Interior Design Mistakes That Too Many People Make

Thinking about how you want to set up your new residence in a way that you enjoy can feel daunting. The freedom of design is certainly enjoyable, but it also can lead people to make odd decisions that leave their places looking nowhere near how they hoped it would look. In this article, we’re going to take a look at some interior design mistakes that too many people make so that you can avoid them yourself when you start designing.

Relying on Current Design Trends

Looking at showcase rooms full of trendy furniture can be exciting, and it can give you some useful ideas. However, try to resist the urge to go with the current trend of the week (or month, or year). Your home gives you plenty of opportunities to show your own style. For instance, choose a unique table leg design as a dining room centerpiece, or hang up artwork that speaks to you—even if it doesn’t to other people. In the long run, you’ll be glad you chose something that you like rather than what was in style at the time.

Forgetting the Importance of Lighting

All the design work in the world won’t look great if no one can see what you did. Lighting is such an important—yet often overlooked—part of interior design. A beautifully decorated living room or bedroom can end up looking drab and boring without proper lighting. Lamps of all different shapes and sizes go a long way toward improving the aesthetics of a room while adding much-needed light to places that might otherwise be shrouded in darkness.

Not Switching Up the Scale of Items

Not understanding how scale works is an interior design mistake that far too many people make. An easy way to understand this is to imagine a city skyline. The best skylines have a variety of differently sized and shaped buildings that make for a more interesting sight overall. The same concept applies to your furniture. If everything in a room is the same height, the space can look very boring. If every piece of furniture is large, even a huge room can look cramped. On the other hand, if everything in a room is small, the room can start to look cluttered and messy.

Holding On to Hand-Me-Downs for Too Long

It doesn’t matter if you’re in your 1st apartment or 10th house—you likely have hand-me-down furniture that just doesn’t fit your aesthetic hanging around somewhere. For family heirlooms or valuable antiques, this isn’t a huge issue, but you shouldn’t feel beholden to furniture you don’t like just because someone gave it to you. Let go of that guilt and remove any furniture that just doesn’t go with your design if you want a more cohesive feel to your home.