Essentially EmmaMarie
Top Decorating Mistakes
I’d like to start off by saying, I am not here to point fingers! We all have had our less-than-stellar decorating moments. Some decor faux pas you may be aware of, other you may not. There may be a few sections in your house that you have a feeling that something isn’t quite right but you just keep hoping that if you ignore it may fix itself…
Feeling Off
Do you have a spot in your home that just doesn’t feel quite right? You just don’t quite like it. You think you need to repaint, or reupholster an item, or buy something new, but even when you do these things you still don’t like it, then something is definitely off. Here are a few of the top mistakes I’ve observed that can make a room feel off.
A Too Small Area Rug
An area rug should comfortably gather all your furniture together. What does that mean? It means at least the front two legs of all your furniture should rest on the rug—hopefully by at least six inches! Please do not leave a slight gap around the edge of your rug and the front of your furniture. If you think your rug is too small it will be worth the pain to pack it up, return it, and get a larger one. Trust me on this one—your rug is not going to grow! If your rug was very expensive or perhaps a one-of-a-kind vintage rug and is too small, try layering it over a larger rug. This will add depth to your home will allow you to keep your favorite rug.
Furniture placement
Speaking of furniture—don’t push it all back against the wall! This is something common that we do especially if your house isn’t huge. Pushing all your furniture back against the wall can backfire, making your room feel smaller rather than larger. If you can, pull at least a few pieces out from the wall by six inches or a foot. Try it!
Too Much Stuff
Are you a collector? Do you love an eclectic vibe? Collections are great but display them with care. If you don’t have a large collection that can be displayed together to really make a visual impact then display only portions of that collection at a time.
Likewise you may prefer a fuller room rather than a minimalist feel. Again that’s fine. Just make sure that you are:
· Displaying things that have meaning to you and aren’t just taking up space, and
· That you leave a clear walkway to create flow in the room.
White Space
Speaking of too much stuff, remember to leave some white space where your eye can rest. Even if you are a maximalist, there should be some space in each room where your eye can rest without being bombarded with stimulation. As I mentioned above, make sure there is a defined walk way to each area of the room. You want to be able to vacuum or have someone with a cane to be able to easily navigate your space, without having to move things first!
Too Many Cords
Electronic cords are part of modern day life but make sure they aren’t the focus of it! You want to hide as many cords as possible out of the way and out of sight. Try taping cords down the back of a console stand to keep them hidden. If possible, plug end-table lamps into an outlet behind or even under your couch. If you have a bunch of cords laying on the floor beneath your TV stand, try applying a few Command hooks to the back of your TV stand and loop the cords over the hook so the cords are hidden behind the TV stand and not on the floor underneath it.
Keeping Something You Hate
At some point we have probably all been given an item that we do not love; in fact we may hate it. If you never liked a piece don’t try to style around it. You could try painting or reupholstering it but if that doesn’t work then it is time to let it go. It’s okay if it was your great grandma’s—if you hate it, it is better to pass it along to someone who will love and cherish it as much as your great grandma did.
Trends
Maybe you have all the new trendy item displayed in your home; maybe you have a bunch of items that used to be trendy in your home—a long time ago! Either way, having too many trendy pieces in your home can make your home start to feel cheap. Add a few touches and ask yourself if you like the item because you like it, or if it’s because you liked it back when you bought it many years ago.
Curtains
Curtains are not to just cover your window. They are to be a statement! Hang the curtains within 4-6 inches of the top of your ceilings if you live in a standard 8-10 foot ceiling home. If you live in a house with very tall ceilings then I probably wouldn’t go more than 8 inches to possibly 10 inches above the window itself. See how low you can go; you can let them puddle (crease) on the floor with several inches on the floor for a romantic look; you can let them kiss (just grazing the floor) for a modern luxe look, or you can have them just hover about a centimeter above the floor which may be the best option if you have little kids, or rambunctious pets!
Add Character
Hotel rooms done by a designer are nice, but they are just that—a place where you swing by and stay for a day or two before departing. Your home should not feel like that. You want to add character to your home. Add a few pieces of art that you simply adore. Add a few pictures of your family. (Just don’t go overboard with too many everywhere!) Display the weird knickknack that no one other than you knows what it is—this is your home and if you love it, it should be displayed.
Other Posts You May Enjoy:
How to Create A Vignette for Any Room in Your Home
How to Make Your Home Timeless
Disclosure
Please remember that this post contains affiliate links; that means if you click on the link, I will make a small commission at no extra cost to you. It’s a way to support my blog! I will only ever share an affiliate link if I love the product and think that you just might love it too!
Spring and Easter Vignette Ideas
Last week I talked about how to refresh your home for spring (see that post here); this week I am bringing you a few ideas of how to create a spring or Easter vignette for your home. If you aren’t sure what a vignette is, be sure to check out my posts: Vignettes for any room in your home, and Vignettes: Tell me a story. A vignette is just a grouping or gathering of items, arranged together in a manner that is pleasing to the eye. Here is how to create a spring or Easter vignette
How to Decorate for Spring and Refresh Your Decor for 2022
We have made it to March- my officially least favorite month of the year. March is the month when we get our first few nice days and I decide I’m ready for spring weather in the 60s, and then it decides to snow again. Given this tug of war that the weather plays on us it quickly begins to feel like spring linger on forever, but never really arrives… However, while I may have to wait for spring outside, it can be spring inside my home! I have decided to start decorating for spring!
Top Decorating Mistakes
I’d like to start off by saying, I am not here to point fingers! We all have had our less-than-stellar decorating moments. Some decor faux pas you may be aware of, others you may not. There may be a few sections in your house that you have a feeling that something isn’t quite right but you just keep hoping that if you ignore it may fix itself… While your decor may not magically fix itself below I have listed a few of the most common decorating mistakes. Check yourself and if you find yourself guilty of any of these don’t worry- just fix them!
How to Make Your Home Timeless
I love history, I love vintage items, and I love using vintage and antiques in my decor. But, I also think this is something everyone should do. Few and far between are the homes that can’t benefit from a few touches from the past. You may not want to add so many that your home starts to feel like an antique shop, but sprinkling in a few vintage pieces here and there will give your house a collected feeling and depth that you simply can’t buy at the nearest chain store.
Dresser Makeover Inspiration and DIY
We are in the process of setting up a nursery for our first child! It has been so much fun to think of all the possibilities to decorate a room for a new little one, and of course there is some specialized furniture we will be needing; namely a changing table. We had an old dresser that had been given to us but which we didn’t have an immediate need for so it had been living in the basement. However, it is shorter in height, and longer in width, making it the perfect size for a changing table. There was just one problem- it looked a little dated. It was time for some repurposing for this old dresser!
Tips To Make Your Home (and your life) Run Smoother This Year!
How is your new year going thus far? Are you sticking with all the new commitments you said you wanted to do this year? Or are you struggling? If you are anything like me and enjoy a quieter start to the year, where you slowly start to focus on things that a cumulative effect th throughout the year then read on for a few of the tips that I have accumulated over time to help give me back some of my time and streamline some of life’s most mundane tasks in areas such as meal planning, laundry, and developing and cleaning and tidying routine- you know, all the fun stuff!
How to Decorate Your Home for Winter
Christmas comes and goes so quickly but here in Pennsylvania winter does not go as quickly. I always feel a bit bereft after taking down the Christmas tree and all of my Christmas decorations at once, so I decided a while ago that I wouldn’t take it down all at once! Here it is cold and except for the sporadic snowfall, it is quite bare outside as well for months. I don’t want the inside of my house to feel bare as well! I want it to feel cozy- extra cozy! I want to decorate for winter, after all winter is a season too! Here are some ideas of how to decorate your home for winter.
Sweet Recipes for this Christmas Season
Growing up it never was officially Christmas until I went over to grandma and grandpa’s and there was peanut brittle in grandma’s crystal trifle dish, which everyone in the family called “The Peanut Brittle Dish”. When the peanut brittle appeared in the dish and grandma hung her little decoupages and dollars on the china cabinets handles, we knew that Christmas had arrived!