Home Design Mistakes that Too Many People Make

Trista - December 14, 2021
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Home Design Mistakes that Too Many People Make
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6. Design Mistake: Being Afraid To Use Antiques

Many people think that adding antiques to your decor will only make your home look old, but that’s far from the case. There’s nothing wrong with mixing a few styles here and there, a little old with some new, to create a unique look to any room. Sticking with industrial or mid-century modern will make a room come across as bland. If you add a few vintage pieces to the design, then your room will start to sparkle with personality.

Of course, there are specific ways to mix modern and traditional pieces, so it will take some trial and error before you get it right. You don’t want to keep everything one-note; you want there to be variety in the harmony of your room so that it feels unified yet diverse at the same time. So consider heading to the antique mall and looking at a few pieces, even if it’s just an old lamp or bookshelf. You might be surprised by how well it goes with the rest of your decor. Keep reading for the top five design mistakes people commonly make.

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5. Design Mistake: Not Testing Paint Properly

As stated earlier, paint can be pretty easy to pick out with how easy hardware stores make it for you. However, many people make these design mistakes by just slapping some sample paint on a wall, stepping back, and seeing if they like it or not. They neglect to remember that if the color is going to be on all the walls of a specific room, then it should be tested on all those walls. Lighting can be very different depending on the angle, whether there’s natural or artificial light, and what time of day it is.

Forgetting to do this may leave you with a painted room that looks much uglier than you expected, and now you’re stuck with it. If you do find a hue that you absolutely adore, try both a few shades lighter and a few shades darker to see if they can also work in your chosen room. You might be surprised by how much better it may look than your previously selected shade. Either way, you’ll have the perfect paint shade without wasting time and energy painting the space over and over again to correct design mistakes.

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4. Design Mistake: Shopping on Impulse

You may see some piece of decor that you really like and need to take with you. That’s simply rewarding the pleasure center of your brain, thinking that you’re making a smart purchase. However, impulse buying, especially when it comes to home decor, can end up costing you, and in more ways than one. Not everyone has a photographic memory, and what you thought might fit into a space in your home may end up not going with anything at all. So now you’re stuck with something you can’t use, and you may feel too ashamed to bring it back to the store.

You need to have a game plan as to what you want your room’s function and layout to look like and to stick with it for the time being. Buying decor without planning will only add more clutter to a room when you have no dedicated place or space for it. This isn’t to say you can’t be flexible with your game plan, but you should think about it before you start pulling out your wallet.

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3. Design Mistake: Forgetting To Add Personal Touches To A Room

You’ve set up everything perfectly, found the right paint, chosen the right furniture, and adhered to most of the rules in this list. Then why does your home still feel so stark and empty? The reason could be that it has no personality of its own. If you model your home after the images you see in the magazines or on Pinterest, then that’s precisely what it’s going to look like. However, it’s not you. You don’t have a home with personality if it doesn’t have your personal touches added to it.

Add unique pieces of artwork that you fancy, add books to shelves instead of leaving them full of designer knick-knacks. Look for pieces that reflect your personality and things that you enjoy doing, and add them to different rooms in your home to start to feel like yours. Your guests will notice too and will appreciate the homey feeling of your place instead of feeling like they just walked into a designer magazine.

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2. Design Mistake: Overdoing Design Trends

Looking at every blog and magazine out there about interior design may feel like a step in the right direction. However, you’re only going to have too much information and not know how to implement any of it effectively. Interior designers may have many opinions, but if you throw everything that everyone says into a pot of soup and hope you’ll get a lovely design for your home at the end, then you’re sorely mistaken. Different designers specialize in different looks, so it’s essential to look at those who pique your aesthetic.

Don’t follow fads because they’re going to go out of style eventually, and then you’re stuck with a look for your home that is dated. Instead, you should focus on making your space feel personal to you instead. When you go home after a long day of work, how do you want it to make you feel? Whatever that is, that’s the ideal that you should be designing around. Go with what you love instead of overdoing it on the design trends just to fit in with whoever is on TV.

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1. Design Mistake: Not Listening To Your Intuition

We certainly hope you are taking note of these common design mistakes. However, when it comes to interior design and home decor in general, like anything else, you should still follow your intuition. There’s something to be said about listening to your gut. You could read all of the interior design tricks and blogs out there to see what you want to do with your home, but the person whose opinion that matters the most is yours. After all, you’re the one who has to live in your home. Why not go with your instinct and get what you like? Throw away those doubts and go for what you want to create a space that brings you inspiration and joy.

Push your design boundaries every once in a while. However, listen to that little voice in the back of your head when it tells you that something doesn’t feel right. More often than not, you’ll end up finding some great pieces that make you feel good about the home you’re in so that you’ll want to spend even more time in it. Remember: you have to look at your home every day, not the designers telling you what you’re supposed to do.

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