I still remember some of the key decorating mistakes I made when I first started decorating my own space. If you’re about to move or just dipping your toes into the world of interior styling, I hope sharing my experience can help you sidestep some common pitfalls. Think you’ve already got a handle on home decorating? This might not be for you. But if you’re just starting out, think of this as a few friendly home decorating tips from someone who’s been there.
1. You Don’t Have a Core Concept
Before you buy a single thing, you need a clear vision for your space. What’s the vibe? Are you aiming for a warm, natural Scandinavian feel? A clean, modern look with metallic accents? Or maybe a cozy, plant-filled “planterior”?
Decide on a general theme and then dive deep into gathering inspiration. Spend time on Pinterest, Instagram, and home decor blogs. Find a “role model” home that you love and try to emulate that style. A key tip here is to look for spaces with similar conditions to your own—think about square footage, layout, and natural light. If you just start buying things because they look “pretty” on their own, you’ll end up with a collection of nice items that somehow feel disjointed together. Trust me, I learned that the hard way. For anyone interested in home decor for beginners, home decorating mistakes often start right here with no clear concept.
If you’re completely lost, starting with a white interior is always a safe bet. It’s timeless, makes the space feel larger, and serves as a perfect canvas if you decide to change styles later.
2. Buying the Expensive Furniture First
If you haven’t fully mapped out your home’s design, buying that pricey statement piece is a recipe for regret. This is one of the classic home decorating errors. Interior trends change, and so will your personal taste. Be incredibly thoughtful before investing in high-end furniture. It’s not just about the initial cost; expensive items are notoriously difficult to resell. For the same reason, be cautious with boldly colored furniture. It’s best to save the big-ticket items for when you have a more developed eye for what truly works in your space.
3. Buying Everything at Once
The excitement to create a beautiful home quickly can lead to a major mistake: buying everything at the same time. An item can look perfect in a showroom or online, but feel completely wrong once it’s actually in your home.
Before you click “buy,” do your homework. Try photoshopping the product into a picture of your room. Scour the internet for every review, blog post, and social media tag you can find. Once you feel confident, buy one thing at a time. See how it looks and feels in your space. Does it harmonize with your other pieces? Does it match the vision you had? If it’s a clear winner, then you can bring in similar items. This slow, deliberate approach saves a lot of headaches. Home decorating is a marathon, not a sprint.
4. Ignoring the “Basic” Items
When I was a total beginner, I had this quirky insistence on being unique. “I don’t want anything that’s too common,” I’d think. I quickly learned that there’s a reason popular items are popular: they work. They photograph well and generally don’t have major flaws. That’s why they sell so well—they appeal to a wide range of people.
If you see a popular product with a lot of negative reviews, remember it’s often because the sheer volume of buyers is high. Of course, if your goal is a truly unique, personalized interior, that’s fantastic! But that often requires a level of skill and artistic sense that takes time to develop. For beginners, a popular item is often a reliable choice. Plus, they’re much easier to sell later if you decide to change things up.
5. Getting Discouraged by “Perfect” Homes on Social Media
You scroll through Instagram and see an endless parade of stunning, perfectly curated homes. It’s easy to feel a pang of envy and then a wave of discouragement. Your own space can suddenly feel inadequate.
Let’s be real: you can’t snap your fingers and move into a bigger, better house or afford a full-scale renovation overnight. The best thing you can do is accept your current reality and shift your mindset. The true masters of styling can create beauty in any environment, whether it’s through clever DIY projects or mastering photo editing. Look for inspiration from people who have a basic space but have styled it with incredible flair. They are the ones with the real-world tips.
6. Not Considering Your Space and Layout
In my early days, I believed bigger was always better when it came to furniture and appliances. I’d measure, of course, but I failed to grasp how massive an item can feel once it’s actually inside your home. This is a common home decor mistake for beginners. A sofa that takes up an entire wall will make your room feel cramped, especially if it’s a dark color. Always account for negative space—the room you need for side tables, lamps, or simply to walk around comfortably.
Conversely, if you have a large home, small furniture will make it feel empty and sparse. This is exactly why finding a “role model” home with a similar size and layout is so crucial before you start decorating.
7. Forgetting About Future Rearranging
If you’re interested in home decor, chances are you’ll get the itch to rearrange your furniture at some point. To give yourself that flexibility, avoid pieces that are designed for a specific spot, like a sectional with a fixed chaise or a large L-shaped desk.
The same goes for permanent installations. Drilling into walls to hang shelves, lights, or art can limit your options later. If you decide to move a piece of furniture, you’re left with a hole in the wall and a fixture that might not work anywhere else. It’s better to tackle those kinds of projects once your decorating skills—and your confidence in your layout—have leveled up.
8. Lacking Clear Priorities
Before you shop, you must decide what matters most. Is it price? Brand? Durability? Aesthetics? Often, you’ll find yourself in a dilemma. One item is affordable and practical but lacks brand appeal. Another is perfect in every way but the price. Choosing a compromise that sits somewhere in the middle often leads to a purchase that is truly satisfying in no category.
Think hard about your non-negotiables and stick to them. From my experience, it’s better to be 99% satisfied in one key area than 50% satisfied in all of them. That’s the choice that leads to less regret.
9. Asking the Wrong People for Advice
Beginners, especially newlyweds furnishing their first home, can feel indecisive. The natural instinct is to ask friends for advice. The mistake lies in asking someone whose style and priorities are completely different from your own.
Imagine you want an influencer-inspired, trendy home. You show a high-end, popular item from Instagram to your wonderfully practical friend who is a master of budgeting but has little interest in interior design. What will they say? “Why would you spend so much on that? You’ll have kids one day and they’ll just ruin it. Just get something cheap and sturdy.” They’re not wrong, but their valid advice can steer you away from the home you truly want to create. One of my best home decor tips is to filter advice based on the source and stay true to your own vision.
10. Ignoring Your Gut Feeling
Even after careful consideration, you might bring an item home and just… get a bad feeling about it. A little warning light goes off in your head. Ignoring that gut feeling is a fast track to a bigger disaster.
For example, you buy a dining table that just doesn’t work with your kitchen. But returning it is a hassle, and you think, “Maybe I can make it work.” So you start buying new chairs, a new light fixture, and a new cabinet to match the ill-fitting table. Suddenly, you’re deep in a design swamp that’s hard to escape from. Even if it feels painful to undo a decision, it’s far better to cut your losses early. Get rid of the table that doesn’t work. Your future self—and your wallet—will thank you.
Final Thoughts
All ten of these points come from my own trial and error. By sharing these common decorating mistakes, I hope your path to creating a beautiful space is smoother. If you’re just starting your decorating journey, I hope you can learn from my mistakes before they become your own. Otherwise, you might end up like me—buying every piece of furniture twice and feeling stressed every time you look around your home.
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