8 Biggest Decorating Mistakes People Made This Year—and What Designers Say You Should Do Instead

Even if you didn’t redesign your home this year, chances are you’ve faced a few decorating dilemmas. After all, we spend a lot of time in our spaces so we’re prone to wanting to shake things up every few months. Plus, our needs change with the seasons. In fall and winter we’re hosting big gatherings, and in spring we’re focusing on displaying our plant babies. Naturally, we’re bound to make some mistakes here and there.

We spoke with designers all year about some of the biggest decorating mistakes they see being made, so we listed them here, along with doable solutions. If you’ve made a couple of these, don’t worry—you can easily rectify the situation. Or don’t! Your home is all about creating a space that you love.

Picking Dining Furniture That’s Way Too Large

When we’re setting up a formal dining room, we’re imagining the big feasts we’ll hold there like Thanksgiving or some sort of elaborate Bridgerton-style dinner party. But, for the most part, our dining rooms are for our families, and we rarely have to seat 12 people. Sarah Malek Barney of BANDD Design notes that people tend to gravitate toward furniture that doesn’t really fit the space in order to shove in more seats. Instead, make sure you have three feet of walking space around a table, and if you are worried about the holidays, invest in an extendable table that you can bust out when you do have those big meals.

Leaving the House Plants Looking Ho-Hum

Keeping house plants well and alive is a big job, so we totally get it if you’ve found one variety you love and stuck to it. If you want to create visual interest, however, you should go a little wild with your choices, says Christopher Griffin, a plant-fluencer at @plantkween. “Choose greenery with different shapes, sizes, and textures,” Griffin says. To make it a little easier on yourself, consider pairing plants that need similar care (a pothos, spider, and monstera, for example).

Defaulting to All-White Bedding

Before you get upset, all-white bedding can be really chic! But Parachute owner, Ariel Kaye, notes that adding in color, whether it’s in a cool comforter, a patterned sham, or a bright throw blanket can add a lot of visual appeal. If the thought of bringing in color scares you, consider playing around with pieces in the different shades of the same color (like blush sheets, dusty rose shams, and a baby pink throw blanket).

Styling Bookshelves Wrong

No matter how many images you look at on Pinterest and Instagram, styling a bookcase can be a big challenge. Home stager Jason Saft of Staged to Sell Home has a few suggestions to help you out. First, avoid putting anything too big on the shelves. Generally, you want to leave about two inches between the top of an object and the bottom of the shelf above so that nothing looks crammed in. Secondly, get a little more random with your pieces. If you buy everything from the same shop, it tends to look impersonal, so instead, take your time and gradually collect things that feel meaningful to you.

Using Too-Tiny Rugs

People are going too big on dining furniture and too small on rugs! If you buy a rug that doesn’t fit your home properly, your space will seem off (and even a little messy). Designer Jacqui Seerman notes that, in most cases, you want at least the front legs of your furniture to be on the rug. “It’s like a picnic. You want everyone on the blanket, not on the grass,” she says. To determine the right rug size, set put your furniture in place and measure around it. If yours needs a bit of TLC, here’s how to clean an area rug.

Skipping Dimmers

“Every light should be on a dimmer,” says Joe Borress, president of Tri-Star Electric and Automation. Designers use lighting to create mood in a space, and dimmers make that possible. If you have some experience working with electrical stuff, you can install these yourself. If not, play it safe and call in your favorite electrician.

Crowding the Windows

It may seem counterintuitive, but you actually want to hang window treatments beyond the window frame. This gives the illusion of larger windows and taller ceilings. Adam Skalman of the Shade Store suggests extending the rod past the frame by a foot on each side and installing it just below the ceiling. Let the curtains hang all the way to the floor. For blinds, try mounting them outside of the frame as well.

Avoiding Upholstery

Upholstery can become a scary word when you’re talking about a home with kids, dogs, or adults who happen to spill their coffee all over the place at least once a week (guilty). But upholstered dining chairs or kitchen chairs make a room feel cozy. Barney suggests choosing pieces made with indoor-outdoor fabric that can withstand wear and tear. This material makes cleaning easier too—all you need to do is wipe up spills with a damp cloth!