5 Mistakes to Avoid When Decorating Your House
Ready to switch things up and redecorate your house? Looking for tips on how to best do it? What about learning about what NOT to do? Let’s look at 5 common mistakes to avoid when decorating your house.
One: Painting as soon as possible
Giving a fresh coat of paint can be really tempting especially if you just moved into a new place (who just wants to give the room a complete refresh?! I DO I DO!). But before repainting everything, make sure to know how you are going to decorate the room, have all your furniture in place, and spend time really understanding the space you are working with. The Bees cannot stress this enough - LIVE in the space first - get to know your new house (you’re gonna sense a theme here….)
Do you know how it looks like throughout the day? Is it a bit too dark or is it bright enough? Is it a southern facing room that gets a lot of morning sun? Is it a northern facing room that is fairly dark throughout the day?
Make sure to also test the color on the wall beforehand to see how it reacts with the texture and the environment of the room. Sample, sample, sample! We can’t say it enough!
And don’t forget, you may decide you love a space so much, you’d rather wallpaper! BAM, now you’ve just gone next-level without wasting your time painting!
Two: Buying furniture too quickly
By trying to get everything done as quickly as possible, you might end up with a decor that isn’t what you were looking for, and furniture you don’t actually love. Kylie preaching here: I did this. I let my wonderful husband talk me into a sofa that he SWORE was his dream sofa. And I felt like I needed to give in (let’s be honest, he lives with me. He doesn’t usually get much of a choice….). But I let him do it. And boy did I regret it. (On a bright note, it was moved to a less prominent area of the house so that it still gets used and I don’t feel the need to divorce him. Love you, honey!)
Never buy furniture in a rush. Go see them once, twice, picture them in your living room. Sit on them. Is the depth right for your body type? Are the cushions comfortable enough but also supportive? How are you going to sit on it? Laying down? Watching tv? Don’t buy everything at once but incorporate things into your decor step by step. This way you will really be able to put furniture and decorative pieces together that highlight one another instead of overpowering them.
It will feel way more finished and well thought out if you take the time to live in the room and let it guide you to what you need next.
And bonus: the longer it takes, the more you get to enjoy the decorating process!!!! (And have an excuse to buy a new piece every once in a while!)
If you ask my seven year old, she’ll tell you how she’s ALREADY embarrassed by her mother because there have been two occasions already where I’ve literally grabbed old chairs off the side of the road that were destined for the dump. I stashed them into the back of my car, much to Penny’s disdain. New upholstery and BAM. Brand new chair (yes, I’m talking about the flower chair below - it was a trash chair!!! Right?! Oh, and my dog Crouton says hello.)
One question we always get asked: how to start? Great question - A FLOOR PLAN!!! A fully vetted floor plan to scale will let you see how it will lay out and then you know what sizes of furniture to buy. (If you need some furniture layouts done, reach out here! We do furniture layouts all the time for people who just need to know the sizes of pieces to buy! It’s SO valuable and it keeps our clients from making costly mistakes later!)
Crouton says hello. Also, NONE of these pieces were purchased together. Each one was brought in at a different time. Yes, the flower chair was a dumpster chair that I grabbed off the side of the road and reupholstered. I’m not ashamed to admit it.
Three: Try to make everything match
OMG we can’t preach this enough: DON’T try to be matchy matchy! You know those living room sets where you get everything all at once and it all looks the same? Seems nice and easy, right? Buy all the furniture from the same set at the showroom and you’re done, right? Avoid falling into that trap. If it will give a uniform look to your room it will also lack originality.
Furniture pieces don’t need to perfectly match in order to go well together. A curated collection of different furniture will bring a more modern and thoughtful look to your space.
And don’t overlook consignment shops for vintage chairs that can be reupholstered. Or Facebook Marketplace in your area. There are amazing antique shops that you can visit in our area! Bonus: it saves our planet by keeping large pieces out of the landfills! GO GREEN!
Here are some of our favorite places to shop:
Holliston Antiques - follow them on IG for the latest things being brought in! Al gets the best stuff there - we’ve scored so many amazing pieces for our clients at his shop! Check out the picture below - Al had two side tables by Kittinger - WOW. We repainted them with a Shackteau paint and BAM - brand new piece! (Oh, and that’s Thunder Bolt Lightning - cutest troublemaker kitty in the world.)
Ramble Market - Ramble Market has a great array of mid-century pieces mixed in with European style antiques. There’s a ton of art to see and there’s a HUGE rug emporium with new antique rugs being brought in each day!
Furniture Consignment Gallery - with three locations throughout Massachusetts, there are SO many things to choose from. And they’re always getting new and great items!
Four: Adding plants at the last minute
If you didn’t read our last blog, then take a quick detour and read it here!! We did a whole rundown of plants that even a self-proclaimed “Black Thumb” can handle (yes, I’m referring to myself). We partnered with Seed to Stem in Worcester for a quick “how-to” on beginner houseplants.
If you want plants to be a part of your decor (and we recommend you to as it really adds a lot of positive energy to the room….and they are living things that don’t talk back like my kids), don’t wait till the last minute when everything else already has a spot. Plants can really have an important space in your decor if you let them play their role.
Make sure to save a spot for them in the room when you are redecorating and pick plants that you can take care of properly. And remember, don’t worry if you don’t have a green thumb, you can get low-maintenance plants such as ferns or pothos. I have graduated myself to a fiddle-leaf fig….and it feels like I am a true plant mom now! (Public Service Announcement, my fiddle-leaf fig is still alive after 4 weeks. I feel like a hero). Check out our last blog post about how to choose the right plant for the right spot in your home!
Buying small rugs
By having a rug that is too small for the room, you are missing on a great opportunity to create a cozy and inviting atmosphere. Placing a large rug under your couch or a table will help make the space feel bigger. The rug creates then a focal point and helps define the area better.
Layering multiple rugs is a great idea if one of your rugs is too small but you don’t want to get rid of it.
ALWAYS make sure the furniture is sitting on the rug - either all the way on the rug or just partly off of it. Otherwise, it’ll look too skimpy!!!
The Bees love antique rugs and we find some of the best ones through our favorite shops like Ramble Market in Waltham or Landry & Arcari in Framingham! But you have to go digging a bit sometimes for that perfect rug. Wanna hear my personal story of how I found my 100-year old vintage beauty? Check out the full story here.
Whether you are moving to a new place and need to redo everything, or you want to give your home a fresh look, don’t rush it! Learn from these common mistakes and take time to understand the space you are working with better. If you need any help and support, contact us today!