Tips to avoid the design mistakes before start designing
Not everyone has training in interior design but most people still decorate their own homes — and everyone makes mistakes. It’s inevitable. You find things and think they’ll be great in the living room, so you bring them home without any plan or idea of what would be the right addition. On the surface, decorating your home is about what you like. Beyond that, however, there are elements of design like color, scale, lighting and placement that should be taken into consideration in any space. They all affect how a room will look. Before we list them, here are the overarching reasons that most common interior design mistakes happen in the first place.
Lack of Planning
The desire for a new look hits and before you know it, your Pinterest board is bursting with ideas, your online cart is full, and your finger is hovering over the “buy now” button. This is actually the last thing you want to do. When redecorating – or even rearranging – a room, it’s important to step back and assess the space first. Think about how you use the space, what is wrong with the room, the challenges in updating it and what your goals are. Every room has its own issues and size constraints. Making sketches on paper, collecting samples and creating lists are good tactics for planning.
Before you invest in a single item, make sure it fits your plan. If you see something you love, the first step is to be honest with yourself: Does it work with the plan and add to what you’re trying to achieve? If you have trouble visualizing things, there are many apps that let you see a piece of furniture in your own space. Some retailers even have this option online. Use every planning tool at your disposal to make decorating easier!
Fear of Measurement
Almost everyone has had this experience at some level: You love it, you’re sure it’ll fit, so you buy it. When you get it home, however, it’s not the right size or scale. A large part of creating a pleasing room is having all the elements be in the right scale and proportions compared to everything else. So, while the space between the walls might technically be wide enough for that super-long sectional, it may actually be too big and overwhelming in the room, making everything feel crowded.
Measurement is a critical step in preventing many design mistakes before they happen. Remember that it’s not just the size of the furniture you need to take into account: The space around the piece that allows for ease of movement and use is critical for appearance as well as function. Measuring everything is a big part of planning that will guide a lot of your purchases, especially of rugs and and larger furnishings.
Adding Before Deleting
Most people want to jump to the fun part first: Picking new things for a room, whether that is small décor items or new furniture. That said, a blank slate is best when it comes to redecorating. If you’re not starting from scratch, clear the room of everything but the pieces that you’ll be keeping, including any accessories that are a must for the space, such as a special sculpture or a tabletop family heirloom. This is the point from which you’ll start planning. When purchasing new things, start with the largest items first — they may lead you to tweak some of the smaller elements as you go, especially when it comes to décor accents.
Picking Form Over Function
You might love white chairs and a pale rug paired with a delicate glass coffee table, but it’s not the wisest choice if the living room sees a lot of use, especially by children. Actually, how you use the room should be the primary driver in redecorating. No matter how beautiful a space looks, if it doesn’t fit your lifestyle, it’s a waste of money and time. Creating a practical design that works for how you and your family function is first and foremost, so don’t lose sight of that goal as you shop for new furniture.
Overlooking Details
That last thing that you want is a room that looks like it came straight out of the store, whether it’s Ikea or a high-end designer brand. As they say, the devil is in the details and these are exactly what will make a room your own. Small things like the knobs on drawers, the finials on your curtain rod, or the extra cushions on your sofa – these all make the room feel like your own home and not a showroom.
Creating a Room With No Personality
This goes hand in hand with the point above about details. No one wants to live in a showroom and you need to include elements that reflect your personality to make a house your home. You can do this easily with art or small décor items. Maybe these are things you collect or have acquired during travels. Or, you can express your personality through the prints and textures that you choose for upholstered pieces, rugs or other textiles. The bottom line is that a room should feel personal, no matter how large or small.
Even following these guidelines, almost everyone makes at least one of the most common decorating mistakes. Have you fallen victim to one of these errors?
A Lack of Color
Neutral palettes have been a trend for quite some time, and that has led to quite a bite of boring decor. By playing safe and sticking with neutral furnishings, walls and accessories, homeowners have created a wide range of uninteresting spaces. This doesn’t mean that you have to paint all the walls a vivid color and upholster everything in bright prints. Adding a single wall of an accent color can add a real punch to room, even when the rest of the decor is neutral. Don’t be afraid of adding color to a room — it adds punch. Incorporating color can take many forms: a colorful rug, a vibrant array of accessories, bold artwork or saturated textiles. Pick your favorite color and let it brighten a space in your home. This credenza grouping from Jonathan Adler has extra impact because it sits in front of an enchanting wall of color.
According ro the website homedit.com