INTERIOR DESIGN MISTAKES YOU SHOULD AVOID THIS SEASON
No one can fully deny that interior design is an art form in its own right. From acquiring a professional education to working for years on transforming people’s homes into a beloved oasis of comfort and style, interior designers certainly have their work cut out for them. If you are about to embark on a journey of designing your home by yourself you probably already realize what an arduous process it can be. But, fret not! we are here to help.
Matching fabrics, layering colors, and mixing materials should be fun, and it would be if there wasn’t a threat of making your home look tacky and outdated constantly looming over it. The following tips will help you set the stage for having some much-needed fun while designing and decorating. Keeping these little tidbits of advice will make your home look both aesthetically pleasing and immensely inviting.
SCALING LIKE A CHAMP!
And we are talking Zen-Shimada-style parkouring with your furnishings and spaces with one simple tip — mix it up. Interior design novices often make the mistake of choosing solely bulky or opting for a variety of smaller furniture pieces. The fact that your apartment is small doesn’t mean you have to go for small furniture. No one wants to feel like a Gulliver in the Lilliput land” On the other hand, if your home is spacious and you choose just bugger and bulkier furnishings, your rooms will end up looking stuffy and too condensed.
The trick is to go for a variety of proportions with all of your furniture. A single bulky piece will hold the rest of your room together nicely, so you can go for that one first, and work out the rest of your furnishing from there.
FABRICS FIRST, WALL COLOR LATER
One of the most commonly made mistakes is choosing the colors of your walls first. Most inexperienced people think that those huge decisions should be made upfront, but it is in fact quite the opposite. Variables, such as fabrics for carpets, curtains, and sofas should be chosen first. Various factors in home decor are constantly evolving, and picking something as permanent as wall color is too risky and delicate.
Once you’ve painted your walls, the color you go for will ultimately determine everything else, and it should be the other way around. From smaller decisions to one grand and satisfying conclusion, just like Sherlock Holmes!
CHOOSE A FOCAL POINT
A room without a focal point is like a boat without an anchor. It will just keep floating around until some monster rises up from Mariana Trench and smash-eats it until there is nothing recognizable left of it. Too harsh? Well, that’s how it is. And some fear will do you good, or you will just keep piling up your family heirlooms and knick-knacks from Costco adding them here and there in the hope they all look stylish together. We are sorry to say that they probably look less like Victoria and David on their night out, and more like Pete Davidson and MGK during an after-party. Some things are fun, but they are also just too much.
To avoid that, choose a single focal point and spread your wings from there. It can be anything from a stunning wall mosaic artwork to a huge TV. We realize that black squares are very frowned upon, but if you never miss an episode of The Simpsons, or enjoy binging Peaky Blinders every now and then, then your TV should be your focal point, opinions be damned! On a more serious note, choose your focal point carefully and the rest of your pieces should be there to support its idea, or to simply surround it.
DON’T SETTLE FOR A SINGLE BULB
Well… That sounds dirty, doesn’t it? What we mean by that is that the times when you add a single chandelier and think that your job is done are long behind us. To make your space look stylish and inviting, you must layer your lighting like a pro, and it’s not as difficult as it sounds. It is important to start with natural light and consider the size of your windows and the density of your curtains. Then think about secondary lighting, which usually includes three types of lighting: ambient, accent, and task lighting.
Ambient lighting should be the first to deal with because it illuminates the broadest area of your space. Whether you decide to go for regular chandeliers, recessed lighting, or flush mount lights, it is important to install these first and check how they illuminate all of the corners of your space. The next step should be adding accent lighting throughout, to illuminate the spots you consider too dim. You can choose your accent lighting from a variety of track lighting, floor lamps, or traditional lampshades. As for task lighting, lanterns, clusters or row pendants are always a terrific choice, depending on how inconspicuous you want your lighting to be.
DON’T FORGET YOURSELF
Following trends without adding your unique stamp to your space is also a common mistake. Pinterest boards are all fun and dandy, but they should only be consulted for inspiration, not as a plan for your own space. Copying a design is easy, but the space you end up with will not speak to you. Your room should tell your story or at least one of them. Add that kilim from your vacation in Turkey to your bedroom, or put those jazz figurines you got in New Orleans on your mantel. Your stories and passions are important, and they shouldn’t be overlooked for any passing trend.
We hope we helped your design plans come to fruition at least a little bit. Now go and do something stunning with your space!
This article was originally published on Mosaics Lab’s website.
