Image: Photographee.eu / AdobeStock
Tasteful, thought-out home decorating looks effortless, but bringing a Pinterest board vision of your house to life isn't easy. Fortunately, many of the most common home decor mistakes people make are easy to fix. With a few simple tweaks, you'll create a seamless, beautiful aesthetic that's sure to wow friends and family.
1. Matchy-Matchy
When people doubt their home decorating abilities, they tend to buy furniture and accessories in sets. While there's nothing wrong with furniture and decor sets, it's easy to create a living space that's too coordinated. You don't want every item to have the same bright floral pattern or weathered wood tone. It may be intimidating to select individual pieces, but ultimately, it creates a more pleasing aesthetic.
2. Dim or Harsh Lighting
Instead of relying on a single overhead light fixture, layer the lighting to create balance and make a space more inviting. Choose brighter bulbs for task lighting and softer bulbs for atmospheric light. If you like the idea of varied lighting but don't want tons of lighting elements, consider dimmer switches, which are inexpensive and easy to install. You'll get a huge impact for a low price tag.
3. Artwork Hung Too High
People view artwork most naturally at eye level. Homeowners tend to hang art too high, causing guests to crane their necks. Browse gallery walls online for inspiration. Trace your frames and hang the cutouts on the wall, then move them until you're happy and ready to start hanging. You don't want art to look busy and cluttered, but you also don't want a straight line of paintings in every room.
4. Defaulting to White
White walls are neutral, clean, and safe, but you don't want to overdo it. Painting an entire house white often looks boring or gives off a sterile, institutional vibe. Don't be afraid to bring color into your home by accenting a wall in a bright tone to create a focal point. If you want to avoid vivid paint colors, choose statement art pieces or decor items for visual impact. If you're set on neutral colors, mix it up with gray, beige, or a darker shade, such as navy.
5. Too Trendy
Focusing on current trends to decorate a room is risky and often expensive as you need to make frequent updates to stay on-trend. When selecting larger items, such as furniture and rugs, choose classic pieces, then accessorize the room with trendier artwork, throw pillows, and smaller items that are easier to switch out.
When struggling to decide what isn't working in a room, make one change at a time. If you try to fix everything at once, it's tough to identify which elements are and aren't working. Make steps by swapping out one component at a time to improve your decor.
