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Home is where you express yourself and create your personal style. But beware! There are some decorating choices that you can make that give off an unintentional low quality vibe.
These common decor faux pas, from poor material choices to outdated designs, are not doing your home any favours regarding beauty and comfort. However, by avoiding these mistakes, you can make your space richer and more sophisticated.
Mismatched Furniture Sets
Having mismatched furniture can make your home look like a garage sale. A little eclecticism can be quite charming, but having pieces that are mismatched in such a way that you have no cohesive style or color scheme can be quite chaotic. Confusion is added by different wood tones or finishes that don’t complement each other but rather clash.
Think of a Victorian dresser against a mid-century modern chair — well, now the room is asking you to help with an identity crisis. Pick pieces with the same kind of materials, colors, or style instead, making for harmony. It doesn’t have to be everything matching, but they should at least be on speaking terms.
Outdated Wall Choices
Used as the backdrop for your house, bad decisions here make everything else feel cheap. For instance, overuse of accent walls can make a room feel disjointed unless done (and they all should be) for a clear purpose.
Well, wallpaper with visible seams or mass-produced wall art without personal meaning becomes tacky. Buy good paint or wallpaper and put up paintings that speak to you. Your home should be about your story — not reflecting somebody else’s generic tastes.
Cluttered Spaces
Elegance is the opposite of clutter. A space can start to feel chaotic if there are too many small decorative items or too many items on shelves. The same is true of couches completely buried in throw pillows.
Less is more—clean surfaces and bring in a few key pieces that you really love. All this talk about Marie Kondo and decluttering wasn’t wrong; it really does spark joy.
Cheap, Mass-Produced Furniture
Sure, mass-produced furniture is cheaper, but it’s rarely ever going to be made as well as to give your home timelessness. Dead giveaways of poor quality are particleboard, flimsy frames, and tacky finishes.
Some of these pieces will sag, peel, or even lose color over time. So spend on solid wood furniture or great-constructed pieces that may be more costly upfront, but you’ll be recompensed with sturdiness and style. And your future self (and guests) will thank you as your dining chair won’t collapse mid-meal.
Excessive Matchy-Matchy Decor
When you match sets, it can breed harmony and symmetry, but more can breed boredom in your space. Your home can become a catalog showroom when everything is identical: nightstands, lamps, and other pieces.
However, it can be broken up by complementing the overall scheme of things by using colors, textures, and patterns that complement and create interest and personality. Your house should be YOU, not the furniture store display.
Cheap Rugs and Window Treatments
Nothing drags down the aesthetic of a room quicker than a cheap plastic blind or a synthetic rug that is too thin. Rugs should not be an afterthought in a space; they should anchor a space.
Pick rugs made from natural fibers, such as wool or cotton, and they’ll add a luxurious feel. In the same way, invest in quality window treatments — such as floor-length linen or silk curtains. If designed carefully, they’ll add elegance and finish to your rooms so that you’ll want to draw them open with a flourish every morning.
Harsh or Insufficient Lighting
Statista reports that as of March 2020, 63 percent of consumers in the United States planned to upgrade or add new lighting to their homes in the next 12 months. A room can be made or broken by lighting. Even the coziest room can feel like a sterile hospital ward under harsh fluorescent lighting. On the flip side, there can be too little lighting, creating really dark corners.
Warm-toned bulbs are your best bet, as well as additional types of lighting—floor lamps, table lamps, and ceiling fixtures—to balance out the space and make it more inviting. Exposed cords are so 20th century. Hide them or neatly organize them.
Poor Quality Materials
Have you ever sat on a squeaky plastic chair? Poor quality materials really can ruin the vibe of a space. Plastics or cheap faux materials—really obviously fake wood or leather—are too low brow for the sophistication you’re going for.
Instead go for natural materials like real leather, stone or real wood for a rich and real look. A few high quality pieces can do wonders with your entire room, even if your budget is tight.
Fake Plants
The single biggest dead giveaway of a haphazardly thrown-together space, though, are fake plants. The leaves often are stiff and plastic or silk. The alternative is real plants which really bring life to a room.
If you’re incapable of caring for real plants, opt for realistic textured and shaped high quality artificial plants. While you’re away, your guests should be wondering if they need to water your plants, not staring at an obvious plastic fern.
Inexpensive Wall Art
Setting the tone of your room with wall art is essential, but cheap, mass-produced prints are going to leave your room seeming low-end. Instead, buy from local artists or look for other reputable online sources for one-of-a-kind pieces.
You can elevate your decor with personal photos or artwork framed in solid frames. This isn’t about building a collection that happens to look as though it’s out of a discount bin; it’s about making a gallery that speaks to you.
Poor Space Planning
Not thinking about natural pathways or pushing all your furniture against the wall can make your house feel disjointed. It all has to do with resizing — like oversized furniture never fits in a small space.
Rather, just consider how each room flows. A good rule is to use furniture to define the areas, to make sure to have enough space around to move comfortably. Also, smart, multifunctional furniture can assist you to maximize space and remain stylish.
Overuse of Trendy Items
It doesn’t take long for trendy decor to date a space. What is hot today may make your home seem stuck in time tomorrow. This does not mean you have to be anti-gloss or not love ornate furniture, but make sure you avoid finishes or furniture that will quickly feel out of place.
Instead, pick timeless ones and bring in touches of yourself within the style. Some designs are classic, others fading.
Maintenance Issues
Even the most stylish home can end up looking neglected from visible damage or wear, dusty artificial plants, or unrepaired minor damages. A sense of care and quality is preserved by regular maintenance: finding and fixing small damages, or keeping your space clean.
A home well maintained isn’t just aesthetically pleasing, it feels inviting, and it says someone cares.
Disclaimer – This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information.
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