you should have is the rug you willingly place down as an accent piece. It may feel good between your toes, but shag carpeting is totally out of the market...
What Came After Shag
Shag carpeting disappeared because it's gaudy, it takes up too much space, it sheds, and it's impossible to clean. If you like the look of shag carpeting in your space, but don't want to go through the emotional turmoil that your friends (and the world) will subject you to, just get a different kind of rug. You can find accent pieces that have a similar look, but won't make you feel like you're one of those people that thinks that the 1960s was the time that you should have been born, man.
Don't Show Off Your Pickled Food
For some reason, this is a trend with moms everywhere. Yeah, it's kind of cool to see a bunch of fermented veggies encased in a combination of epoxy and saline solution, but that's generally considered to be a design fail. That, and you cant even eat them!
Controlling the Rot
Putting your pickle jars on display doesn't make you look cultured, it makes you look weird. Food is for eating, not for daily decoration. If you want to seem cool for having pickles in your house, make some and then share them with your friends.