Every home design project is beset with its own design difficulties, some of which require a trained professional to help solve. But there are things that I see homeowners do again and again that land them in a situation where their furnishings and interior scheme aren’t working, and they are not certain why. The reality is, if they only avoided a few common mistakes, their space will immediately feel fresh and professionally styled.
Listed below are the top design don’ts and some successful designs that show what to do.
Kate Jackson Design
1. Don’t push the furniture from the wall. You will have a more intriguing space if you allow breathing room around your pieces of furniture, as we see. Allow the furniture to float in the room, away from the walls. This will help create a conversation grouping.
The optimal distance for conversational seating is 4 to 8 feet. This is the Goldilocks zone.
Blackband Design
2. Don’t buy little, cheap throw pillows with strong types. Pillows ought to be ample, overstuffed and formable, such as these. Use soft, plush, down-filled pillows that can take a contour. There are great artificial fill options, also. Utilize the classic “designer’s chop” to determine if they will form up: a quick karate chop to the top edge to break up the pillow’s blockiness.
Get rid of any dead pillows that sit like a lump. Say goodbye to postage-stamp-size pillows and matchy-matchy ones that came together with the furniture. Rather, overstuff an 18-inch pillow cover with a 20-inch insert for a professional look.
Martha O’Hara Interiors
3. Don’t use a good-enough paint color. Paint color breaks or makes the look of a room. If it’s badly matched, the result will be weak at best. It requires experience and a trained eye to properly read undertones. Consult a pro on this one to place your outcomes ahead of the crowd.
17 Things Color Consultants Want You to Know
Tobi Fairley Interior Design
4. Don’t sacrifice light to trim your budget. The error I see most often is light fixtures that are too small or that do not dress the room properly. Use suitably scaled, relevant lighting. Lighting, more than every other element, asserts design, similar to a chosen piece of jewelry defines the design of a little black dress. Don’t be afraid to inject personality with a statement piece.
Blackband Design
5. Don’t skimp on area rug size. An area rug defines a grouping of furniture. Buy one large enough to lie under at least the front legs of each piece of furniture on your grouping.
11 Area Rug Rules and How to Break Them
Tobi Fairley Interior Design
6. Don’t isolate rooms. Create stream from 1 room to another by visually connecting adjoining spaces. Repeat a pattern or carry an accent color or another visual element (for instance, a leg detaiI) from 1 area to another.
Tobi Fairley Interior Design
7. Don’t skimp on drapery. More is more in this section. Pros utilize fabric yardage that is two and a half to three times the diameter of the window to get fully functional drapes. With fixed side panels (for show only), you can get away with cloth twice as wide as the window. Don’t skimp.
Custom Draperies 101
Cecile Lozano Interiors
8. Avoid being overly matchy. Don’t match textiles and furniture — relate them. A designer’s task is to create a collected look. Look for a collection of pieces with some thing in common, like style, motif, color, background, material or mood.
Blackband Design
9. Don’t forget the details that produce a piece specific. I occasionally find the hardest things for my clients to understand is that the details make the design. Nailheads, custom pillows, millwork trim and inlaid floors create a customized look that is drop-dead stunning from the space here.
Once you train your attention to observe the details, you will notice that a chair with a lovely turned leg carved with a skilled craftsperson is different than a mass-produced machine-made piece. Customized details are obvious in professional work. Contrast piecing or piping onto a pillow, or welting, nailheads or trim on a chair. Details, details, details create the result special.
Tobi Fairley Interior Design
10. Don’t stop until you coating. Designers utilize layering and repetition of elements and motifs to achieve a professional look. Many men and women get the concept of layering when it comes to fashion. In design it is not much different. Pick something you love, such as this particular patterned headboard, then replicate the color or the layout.
The artistry lies in stopping until the look gets too matchy (it always helps to toss in something sudden to accomplish this). Subtlety is key. Drapery, wallpaper, pillows, throws, bedding, accessories — all are great options for layering in a bedroom. You be the judge as to how much is enough.