Interior Design Ideas
Home Decorating Ideas & Resources
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WE
MEAN IT - DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME
Common Design Mistakes
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Just like driving as if you were in a car commercial, there are some things you should just not try at home. And if you have tried them, you should go undo them right now. Don't put too little in a room. Less is not always more. The human spirit needs some coziness - just the right amount - to feel at home. Too minimal a space looks like you just moved in and haven't unpacked yet and no one wants to have dinner with you. Try putting things in combination with others - a chair might need a pillow, lamp and table nearby so that it's both functional and inviting. A dining table (usually) wants some kind of decorative piece or two on top. A sitting area could benefit from an area rug for definition and warmth. Create smaller spaces within the bigger spaces - for conversation, for reading, for eating, for whatever makes you happy.
Don't put too much in a room. Too much is just too much. This means too much of anything: Too many accessories (so that every table top is filled to the max and there's no space for even a glass of water). Too many pillows on the bed or sofa (so that you couldn't possibly ever use it for what it was intended without flinging pillows around). Too many pictures on the wall (so that it looks like you live in a second-rate 19th century museum where they hung paintings up to the ceiling). Too many fabrics in too profuse a combination (so that your eye is jumping around so much that you can't focus or relax). Take some of these things out and use them in interesting combinations elsewhere in the house, or stow them somewhere to be recycled later, or give them away. Just use some restraint. You'll be happier.
Don't hang artwork too high. This is another mistake often made. Artwork should be placed at a comfortable level so that it can be seen easily - neither binoculars nor extreme height should be necessary. Placement of artwork should also complement the furnishings by creating interesting tableaux. Furnishings and artwork should look like they actually go together. If the art is too far above a chest, for instance, or placed all by itself somewhere (unless it's a huge showstopper), it starts to look very lonely and as if it has no relationship with anything else in the room. And everything in a well-designed room should relate beautifully to everything else.
Don't put too big a piece of furniture in too small a space. This is a typical mistake that people make, thinking that if you stuff something into a corner, then you have more space leftover and the room looks bigger. Not true! Furniture - just like people - needs to breathe, and needs to fit properly in its place on earth. Don't put a size 12 cabinet in a size 8 space - it will just appear overweight and uncomfortable. Too large a dining table pushed into an alcove is virtually unusable, and definitely uninviting. But if you use furniture to its best advantage giving it the space it deserves, and then combine it with design-compatible accessories and other pieces of furniture, it will work wonders for your room. |
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