Interior Design Mistakes to Avoid

The concept of interior design isn’t as easy as it may seem. If you are a beginner designing your home, you will quickly come to realise this. You must understand how lighting, room size, scale, and colour, among other things, all relate and rely on each other in a home. When done correctly, interior design can optimise the space in your home and make it more functional and aesthetically pleasing.

The Importance of a Home with Good Interior Design - 

Good interior design introduces both comfort and style into your home and transforms your living space into a heavenly abode. When designed right, the interior of your home can improve the functionality and appeal of it. A stylish house affects the mood of your home and its occupants positively as it always ensures a constant and natural circulation of fresh air in the interiors. It makes you feel happy and satisfied. It also creates a successful first impression for guests by infusing character and personality into your home. If you were ever to sell your home, good interior design increases the resale value of your home as the prospective buyers will not have to spend more energy and time adding to it or completely revamping it later on.

There are many interior mistakes to avoid room-wise. We have a list of tips to make sure you steer clear of these mistakes and correct them in case the deed is already done.

Mistakes to Avoid - The Living Room

• Avoid only using furniture from one collection for the whole room. Copying the layout straight from the catalogue with give your living room a showroom feel and will not feel warm or homely.
• Do not choose a piece of furniture that doesn’t go with the rest of the room. Picking the wrong furniture size or something that doesn’t match will create unbalance in your living space.
• Avoid using rugs that are smaller than your furniture sets. Rugs that are larger than the sofa or coffee table fit into a room better and look much neater. 
• Make sure to have a flexible interior design style that can be easily adapted to give the room a new look. This is more cost and time effective.
• Do not use too many décor accessories to avoid a cluttered and overwhelming living room. 
• If you have a feature wall in your living room, don’t use too many photo frames as it can look asymmetrical in design and overwhelming to the eyes. 

Tips To Correct These Mistakes

• Use a mixture modern and vintage furniture in your living room to create a personalised look.
• Make your living room practical and functional by choosing fabrics and rugs that can withstand wear and tear and are comfortable. 
• Remember to take the height, length, and clearance space of your furniture pieces into account so that they measure well with the room. 
• Place your accent chairs and sofa in the centre of the living room to balance the overall layout.
• Use a combination of one general light, a task light and some mood lights in the living room. 
• For smaller living spaces, use compact furniture pieces with narrow armrests and thin legs so that there’s still room to move around.

Mistakes to Avoid - The Dining Room

• Avoid a dull dining room by withholding from not giving much thought to the design. You don’t want this room to lack life, character, or personal touch but it often happens.
• Avoid seating options that are uncomfortable or inconvenient for you and your guests. Don’t leave little to no room to sit down and get up from your seat.
• Don’t hang jewel ceiling lamps and chandeliers too low from the ceiling in case it becomes unsafe and impractical. 
• Avoid curtains that are the same size and colour as the dining room walls. It can make the room look small and bleak.
• If adding a rug, avoid ones smaller than your dining table. A dining space with a rug that is smaller than the dining table area serves no purpose and looks aesthetically incomplete. 

Tips To Correct These Mistakes



• Add light and colour to your dining room with fresh flowers or have a feature wall with a single colour or pattern to bring the space to life. 
• Choose comfortable chairs that are in sync with the height of the dining table so that postures are correct. Leave a sufficient amount of space between your dining set and the wall or other furniture to avoid being cramped.
• Hang a pendant light with a dimmer over your dining table so that it acts as a spotlight as well as a task light in the room. Remember not to hang it too low.
• Use different sized curtains to add depth and life to the dining room. Choose shorter curtains to overlap the floor-length curtains.
• Larger rugs looks more aesthetically pleasing and are completely functional. 

Mistakes to Avoid - The Bedroom

• Don’t overlook the headboard and linen as the bed takes up a lot of space in a bedroom and will be a feature piece.
• Avoid decorating your bedroom with just one colour or texture, or on the other end of the scale, with overly bright colours. 
• Avoid a bedside table that is too small or too far away. This will result in you feeling a bit off when reaching out to grab something that’s kept on it.
• Don’t forget to make the necessary window treatments to block the bright sunlight coming inside too early in the morning and inside light going out during the night.
• Avoid longer curtains in the bedroom that sweep the floor as they can look untidy and become dirty quickly.
• Avoid cluttering your bedroom with too much furniture. It will drastically reduce the free space for walking and feel claustrophobic. 
• Avoid a wardrobe with hinged doors that you cannot open fully due to other furniture, such as the bed. It implies bad designing and makes it difficult to access your things.

Tips To Correct These Mistakes

• Choose an offbeat fabric for your bed’s headboard that still matches the theme of your bedroom. Use soft linens and duvet covers and a bedside table close to the level of the top of your mattress. It will help to accentuate the décor of the room.
• Add some texture and natural, muted colours on the wall to give your bedroom a timeless and calm vibe. When designing your room think about how you will be relaxing and sleeping there – you want to keep it peaceful.
• Using a mix of both sheer and blackout curtains will balance out the light in the room. The curtains in your bedroom should be short for easier maintenance and sleekness.
• Ambiance is very important in a bedroom and lighting is key in creating this. To create the perfect atmosphere, a combination of light sources would be effective. Use dimmers and bedside/floor lamps to create the desired effect for a good night’s sleep. 
• Having a soft, layered rug below your bed so that you can avoid stepping on the chilly floor in the mornings is a good idea. 
• Add furniture that is functional, provides you with storage space and gives an illusion of a cleaner and additional space. A sliding wardrobe in a small bedroom will maximise efficiency and space utility. 

Mistakes to Avoid - The Kitchen

• Avoiding an all-white kitchen is often a good idea as you could risk having a very cold and boring room. 
• Don’t paint too many cabinets in a dark colour as this can be overwhelming and make your kitchen look smaller.
• Avoid adding obstruction the kitchen work triangle (sink, fridge, and stove). A kitchen with any obstruction in its work triangle will reduce efficiency. It can also lead to kitchen accidents if the distances between are short.
• Avoid placing your utility items such as the washing machine and dryer in the kitchen if possible. This disturbs the hygiene of the space and will make the kitchen busier and nosier. 
• Do not fit high cabinets in kitchens with lower ceilings as this will shrink the perception of space.
• Avoid having too many items displayed on countertops as it looks untidy and unappealing.

Tips To Correct These Mistakes

• Patterns go well in a kitchen but don’t overdo it. Add textures and colours throughout – on the wall, floor, cabinets.
• One idea is to use a dark colour for base cabinets and a lighter colour for upper cabinets to give an open look to your kitchen space.
• Follow the kitchen work triangle layout where the fridge, cooker and sink are opposite each other. They should have considerable distance between them for easier movement.
• Your kitchen needs proper ventilation and lighting since all the meal preparation activities generate heat and residue. Without proper ventilation or lighting, the space becomes non-functional. Placement of the kitchen windows will determine the amount of sunlight and ventilation in the space.
• If you have a large space, add a kitchen island. It creates storage and can serve as a countertop for preparing food or eating meals.
• For maximum storage uses, use blind corner cabinets, swivels or ‘Lazy Susan’ turntables to provide easy access on the ground level, and use open shelving or shelving with shutters on the upper cabinet area.

Mistakes to Avoid - The Bathroom

• Avoid cluttering the bathroom with your personal care items. Do not leave everything out and visible when you’re not using them as the space will look scattered.
• Avoid insufficient lighting to carry out the everyday bathroom-related tasks in your bathroom.
• Don’t use shiny tiles in the bathroom as it can increase the risk of slips and accidents. 
• Make sure not to compromise the functionality over the aesthetic of the space. 
• Avoid mirrors and tubs that are too high and toilets that are too low. This is not functional for shorter and older people.
• Avoid using too many colours in the bathroom as it can be unpleasant and overwhelming to the eyes. Bathroom should be clean and sleek.
• Don’t forget to consider the existing plumbing points in the bathroom as leaving the wires exposed will result in an increased risk of shocks and will not look good. 

Tips To Correct These Mistakes

• Make sure your bathroom has the proper storage it needs, whether it’s open shelves, deep drawers, or a caddy, for example. You need space to organise toiletries, towels and other items without them being left out and creating visual clutter.
• Have multiple lighting sources in your bathroom coupled with a window for the natural sunlight and fresh air & ventilation. Your bathroom should be airy and bright.
• Choose rough or matte floor tiles for safety purposes – you don’t want anyone slipping and falling. Alternatively, use a washable rug held in place w.ith carpet tape if you already have slippery tiles
• Shower curtains need to be hung high up to add more depth. Choose fun shower curtains to liven up your bathroom or choose a glass shower door to create an illusion of a bigger space.
• Incorporate colour into a neutral bathroom to make it look more fun rather than splashing it entirely in vibrant colours or making it completely white and cold. 
• Get a plumber to cover exposed electrical wires if you have any to ensure the safety of those using the space.