5 Common Decorating Mistakes and How to Correct Them

Decorating a home is a unique combination of art and science. You want to be creative yet functional. You want the space to reflect your style and remain in line with your family's taste. It's easy to go overboard or completely overlook something. This happens to the best of us; even the pros make decorating mistakes every so often.

That being said, some common decorating mistakes are easily avoidable if you're aware of them and pay attention to what you're doing. Here are five common decorating mistakes and how to fix them:

Tones:

Like it or not, colour plays a huge role in our lives. It affects everything from mood to appetite and even our sleep. You probably already know that some of the colours you surround yourself with have the power to make you feel relaxed or inspired. But many people don't realize that the colours we wear have just as much energy as the colours we live in!

If you are making a design choice, ask yourself if you are genuinely drawn to it or if you have an emotional attachment that has nothing to do with your well-being. Next time your home feels too warm and inviting, look at ways of adding contrast through furnishings and accessories that allow cooler or warmer tones to reflect in different parts of the room.

Negative space

Negative space is the empty space or areas around objects. Negative space can be used to make your decorative choices really pop, it's also a great way to create visual balance and keep your room from looking overcrowded.

It is an essential component of a well-designed interior. Negative space serves a few purposes and can be used to create a sense of visual balance in a room and keep it from looking overcrowded, to create eye-catching artsy focal points and help guide traffic flow. A lack of negative space, on the other hand, can lead to your interiors looking cluttered, visually overstimulating, and off-putting.

Just like decor, negative space plays an important role in your interior design. You can use negative space to let your decorations pop and also help circulate traffic. By using negative spaces you can balance a room and keep it from looking overcrowded.

Related article: Five Types of Bespoke Furniture to Stand Out in Your Home

Lightening

Lighting is part of the "trifecta" of interior design (along with colour and pattern).

Natural light is the key ingredient to any great interior design. Unfortunately, interior spaces are typically subject to a wide range of intensities due to their proximity to the sun or nearby street lamps. To maximize lighting in your home, consider skipping heavy window treatments and opting for sheer curtains or no coverings at all.

Don’t get us wrong, window treatments are essential. But if you keep them shut all day, your space will look snug and closed off. Instead, try using sheer curtains to let in more light while maintaining privacy. You can also consider adding things like mirrors and pendant lights to maximize your space's indoor/outdoor feel.

Focal Point:

If you have a room lacking a focal point, it can feel like your space lacks visual “oomph.” If a room doesn’t have a focal point, it may look unfinished or like something is missing. Luckily, creating a focal point is easy and inexpensive— all you need is a large piece of art, an accent wall, or something else that draws your eye.

Personal Touches:

Your belongings are what bring your house to life and make it uniquely you. The things you display in your home should reflect the essential things in your life. You can even do it by showing some photos or a collection of objects from your travels.

Related Article: Top 4 Best Creative Living Room Decor Ideas

Conclusion:

If you're making any of these common decorating mistakes, don't fret! As long as you remain aware of them, you can quickly correct the problem and avoid repeating the same mistake twice. That being said, sometimes it's better to let go of a mistake than fix it. It might not be worth your time and effort to recover from a decorative blunder. Before diving into a decorating project, take some time to review all the possible pitfalls you might encounter. Then develop a plan and stick with it so your home will always look its best, and you'll never have to worry about making any of the mistakes we've mentioned here.