If you are a person who likes to decorate their space and you want to do it all by yourself without the help of an Interior design service, this blog is for you. Here are some very common design mistakes that people make while giving their spaces a makeover.
Everyone makes mistakes; it’s inevitable, see how interior designers in Pune have maintained to keep their projects sheeny and glamorous.
Following are some mistake to avoid interior design
Bad Lighting
There nothing worse than living in a dark space. The most common decorating mistake people make is to rely completely on overhead lighting, it makes the space look blunt. Interior designers recommend layering up your lighting to create a more welcoming and pleasant ambience.
Such recessed lighting is great for general lighting, for ambient lighting you can use pendant lamps or chandeliers, then there are task lights, ideal for highlighting an artwork or your kitchen preparations, mood lighting can be used to create the evening subtle mood.
Now it’s important to know when it’s too much lighting, access use of lights can be too harsh to the eyes. The best way to avoid this is to use dimmers and warm white lightings they create a calming and well-illuminated area.
Having varied sources of light in the space makes a gentler and more relaxed ambience and gives you the power to control them as needed.
Furniture
Having the right set of furniture in your space should be a priority.
You can start by measuring the space and drawing a floor plan, keep in mind not to clutter the space with unnecessary furniture. The scale is another aspect that people ignore and make design mistakes; it takes a talented eye to decorate a room with an impeccable scale. Before you purchase any new piece make sure you have the dimensions of the room so that you can look for something and will not hamper the flow of the space.
If you want to adjust a piece of old heirloom furniture in your space, try DIY re-purposing it with paint and new hardware but if that’s not possible it is better to say them goodbye. Another important point to remember is to not push your furniture against the walls unless you have a small space.
This arrangement creates a giant space between the seating, making them far too apart for comfortable conversations. Sofas can help define the area by moving them in the center or on one side, you can great an adequate composition of furniture.
Color palette
Although minimalist design styles are trending nowadays, people tend to choose a neutral colour scheme because of their fear of bold colours.
White walls make a wonderful background for unique art pieces and décor but they can also make a space look stack and cold if they aren’t decorated properly. They can also be disastrous for families with kids and pets because then throughout your home there will be grey smudges and fingerprints that are very visible.
Don’t be afraid of colour, start by doing your research on various bold colour palettes. You don’t have to paint all the walls a vivid colour, even a single accent wall in a bold colour can add real punch and dimension to space. If painting a wall in a bright colour is terrifying for you, start with an accent rug or curtain fabric, with the rest of the décor in a neutral scheme.
You’re your favourite colour shade and it brightens the space, incorporating colour can be in many forms such as a colourful rug, a vibrant set of accessories, bold artwork, or in fabric textures.
Also Read: 5 Most Important Responsibilities of An Interior Designer
Space planning
Space planning is one of the crucial aspects of why people hire Interior designers and not every person knows how to layout a fantastic floor plan.
This is the most common design mistake that people make, without proper planning a room can end up awkward. The main motto is to take into consideration the room’s functions and dealing with any difficult or negative spaces that might be forming in the room. An ideal space planning brings a sense of balance between comfort and design, be it your office, kitchen, or bedroom.
Space must have a good sense of balance, this can be achieved when you successfully integrate colour, design, texture, décor in a perfect balance making harmony between them. Create a focal point in your space, it can be a huge canvas on the wall or a hanging crystal chandelier. Focal points also help to take the visitor’s eyes away from any flaw present.
The room should reflect the user’s personality, adding a personal touch makes a room cosy and welcoming, select a colour palette that you relate to. Interior design spaces require taking into account the lighting preferences, layering up different types of lighting help the space to look more appealing.
Natural lights are a great way to make the room airy and cosy also the sunlight helps balance the body hormones.
Furnishing
While furnishings may the most underrated design element, it is one of the common decorating mistakes that people make when finalizing their design.
Furnishing makes a great deal of how your space is going to turn up at the end. When it comes to selecting upholstery, the endless options of fabric and textures make the process quite daunting. Your fabrics must compliment your furniture and wall paints. For that, it is easier to go in the reverse direction, choose your curtain fabrics, sofa upholstery, and rugs before you go select your wall paint.
Once you have picked fabrics, the ones you love, you can sort out the colour palette for your walls, of course, they have to blend in with the fabrics but it makes the task much easier. Upholsteries take a significant portion of your design budget and you don’t want to re-invest in them after 2 or 3 years.
The two important factors to keep in mind while looking for interior fabrics are comfort and function. Heavy fabrics give a more luxurious look and neutrals create more of a cool and subtle ambience. If the fabric is going to be used in a trafficked area, opt for something that has more polyester which makes it more durable and repels stains. For rooms that have a simpler piece of furniture and you want a pop of colour, go for more vibrant colour options.
Try to mix the upholstery styles, so if in a room there is plenty of velvet, blend in some linen or cotton. It creates a balance in the room between heavy fabrics like velvet and soft furnishings like linen and cotton.
Décor and Accessorize
The best way to decorate an empty wall space is to accessorize them with beautifully curated art pieces.
Don’t forget too many good things is a bad thing, it translates as clutter. Be specific when selecting decor for your home, the best way to ensure there are no mistakes is to start with the easy ones, photo frames.
Sort through family photos and pick a few of your favourites for display. Use online templates to make a form before mounting them on the wall. To make them more sophisticated, frame them in single frame type, black, white, or gold frames. Mix and match frame sizes and orientation for a cohesive look.
The average eye height for a human being is 57 inches approx, which serves as the perfect height to display your art. Souvenirs are another great way to glam your space. Gather pieces of a similar palette, in a variety of heights, and place them on your console or ledge as a display of the collection. Piled books draw the eye if your shelves aren’t high enough or deep enough to accommodate them stack them on a flat surface such as a bench or an end table.
You can also use books as a base for candles and diffusers. Group four or five pillar candles of different heights and place them on a spacious surface. “ Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it”.
Curtains
If you are planning to decorate your old house or buying a new one, curtains are essential elements. Window treatments such as blinds and curtains are a great way to add texture to space; also they help prevent unwanted heat and maintain the privacy of the room.
Most of the time people hang their curtains just above the window frames, which doesn’t justify your interior design space. The more the better, hanging curtains higher makes the windows appear larger and gives a sense of height to space. For a more dramatic and modern look, the interior designing company in Pune prefers to hang curtains from ceiling to floor creating a fabric puddle on the floor, to enhance the look.
For beginners in curtain design, the safest way is to go for colours as your wall shades or something that blends in with your furniture. Curtains are a great way to introduce texture and pattern to a subtle looking room.
Spaces following a minimalistic scheme can be wrapped with linen or cotton fabrics, accessorized by thin borders or tassels. For spaces with a luxurious and heavy look, velvet and brocade fabrics make a stupendous choice.
Storage and Clutter
Being an Indian family storages kind of always falls short for us and this causes our space to look cluttered and unorganized. A simple solution is to be smart about it, evaluate the total storage spaces you are going to require before buying your furniture.
Your furniture should full fill your demand in both function and design-wise. Buying something just because it looks good is not a wise choice. There are so many spaces in our room that can be utilized as undisguised storage; they won’t affect the overall look of the room.
Ottoman or Poufs with hidden storage in them is one such example, they are a great way to store your books, electronics, or other stuff that you don’t require frequently. Look out for open spaces, like wall shelves they surely look good when decorated handsomely.
But they are difficult to maintain tidy, so it’s best if they are hidden, unless you are a neatnik person handling glass displays and open racks can be a troublesome job.
Forgetting about plants
To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow. If you wish to give a makeover to your place, plants should be your first preference. They bring luxury, aesthetics, and liveliness to space.
The most common disbelief is that plants are hard to maintain and are not suitable for indoors, well, this blog may help change your view.
A recent study shows that plants make living room more interesting, cheerful, welcoming, and less stressful. Some of the better suiting plants for indoors are
- Snake plant – Low maintenance air purifying plants, let with soil to dry between watering, place them in indirect light.
- Rubber plant – Absorb airborne chemicals and also stinky or unpleasant odours, let the top 2- 3 inches of soil dry before re-watering them.
- Aloe Vera plant – Easy growing with little effort, mild sunshine and moist soil is enough for this plant to grow. Excellent for home remedies, you can also keep them in bathrooms as decor.
- Areca Palm plant – With wide-spreading leaves, they are a great way to fill an empty corner. Let the soil dry a bit from the top before the watering
- ZZ Plant – Usually grows slowly to a height of two to three feet, accepts low light conditions, and is best to avoid direct sunlight. Best to water the plant less to avoid stem rotting.
- Pothos plants – Great way to decorate a shelf with a long pothos trail. Prefers indirect light and should have soil dried out between watering.
Balcony Decor
Ignoring your balcony is one of the most common mistakes people make, balconies should be utilized as an extension to your living space, other than just to dry out your laundry.
There is n number of ideas to brighten up your patio. Start by purchasing easy maintaining plants, flowery plants are hard to maintain so begin with large leafy plants. Fairy lights are another quick trick to add drama to space, wire them in any way you like. You can buy cheap outdoor furniture online or you can DIY them yourself with wooden palette seats.
Utilize your floor space by placing a comfortable lounger in the corner, or a coffee table set to enjoy your coffee with the beautiful evening view. If your balcony observes too much sunlight, install sheer curtains to filter the light and or a canopy for a more cosy and comfortable setup.
Well, I hope this blog has given you some pointers to keep in mind next time you want to spice up your space. Another important aspect to keep in mind is to not follow the trends blindly. It will make your house appear outdated after a while. You want to keep things that you love and that creates a sense of belonging. We need to embrace uniqueness in each design, make something that you’ll admire every time you walk in the space.