7 decor mistakes people with style never make

People with good style typically own homes that are the envy of all their friends. These properties aren’t necessarily the most expensive or the most glamorous out there, but have great appeal because the interiors were crafted by someone with a good eye and a confident sense of their own style.

When it comes to the decor of your own home, it’s easy to get lost in all the possible combinations while trying to preserve some individuality and character. To guide your decisions here are seven mistakes people with fabulous style never make when it comes to their interior decoration.

Mistake #1- Shopping in one store.

While it may be easier to buy all your new homewares and furniture at your favourite one stop shop, consider checking out several different retailers. Each store usually follows a similar theme and style throughout their range season to season, so your whole place can end up looking cookie-cutter, one-dimensional and even a tad dull.

Buying items from several different stores is crucial to create a multi-layered home with interest and charm. Choose boutiques that source items from various parts of the globe or ones selling locally made designs which differ in craftsmanship and materials. Try combining famous brands with lesser known ones and expensive pieces with more affordable ones to foster your own unique look and visual appeal.

Mistake #2- Playing it safe.

There’s a comfort in playing it safe especially if you’re trying to stay within a tight redecorating budget, but making bold decisions doesn’t mean you need to spend a lot of money on your home decor. On the contrary, you can decide to be bolder with wall colour, for starters. Plus, you can repaint easily when you’re ready for a change.

If you opt for a bold shade of paint focus on finding decorations to soften and play up your colour choice. For example, a sophisticated colour combination right now is navy blue walls offset by shimmery gold accessories (think lamps, coffee tables and trinkets) and beige upholstered furnishings.

Mistake #3- Wrong proportions.

People with style have a special ability to mix and match different proportions for their furniture and accompanying accessories to add interest. The most common mistake people make choosing furniture is opting for items that are all the same height and scale. Using items of different sizes and shapes brings excitement to a room, makes a space feel more resolved and draws your eye to the key pieces that you want to stand out.

Never fit your home to your furniture, but try to reinvent the space by furnishing it. If you have low ceilings and a dark space elongate and lighten the room with sheer floor to ceiling drapes. If you’re still a rookie in the decorating world, use a measuring tape to get the proportions of your new furniture pieces just right. And in time and with some practice, you’ll be mixing and matching like a pro.

Mistake #4- Using white to make the space bigger.

Painting the walls white to create an illusion of more space is not the only tactic you can use to make a space feel more spacious and inviting nowadays. Dark colours are great for bringing out cosiness, warmth and elegance in your home. Even bathrooms can be decorated in darker shades like charcoal or navy blue for a sophisticated look.

If you do want to venture to the dark side with your wall colours, make sure you have enough natural light to support your choice because otherwise, it can end up looking dingy and feeling unpleasant.

Another solution to getting your paint colour right is to paint the walls last after you’ve selected your furniture and art. That way you will be able to choose the complementary palette and create an interesting colour scheme in your home.

Mistake #5- Making the TV the focal point.

The TV set is commonly used as the focal point when designing living rooms and even bedrooms, around which everything else is deliberately positioned, including people. Even though the world is becoming more and more technologically dependent, people with style place the focus on a beautifully styled coffee table, mantel or fireplace to create a homelier environment.

By positioning furniture around features other than the TV you’ll create a talking point, make a space feel more sociable and may even be able to create more room for guests and family members to gather, where TV viewing takes a back seat.

Mistake #6- Clinging to old furniture.

Stylish people aren’t afraid of the saying ‘out with the old, in with the new’ and have a well-developed ability to edit down their furniture and decor. There’s old furniture and there’s antiques, the difference should be clear to you before you decide to get rid of some pieces. Everything has an expiration date and sooner or later a once attractive or expensive piece of furniture can become worn, dated or maybe even obsolete.

If you’re too attached to an item for sentimental reasons but it just doesn’t go with your new decor consider putting it into a self-storage facility or maybe there’s an innovative way to upcycle the item. Getting rid of old items will help declutter your home, and make room for new and modern pieces that will dramatically lift and update the space.

Mistake #7- Copying internet trends.

It’s one thing to look for inspiration online, but being a slave to and copying home decor ideas blindly is something people with good style never do. Decorating is more than just putting a room together – it’s a matter of authenticity and being genuine in expressing yourself.

After all, the space belongs to you and you should decorate it to suit your own tastes and needs. Invest in crafting a home where you want to spend your free time and relax. Focus on creating comfortable, visually appealing spaces that will be your haven from the outside world and make you feel happy to come home to.

We hope these seven mistakes that people with good style never make help to inspire and guide you towards designing your own special and personalised attractive interiors.

For more inspiration and advice on how to go about decorating your place take a look at these decor styles perfect for small spaces or take our quiz: ‘Which interior design suits your personality best?’.