Everyone has their little pet peeves. When I walk into a friend’s house, I make a conscious effort not to critique their space unless they ask me to. But, there are certain things that scream at me. As soon as I am asked, I gladly share the 3 things that can make their space go from design blunder to beautiful!
1) Rugs
Placing a small postage stamp in the middle of your living room/dining room/bedroom does not look nice. I get it, rugs can be expensive. But, it would be better to go without a rug, than one that is too small. The purpose of a rug, besides injecting color and pattern to a room, is to anchor your space. There is no anchoring, when it’s floating out in the middle of a room. Really, a small, floating rug, is an island to itself.
You want it to relate to your furniture arrangement. If you are using one in a living room, place the front legs of your sofa and chairs on it. This anchors it, and also gives you an idea of the size you really need. Unless your living room has a loveseat as your only sofa, a 4 x 6 rug, is probably too small. Usually, I like to spec 8 x 10 rugs. Going larger can actually make your space feel larger, because you have a larger uninterrupted floor space.
I actually like using this photo, because the space is amazing, but the rug is tiny. The decorator actually addressed the rug size issue later, by placing a larger rug underneath this one. Now, with the rug underneath this one, the small rug relates well to the proportion of the TV stand, and the bottom rug grounds the space. source
2) Artwork
Please, please please, do NOT hang your artwork near the top of the wall near the ceiling. The whole purpose of artwork is to decorate your space and tie it into your interiors. You do this by hanging it in relation to your furniture. The back of your sofa is approximately three feet high. So your artwork, depending on the size, should be closer to it than the ceiling!
Ideally, your artwork should be hung at five feet to the center of the picture. I think we can usually blame those tall men for hanging things too high, as their line of site IS higher. But, like I mentioned before, the higher it is, the less it relates to the surrounding furniture. We all want our rooms to look polished, right? Just go with me here and hang it lower.
3) Drapes
I get why this is a hard one. You go to Target and they don’t even sell drapes long enough for a room that has eight foot ceilings. But, here is the deal. You want your drapes to give an illusion of larger windows. You do this by hanging your drapes close to the ceiling, framing the window (not covering it) and make sure they flow all the way to the floor. Drapes that are too short are like putting on a nice pair of work slacks, but making them three inches too short. It just doesn’t look right.
If you are working with shorter drapes, this is where you either have to be creative and add a panel to your them. Do you have fabric that you love? Contact a seamstress or you sew your own. If you want to find something less expensive, find a store that sells 96” long panels. I promise you there are stores that do.
You might be wondering why I noted not to cover your windows, but to frame them. I have not seen too many spaces, that have too much natural light. By hanging them so the edge of the drapes barely cover the edge of the window, you are not blocking any light, which means you are maximizing your natural lighting.
Now, I don’t go into a client’s home, or even a friend’s house, and blast them for these things. In fact, if they are things that are in their space and they do not have plans to get rid of them, I help them to see how we could repurpose them to make their room look it’s best. It’s all about education. When you look at a professionally decorated room, you will see all of these things applied.
So what do you think? Have you ever committed any of these design blunders? Are there things you need to change in your interiors? Is this new information to you?
My blunder is symmetry. I have to have the same size and number of object on each side. It’s a tough blunder to overcome!
Hi Laura, Ha, ha, I don’t think symmetry counts as a blunder! Usually, symmetry makes a space feel more formal.
If you are wanting to try something different for your artwork, stay tuned for the next few Monday’s Moments, because I am going to address hanging artwork.
Wow! These are great tips!!
I hope they help, Alicia!
I’ve noticed that you don’t do something that most of us regular people do and that is overload a room. It isn’t that I’m into minimalism, I’m not, and I like cozy, but I think some people put too much in a room and the eye has no serene place to rest; the mind is overwhelmed. Besides, for myself, I don’t want to dust anymore than I have to which is why I like the cloche on your table. It is much easier to dust a cloche than the little things within it. I don’t like moving a zillion things to vacuum the floor. I need wash and wear rooms.
I do find that when rooms are photographed, they either need a little more “fill” or they need to be minimalist. I hear you on the dusting thing. I’ve always loved how you display your vignettes!