The Ten Most Common Home Decorating Mistakes

Decorating a house or apartment can be difficult, and there are many common interior design mistakes made by first-time and experienced renters or homeowners alike. In this article, I describe ten of the most common interior design mistakes and what can be done to avoid them.

Interior Design Mistake #1 - Too Much Clutter
Probably the biggest problem that people have when decorating their homes is having too much clutter. Clutter could be boxes of old newspapers, useful things that haven't been returned to their proper place, or even too much decoration. In other words, clutter can be visual as well as physical. To avoid this, clean your home regularly, don't keep things you don't use, return things to where they belong after use, and err on the side of caution with eye-grabbing decorations.

Interior Design Mistake #2 - Too Much Open Space
While it is good for rooms in a home to feel open and larger than they actually are, a room that is made to feel too large can feel unlived in and uninviting, almost like walking into an empty home. Don't get rid of items that you'll actually use in an attempt to make more space in your home. Instead, use these pieces creatively to make the space in your home feel used and inviting. Perhaps take several pieces of furniture or artwork from a cluttered room and move it to a more spacious room.

Interior Design Mistake #3 - Room Domination
A common problem in interior design are pieces of furniture, artwork, or architecture that dominate a room. For example, a large black fireplace would inevitably be the focus of a room. My family used to have a massive blue wraparound sofa that would dominate every room we put it in. Another item we had that dominated several of our rooms were bulky, vomit-colored drapes. Replacing the drapes with white blinds did a lot to make the room feel bigger and brighter. To avoid the problem of a room feeling dominated, try to purchase items that go with a general color scheme in a room or avoid large items in general. If an item does not go with a room's color scheme, it can possibly be repainted, refinished, reupholstered, or covered with a sofa cover.

Interior Design Mistake #4 - A Lack of Decoration
In the same vein as Mistake #2, rooms that are not decorated can feel generic, unlived in, and uninviting, even if they are furnished. If you own or rent a space, decorate it to some extent. This might be by buying interesting furniture as opposed to something like a metal-framed futon, caring for plants, or hanging a quilt on a wall. Another good idea is to buy some low-cost frames and print out photos. I struggle with decorating rooms, but I am getting better at it as time goes on.

Interior Design Mistake #5 - Pieces Don't Match
Many young and newlywed couples have this problem. They take pieces from when they were singles and mix and match furniture. However, this can lead to rooms feeling unplanned and disjointed. Different wooden pieces might have different finishes or a dinner table may have several different types of chairs surrounding it. Some of this could be solved in the same way that Mistake #2 is solved, but another thing that could be done could be to buy a few new items that go with the ones that are already present. For example, if there are six chairs at a table and four of them match each other and the table, the two extra chairs could be sold or traded for chairs that match.

Interior Design Mistake #6 - Monochromatic Rooms
To some people, the term "matching" means monochromatic. However, having everything in a room colored green or pink or blue is a serious interior design mistake. Not only are rooms like these eyesores, but they can seem too sterile to enter and utilize. This problem is easy to avoid - don't make any room in your house monochromatic.

Interior Design Mistake #7 - Rooms That Are Too Dark
Rooms that are painted in a dark color or that do not receive much natural light can seem smaller than they actually are. This problem can be avoided by not painting a room in a dark color or placing a lot of dark furniture in the same room. Likewise, if a room does not receive much sunlight, make sure that the room as a whole is well-lit artificially.

Interior Design Mistake #8 - Poor Furniture Placement
Placing furniture, especially seating, in inconvenient or illogical positions can greatly reduce the usable space in a room and can make it difficult to move around a home. For example, a sofa might be better located against a wall as opposed to jutting out into the middle of a large opening between a living room and a dining room, unless the plan is to separate the two living areas. Likewise, having a desk in the middle of a guest room/office can make things feel more cramped as opposed to having the desk against a wall. Before you move furniture into a room, consider how you can best maximize space and create an open feeling. However, if you are trying to separate two areas of a home, a piece of large furniture can be a good dividing line.

Interior Design Mistake #9 - Not Rotating Furniture and Artwork
The furniture styles of the '70s were different from those of the '80s and so forth. If you inherited furniture or even bought it new, you may wish to invest in a new furniture every decade or so. If you can't afford to do this, you might be able to create some variety in a room by rotating a sofa and seat covers. Likewise, you may tire of certain pieces of artwork. Feel free to move these to different rooms after a while to create some variety, or consider trading certain pieces with friends.

Interior Design Mistake #10 - Decorating According to Someone Else's Tastes
Above all, your home should be your own. If you disagree with any of the above tips, you shouldn't feel guilty about keeping your room as you want to. Ultimately, you're the person that has to live in your home and you and your family are the only people to whom you have to answer.

Interior design can be difficult, but fortunately it's rather easy to maintain a well-thought-out setup after it is constructed. Have any home decorating tips of your own? Feel free to share your thoughts in the form of a comment. Thank you for reading!