Avoiding Costly Interior Design Mistakes
Complete your Interior Design projects without making costly mistakes.
Armed with a Pinterest board, many homeowner DIY’ers embark on improving a space in their home with the thought, “how hard can it be to copy a photo?”
Join our FREE 5-day “Improve your Room Challenge”
for design tips and tricks to avoid costly mistakes in your home improvement project.
In our over 18 years in business, many a time we’ve been called in to figure out and fix aesthetic mistakes on a home improvement project.
Can’t you just copy a photo from a magazine? It is not that simple, really. Your room is an art composition. Just like an artist creates a composition when he paints, a designer creates a composition when she designs a room. Each decision you make when designing your composition leads you to the available options for the next decision. And mistakes cost exactly the same as making the right choice the first time.
The funny thing is – most people can see it when a mistake is made, they know its not right, they just don’t know how to fix it. And sometimes there is no budget left to fix it. So…if you want to tackle your home improvement project on your own, let me give you some tools to help avoid potential pitfalls.
Our objective with every job we do is to blend 3 things.
1. What the client is asking for
Every home project needs to be designed first and foremost with a style the homeowner loves. This includes color, style, comfort, and functionality. Your space needs to work for you. This means you’re comfortable in the space, there is enough room to accomplish the tasks of the room and the color palette makes you happy, or peaceful, or excited - whatever the goal is for the space. Your room needs to support you in your life.
2. What the home is asking for
You can’t ignore the style of your home. There are many ways to create a curated look in homes of different styles to have the look you are going for, but you do have to pay attention to the style of your home. For example, if you put mid-century modern furniture in a large oversized traditional room with tons of molding and formal detail – it will look out of place. The lines are too clean, the scale too small for a room as described. There are ways to blend different styles to get a unique look but that is best left to a professional who understands the elements of design. For a DIY’er keep in mind that there needs to be some connection of your interior space to the style of the architecture of the home. Taking this a step further – don’t ignore the existing finishes that are not changing. The brick on the fireplace, the color of the floor, the tile backsplash are examples of areas where you must either connect or blend your new selections or consider when those items will be updated. Otherwise, even if your update is amazing, you’ll always see the dated element in the room as out of place.
3. What is trending in Interior Design
We are all influenced by trends and what is current. The more we see a look, the more we start to connect with what’s new and updated. This also comes into play when you source materials for your projects as colors and materials are constantly changing and updating. One tip I give my clients for creating a more timeless look is to consider what is a relevant style to the geographical area they live in. When asked if the updated Arts and Crafts - American Farmhouse look is a trend, I say, it is definitely a trend BUT it is also a relevant style here in the Midwest because this is where the original historic style began. This means it’s a bit safer choice here as it has some connection to the overall style of this area.
Then and Now – midwestern farmhouse style
Our free 5-day “Improve your Room” challenge is packed full of tips like these. You’ll receive daily worksheets for 5 days straight that give you concepts to consider when doing your own home improvement projects.
And if you get stuck – keep in mind for a minimal investment, we can help you avoid costly mistakes with our 60 minute virtual consultation.
Good luck on your project!
Angie