4 Common Decorating Mistakes to Avoid, According to Interior Designers

Get the expert-recommended fixes for a flawlessly finished space.

While it's true that interior design is never really complete, it can also feel impossible to get started amidst our busy lives. If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. "Decorating a home is hard!" says Stephanie Purzycki, CEO and cofounder of The Finish, a by-the-hour online interior design service. "And if you don't have a ton of time to dedicate to it, or you get stuck with your decision-making, you'll end up with a space that looks unfinished."

Bare walls, floors, and windows are some of the more obvious indicators that a room needs a little TLC, but they aren't the only ones. "An unfinished space can also be a room you don't love, whether it's not your style, or it's too many styles, or the furniture isn't quite right." ⁠

But take heart. Decorating your home is very much worth it for its positive impact on your day-to-day living. For Erin McCarthy and Mindy Turitz, founders of Chicago's Merinda Studio, there's nothing like coming home to a well-designed space at the end of the day. "We all need a place to rest and decompress, gather with friends and family, and make memories. Finishing our homes is, in some ways, the ultimate form of self-care."

We asked top design experts how to fix some of the most common decorating mistakes. With their sage advice, you'll be pulling it all together in no time.

simple coastal blue cream bedroom
Courtesy of Spacecrafting // Designer: Bria Hammel of Bria Hammel Interiors

Top Decorating Mistakes Designers Notice

1. The Furniture Doesn't Fit

Minnesota-based designer Bria Hammel of Bria Hammel Interiors says she can tell when clients haven't taken the time to measure furniture. "Measuring is important so that you don't have under-scaled pieces in your space," she says. "If an item is too small, then you tend to continue to fill the space, making it feel cluttered. Having the right proportions of items in your space make it feel intentional from the very beginning."

2. The Rooms Don't Look Cohesive

"Homeowners tend to focus on one space at a time, rather than see their home as a whole," says Purzycki. "Homes are usually organic spaces, filled with the homeowner's treasures and memories— and sometimes dated and disposable furniture from college."

3. It Feels Impersonal

"Many homes that I enter feel extremely sterile, with minimal character. There is no personalized story about the people who dwell there," says Washington, D.C., designer Lorna Gross of Lorna Gross Interior Design. "Homeowners have shopped stores and catalogs for standard furnishings, but haven't considered the smaller details that are necessary to make a space special." Her best advice? Add in two to three unique, difficult-to-duplicate elements per room. That might be original artwork, a global textile, or an antique or vintage piece of furniture.

4. It's Missing the Finishing Touches

For Pennsylvania-based designer Brittany Hakimfar of Far/Studio, a home's finishes stand out first. But it's what's missing from these finishes that makes a room feel incomplete. "The floor finish, the wall color, any accents or details—to me, these elements set the groundwork for a good home," she says. "The bones are so important. [So I notice if] they are missing art, accessories, window treatments, and those last pieces that pull it all together." There are lots of ways to decorate walls without it costing a fortune. One idea: Frame a collection of photos and/or kids art in matching frames for a gallery wall.

décor books black living room color pop artwork
Courtesy of The Finish

Tips for Planning Your Home's Interior Design

Now that you've identified some of the problem areas, what do you do about them? Next we asked our designers for their advice on how to fix some of the issues and get your decor back on track. Like so much in life, to get your rooms right, you've gotta have a plan. Here's how the pros do it.

1. Visualize Your Entire Home

"When a whole home seems off, we recommend starting with setting a vision for the entire home, room by room," Hammel says. "This way, we can ensure that the same style is throughout your home. Even if you decide to complete your home project in phases long-term, by setting that initial vision, it'll help you easily pick up where you left off and stay on track."

2. Identify a 'Goal Room'

Purzycki suggests starting with the end in mind and avoiding impulse purchases that do not align with your image. "Get on Pinterest or Instagram and find a room that's your goal," she says. "Then, when you make purchasing decisions, ask yourself if what you're buying fits with that ultimate vision you have for your space."

3. Create a Mood Board

"If you want to take it a step further, create a mood board with everything you want to buy for your room," Purzycki says. "Then, as your budget allows, purchase each thing on the board." Mood boards are a great way to see how things look together before you buy them. Her top tools for making a mood board include Photoshop, Google Drawings, or a dedicated tool like Design Files. Or go old-school and create a non-digital mood board using photos you print out and/or tear out of magazines.

4. Pick a Style and Stick to It

This can be hard for homeowners, but it pays off. "Figuring out your style and sticking to it will help you finish your room, and it's worth doing because then, whenever you walk into a space, you'll feel relaxed and happy, not like you're trying to solve the problem of why your room doesn't look complete," Purzycki says. "You can move on and enjoy your home."

living room guitar colorful patterns
Courtesy of Merinda Studio // Designers: Erin McCarthy and Mindy Turitz of Merinda Studio

Top Decor Fixes from the Pros

We all want our homes to look and feel more inviting, more pulled together, more like us. It can feel like a daunting task. Our pros reveal the things we an do to help our homes be their best. No matter what kind of home you live in or what your decorating style is, this advice applies.

1. Remove the Clutter

What you take out is as important as what you bring in. "We tell clients that in some ways, less is more," Hakimfar says. "We like to get rid of all the unnecessary pieces before bringing in the important, impactful pieces that will make it special."

Caitlin Murray, founder and creative director of Black Lacquer Design, suggests starting by getting rid of anything you no longer need or that is getting in the way. "Then, you have to zoom out and take an honest look at what you're working with," she says.

Murray also suggests being picky about what you allow back into your home. "I think most people accumulate things over time and become somewhat unaware of the state of their space," she says. "The most beneficial way to design is to treat a space as a blank canvas—everything needs to be removed, then put back intentionally, with both the big picture and individual pieces in mind."

2. Create Consistency Through Color

Hakimfar recommends using one general paint color throughout your home to help it feel cohesive. "The initial changes we make to a house are painting and floors. I also think it is important to have a cohesive floor throughout the house. The wood stains should match, as well as the kinds of wood. If there are too many finishes, it's clear that the home has been added onto piecemeal, and it creates a broken-up feeling in the home."

Another trick she loves? If she designs a dark room, she paints the entire room. "Walls, ceiling, trim, etc.," she says. "This makes it dramatic and feel truly designed." She also suggests investing in quality window treatments where you can, to add a layer of visual interest.

3. Let the Exterior Inform the Interior

"The first thing we think about when starting a new project is how a home's exterior relates to the interior," Hammel says. "The exterior serves as an introduction to what we can expect to see inside. Suppose a client has a different style than what the exterior portrays. In that case, we either find a way to merge the two styles into one cohesive style, or embrace the home's foundational style and incorporate it throughout the home."

4. Streamline Your Entryway

For Murray, a well-designed entry is a must. "Your entry sets the tone of what to expect throughout the rest of the home, so it's crucial to be intentional about what it says. Hide anything functional yet unsightly in baskets, boxes, etc., and place the pretty utilitarian things in view," she says. "Great-looking closed storage is so important, because we all have plenty of stuff that's useful but not beautiful."

5. Use Wallpaper to Kick Off a Color Scheme

"We love using wallpaper to bring in some fun pattern and color, and help tie a design scheme together," say McCarthy and Turitz. "Most of our wallpapers feature designs with several colors. We have used our paper in powder rooms, entryways, or other small spaces with colors that are repeated in adjacent rooms through paint, pillows, and window treatments."

Select what they call a "hero print" you love that at least three colors. "From there, you can pick up those colors in other parts of your home, starting at the entry and moving to the back of the house."

6. Determine the Right Size for Furnishings

When shopping for furniture, buy the largest pieces first. "A correctly-sized rug, drapery panels, or a well-scaled pair of sofas are great places to start," says interior designer Maggie Griffin of Maggie Griffin Design. As for rugs, "it's difficult to purchase readymade rugs for most large living rooms. The sizes often don't quite fit the needs of a large space. Instead, we will have a rug custom cut and bound to ensure that it's the correct scale."

7. Take It Slow

"Take your time and invest in quality pieces, not just quick fixes that will be replaced in a few years," Griffin says. "Our environment has a direct influence on how we live. A peaceful, more organized, well-balanced space will always contribute to your well-being."

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