Top Five Decorating Mistakes

Don't say I didn't warn you. There are some things one should never do while decorating or designing a room. Sure, decorating styles are vast, and no two rooms are alike. You should definitely put your own style into your room and have fun decorating your space. However, here are my personal decorating what not to do tips, backed up by decorating and design industry professionals.

1. No Wall Borders Ever

Please, please don't do a wall border. Even a cute Disney one in your child's bedroom. I know they still sell wall borders, but that doesn't mean you should buy them. Nothing screams outdated more than a wall border. What it says to anyone in the know is, "I didn't want to take the top to edge the top of the wall when painting, so I slapped up a wall border instead." They have not been recommended by designers since, well, ever.

2. Furniture Under Arrest

Don't force your furniture to sit around the campfire. Do you know what that means? Furniture that is all pushed up against the wall, with a huge space in the middle of the living room, or facing the TV. Pull that furniture out from the wall a bit, give it some room to breathe. It can even make a room look bigger. Furniture should be arranged conversationally, or so people can easily sit and chat or visit. Hide your TV in an armorie, or hang a flat screen on the wall, don't make all your furniture face it like animals honing in on their prey.

3. A Picture Says A Thousand Words (not the other way around!)

Please let your walls breathe. A big decorating mistake people make is by cluttering up their walls with a lot of visual clutter. Small groupings of large photos are acceptable. A large feature painting is a good decorating move, but putting 21 pictures of your kids all scattered around one wall is a decorating don't.

4. Great White Walls (are you in prison?)

White walls can be a good thing, if it is a nice Behr cream, or a glorious Glidden snow. However, keeping your walls the same boring, apartment white, or sticking with developer white they buy cheap by the five gallon bucket, is a huge decorating mistake. Get some color on those walls, even if it is a very light taupe or a barely there beige.

5. You Light Up My Life (So, light up your home)

Lighting makes such a great statement in a home. It creates a mood, highlights your furnishings, and can really do a lot for your design. However, people often stick with plain, overhead, it-came-with-the-house lighting that is boring, cold, and isn't appealing at all. Get some soft lighting, some laps, show off your home by lighting it properly. Some ideas are several lamps scattered throughout the space.

Don't fall under the spell of bad decorating. Trust me, no matter what your personal style, these decorating mistakes are universal. They take virtually no time or money to implement, and can bring an instant positive design change to your space. Happy decorating!