10 Common Home Decor Mistakes

In this post – 10 common home decor mistakes to avoid when furnishing a home, plus some great interior design reference books.

As an interior design enthusiast, I’m constantly looking around my home and questioning my decor choices. Did I hang that picture too high? Is this rug the right size? Did I put the couch in the right spot? Sound familiar?

In this post I’m sharing our progress on furnishing our San Diego home along with some common decor mistakes that people make – myself included! I’m trying really hard to not make too many missteps when it comes to decor decisions, but it hasn’t always been smooth sailing. We still aren’t anywhere near done, but it’s fun to see progress happening. Hopefully these tips will help you avoid some common mistakes as you choose furnishings for your own home.

Pushing All Furniture Against the Walls

Rooms that have furniture glued to the walls can feel disconnected and tend to be less comfortable. I have avoided this common mistake for the most part, mostly because in the main living area of the home there really isn’t anywhere else to put furniture but in the middle of the room. The couch faces two chairs over a large round coffee table. This arrangement creates good traffic flow around the room and allows for a comfortable conversation area.

However, in our guest/office space, the furniture is situated against the walls in order to focus on the view.

Because this room doubles as both an office and a guest room, I needed to allow enough space in the center of the room for the fold-out bed.

The smaller size of the room, coupled with it being open on one side, created a situation where having the furniture along the walls makes sense.

There will be an office suite along the far wall where the outlets are. For more details on the guest room/office plan you can check out this post. If you’re curious as to how we will use this room as a guest room, see this post on how we used IKEA curtain rails to create a room divider.

Choosing Style Over Comfort

A sleek chair might look great in your living room, but if no one wants to sit on it, what’s the point? Always test furniture for comfort. Your home should not only look good—it should feel good to live in. It was important for us to visit Arhaus in person and actually sit on all of the pieces we ordered to check for comfort. You probably wouldn’t buy a car without test driving it. The same is true for “test driving” furniture whenever possible.

This rule was a little trickier for me because I really wanted this home to have a more formal style – one I’ve dubbed “modern coastal luxe”. It was tempting to choose style over function and comfort, but I think we managed to achieve both. We chose a deep cozy sofa and two barrel chairs. The sofa is covered in a fine boucle and and the barrel chairs are a soft gray suede. We liked the contrast in the look and feel of the textures.

For our dining chairs, we opted for modern upholstered chairs from West Elm that offer good back support so we can sit comfortably and enjoy the view. They pair nicely with the glass dining table we found at All Modern. We were actually able to find an extension table made of glass. More about that adventure in a future post!

And, as I mentioned in a previous post about how to style a round coffee table, I like coffee tables that are substantial enough to put your feet up on! This table adds a rustic glam touch to the room.

Hanging Art Too High

This is one of the most frequent décor faux pas. A good rule of thumb is to hang a picture so that the center of it is about 57 to 60 inches from the floor. I used this measurement guide as a starting point when hanging these two art pieces, and then raised them a little until they “looked” right. I made sure that they visually “line up” with another print we have in our entry.

Neglecting Lighting Layers

You should try to incorporate a mix of ambient (general), task (functional), and accent (mood-setting) lighting to add warmth and depth to your rooms.

Our house has a TON of overhead lights. This is both good and bad. It’s good because we can light up just about any space with the flip of a switch. The bad part is that having all light sources shining down from the ceiling can feel harsh and unflattering. Where possible, I’ve added lamps around the house to soften the lighting, especially at night. I much prefer to have lamps on than relying solely on overhead lights.

This cute little lamp on our console table is rechargeable!

My favorite little lamp is this cute one on our kitchen counter. I’ll often leave it on in the evenings while we’re watching TV.

Candles are another way to add soft lighting to a space. These large gold metal floor candle holders from Arhaus were a splurge and I absolutely love them. The candles turn on and off automatically on a timer and cast a lovely glow in the evenings. They up the glam factor in the room for sure!

Using Rugs That Are Too Small

Choosing the right size rug can be challenging. A lot of people struggle with this, myself included. The most important thing to remember is that your area rug should be large enough so that at least the front legs of all your furniture rest on it—especially in living and dining areas.

For our main living area, I ordered a rug that seemed gigantic at the time – 14 x 10 feet! But once we rolled it out in the space, it turned out to be just the right size. The couch and both swivel chairs all sit on it comfortably without hanging off the edge.

In our guest/office area, we chose a rug that was smaller than we probably should have, at 9 x 6’. We were originally concerned that a future desk chair would get caught on it when trying to scoot it in and out, so we erred on the small side.

But – once the rug was here and the sleeper sofa arrived, I realized that rug was too small for the space, especially if I wanted our guests to have enough rug to walk on around the pullout bed.

This presented me with a chance to do something I’ve always wanted to try – layering area rugs. I found an 8 x 10 sisal rug that I could put under the gray rug to add some warmth and texture. Now the area around the sofa bed is more comfortable on bare feet, and the sisal adds some warmth and texture. So, if you find yourself with a rug that’s too small, try layering a larger one under it!

Overlooking Scale and Proportion

It’s easy to fall in love with a big, dramatic piece or a delicate little accent, but if the scale doesn’t fit the room, it can feel awkward. Balance large furniture with larger accessories, and save tiny décor for shelves or smaller nooks. Too many little knick knacks in a space can look cluttered.

The “Cantaloupe” Rule

One handy tip I learned is to follow the “cantaloupe” rule when choosing accessories for your home. The theory is that items smaller than a cantaloupe contribute to visual clutter. Thoughtfully choosing objects that are larger than a cantaloupe make a room feel more spacious and open. In this home, I am purposefully choosing larger accessories to keep clutter to a minimum.

Buying Everything from One Store

I have to admit, we’re guilty of this. We did get most of the furniture in our main living area from Arhaus. It was simpler to work with an in-house designer in the store than to try to source our furniture from multiple places, especially since we were furnishing the home long-distance. However, we made sure to choose a mixture of styles, fabrics and textures to keep the furniture from looking too matchy-matchy.

Ignoring Vertical Space

Don’t forget the walls! Shelving, art, mirrors, and vertical storage help draw the eye upward and can make a room feel taller and more dynamic.

It can be hard to choose art for a space. However, it’s better to choose less expensive mass-produced piece of art to hang as a “place holder” on your wall rather than live with a blank wall for years while you search for that perfect piece. Over time, you can rotate or replace your temporary art pieces with investment pieces if you have the means. Or, you may end up loving the inexpensive art you already own!

Most of the art in our beach home right now is from HomeGoods or came from one of our previous homes. I just picked up this oyster painting and another framed sliced agate piece at HomeGoods. I love the colors and patterns in sliced agates and I have incorporated them in our home in artwork, a side table, and coasters.

Thrift and consignment stores are also great places to find inexpensive and unique pieces of art.

Skipping Personal Touches

Your home should tell your story. Incorporate meaningful pieces—photos, travel finds, heirlooms—so your space reflects who you are, not just the latest trends. Right now our home is not as personalized as I would like it to be since we just moved in. That will naturally happen over time. I’m looking forward to adding more photos of our friends and family and along with mementos from our travels as time goes on.

Lack of a Cohesive Color Palette

Although color preferences are a personal choice, too many bold colors or clashing tones can make a home feel chaotic. Sticking to a consistent color scheme throughout a home and using accent colors will bring variety without losing harmony. Our home is filled with calm neutrals so as not to compete with the view. The tile floors throughout the main living areas of our home were the basis for the color palette.

We’ve incorporated sandy beiges, gray tones, a mixture of dark and light wood tones, and metallic gold accessories. There are also pops of black and navy. These colors feel calm and soothing and complement the colors of the coast outside our windows.

Mistakes are part of the design process, but they don’t have to derail your dream home. With a few thoughtful adjustments, you can transform your space into one that’s not just stylish—but deeply comfortable and personal. Happy decorating!

Great Interior Design Reference Guides

This article includes affiliate links; if you click on a shopping link and make a purchase I may receive a commission. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

I love adding design books to my library for reference. Here are two that have come in handy as I furnish our home.

The Interior Design Handbook: Furnish, Decorate, and Style Your Space is easy to read and straightforward. The book is full of general rules for decorating and furnishing your home. I consult it when I’m looking for a specific measurement, like the optimal height to hang a lighting fixture.

The Interior Design Handbook: Furnish, Decorate, and Style Your Space

Buy Now →

New York School of Interior Design: Home: The Foundations of Enduring Spaces  is a terrific introductory course in interior design, with beautiful photos to illustrate styles and concepts. You will learn how to think like an interior designer.

New York School of Interior Design: Home: The Foundations of Enduring Spaces

Buy Now →

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