Our team is always here to help and we love guiding our clients through their design experience. But we know there are times you want to stand on your own two feet.
Here are some helpful tips to avoid the most common decorating mistakes:
1. Not doing a floor plan first.
Before you go furniture shopping do a room floor plan and take it along. Don’t forget to include where outlets are and, obviously, window and openings. Indicate door swings and trims. It will save you from a ton of expensive mistakes. If it’s not something you feel you can handle yourself, have a designer create one for you.
Our Desert Residence remodel required fine attention to detail and many hours determining the best layout for their primary suite. The final result? An inviting and functional bedroom with plenty of designated areas for lounging and relaxation.
2. Selecting and painting your walls prior to figuring out fabrics.
Fabrics are limited, but there is an infinite choice of paint colors. Even if you are just doing white, keep in mind that there are ton of shades of white and you don’t want the one you select to be just off.
Concept boards for our South Lake Union remodel were so helpful for visualizing color integration.
3. Purchasing the wrong scale.
Keep the size of your room and the size of the rest of your furniture in mind when you are shopping. A giant sofa with an overly small lounge chair will throw your entire room off balance.
Large living room at our Medina remodel made a perfect home for this sitting area. The selected pieces would seem obtuse in a smaller space however in this living room the scale is perfect resulting in a refined design.
4. Buying your forever furniture before you determine how you want to live in a space.
It would be a shame if you bought a dining table that sat 4 and then realized your kids always invite friends. Or, you pick up a small lounge chair and then realize that spot is your favorite reading corner.
The most comfortable and functional family room for entertainment and gathering at our Lake Washington remodel.
5. Hanging art too high.
Your art should hang somewhere between sitting and standing eye level. It should “connect” with the furniture below it.
These are just a few tips and tricks we’ve learned throughout the years. Interior design is the gift that keeps giving and we love the challenge. What have you encountered in your design journey?
-BHE