A huge reason a handful of people don’t get around to going through with a decorating project is because they are afraid to make a costly mistake.
Our Interior Designers have put together a list of a few major design mistakes that can affect your entire project. Browse these for guidance and ideas, and then seek out an interior designer who’s in the right frequency with your vision and can help make your dreams a reality.
Choosing Paint Before Anything Else
While paint is in a variety of ways is one of the biggest parts of your design (specifically in terms of pure square footage), that doesn’t mean it should necessarily be the first thing you pick. For example, the well-coordinated furnishings and decor in this room could work with an assortment of paint colors.
The Answer: Our Interior Designers say that once you’ve settled on some of your essential fabric furnishings (rugs, pillows, draperies, upholstery), it’s relatively seamless to select a coordinating color from a fan deck or set of paint chips. Finding fabrics you truly love after already committing to a paint scheme is much harder.
Purchasing Furniture Without Measuring
It’s hard to judge the scale of furniture when it’s sitting on a big showroom floor. That’s why homeowners are sometimes shocked to find that the gorgeous sectional or coffee table they saw in a showroom looks as though it takes up the entire room when it’s sitting in their living room.
The Answer: If you know what exact measurements you’re shopping for, you can let the actual numbers guide you when your eyes might be playing tricks. Measure (or even mark with tape) the area available for each major piece so that you can figure out an acceptable size range.
Make sure to bring these measurements with you when furniture shopping and try and stick to them. If you fall in love with something out of your size range, ask if it comes in an assortment of sizes, or have it measured and bring the measurements home to tape off in your space to make sure it’s a size you are happy with.
Shopping in Just One Store
One-stop shopping is all the rage these days, but furnishing your entire home (or even just one room) from the same store generally tends to result in a much less interesting visual story than taking some time to shop around.
The Answer: Our Interior Designers suggest you try boutiques that carry a variety of design lines, or even online stores that draw from different manufacturers and brands. This way, even if you have one specific style or period, your home still won’t appear cookie-cutter.
Another solution is to work with an interior designer. These pros have access to an assortment of products and custom options.