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Home Decorating Mistakes To Avoid

By Tylie Eaves
Published on: 16:09 PST, May 22, 2016

A man’s home is his castle, or so the saying goes. And, it’s safe to say a woman’s home is her castle, too. Typically, we decorate our homes according to our own personal styles. Most of us try to improve on our spaces with decor that we appreciate. But when it comes to home decorating, there is a right and wrong way to engage in the beautification process and doing it wrong can mean that your decor comes across as messy or sloppy instead of stylish and attractive. A recent article by The Express Tribune highlights a few of the dos and don’ts of home decorating.

Your wall art choices should be properly sized and properly placed.

“It’s important to pick pieces that are to scale with the wall that you’re putting them on,” says Marissa Sauer, interior designer and founder of Design MACS. Choosing pieces of the right size and placing them strategically. And consider using furniture to anchor your wall art. Hang paintings above furniture pieces to create focal areas.

Choose furniture pieces that are low maintenance, unless you plan to clean every single day. Think about the pieces you choose and how they’ll be used. If you plan to put a piece of furniture in a high-traffic area, make sure it can withstand the traffic gracefully. For example, home decorating with shiny black laquer doesn’t make sense for a kid’s area.

Think about the size of your furniture pieces. It’s important that you choose furniture that fits the space in which it’s being used. Furniture that’s too large, or even too small, can look odd and uncomfortable. A good rule of thumb is to measure your space before you shop, and take a measuring tape with you so you can be certain you’ll love that sofa (or chair, or table, or bookshelf) at home just as much as you love it on the showroom floor.

You may love your collection of handbells and all 17 of your hand-carved ivory spoons, but there’s no need to display everything you own in your home decor. Putting all your belongings on display creates chaos, and if you’re like most of us, you want your space to be relaxing and inviting, not chaotic. Display your collections in small doses throughout your home, instead of all in one room.

And group tabletop items in odd numbers (threes and fives specifically). Display items of varying heights to create a more visually appealing line and make sure you don’t feel overwhelmed by visual artifacts in your line of sight.

Don’t forget about cord placement when home decorating. A virtual rat’s nest of cords will instantly make your space feel less comfortable and more chaotic. Hide cords and power strips whenever possible by placing them inside drawers or other creative spaces.

And finally, don’t join the robotic ranks of people who seem pre-programmed to push their future to the outer borders of the room. Your space will actually feel more inviting if you get your sofas off the wall and create intimate spaces. If a room is small, a few inches will be enough to make a huge difference. If a room is larger, you can bring your conversation area (sofas, chairs, console table, coffee table, etc.) in quite a bit, leaving room for a walkway behind them. This will create a defined and intimate space, while at the same time creating the feeling of a larger room.

Remember, when it comes to home design, your personal style matters. If you follow the basic rules of successful home decorating, you can’t go wrong, no matter what kind of style you have.

[Photo by korisbo/Shutterstock]

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