Living Room Decorating Mistakes You Will Want to Avoid

Whether decorating a whole house or a single room, it takes some forethought to get it right. This is especially true of a room that is used often, such as a living room. Below are some common living room decorating mistakes you would do well to avoid.

Furniture Arranging

The manner in which your furniture is arranged determines the overall appeal of the room, or conversely, can make a room feel boring and monotonous. The key is to avoid lining furniture up along the walls like cars in a parking lot.

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You want your furniture to enhance the room’s overall appearance. To do this, you need to avoid uninteresting arrangements. It helps to lay out a facsimile of the room on grid paper. Experiment with the placement until you have arrived at an arrangement that is unique and appealing to the eye.

Traffic Patterns

Don’t ignore obvious traffic patterns when arranging your furniture. You want your guests to be able to flow from room to room without a lot of detours and zig-zags around large furniture. This means not over-crowding a room. It’s best to leave some open spaces to allow for smooth traffic flow.

Don’t Over Clutter

It is so easy to accumulate items for which you really have no room. Somehow, whether from guilt because it was a gift from Aunt Rita or you just like it too much, they find their way into your living room even though they detract from the aesthetics. Don’t be that person. This too is one of those living room decorating mistakes that does NOT need to happen. A good way to see a room as others see it is to take a photograph. Somehow you can see through a lens what you cannot see with the naked eye. Study the photograph. Is it too busy? Is the eye overwhelmed by the sheer mass of knick-knacks or volume of furniture? If so, start eliminating some of that clutter. It is NOT attractive.

Living Room Decorating Mistakes and Dimensions

Don’t overwhelm a small living room with large furniture. An overstuffed sofa may be cozy, but it’s still too much sofa for that 12” x 13” room. In the case of decorating, more is NOT better. It makes a room look even smaller and more cluttered. So consider the size of the space and what furniture you absolutely need, then work out a realistic arrangement.

Too Much Symmetry

Whether you are dealing with picture arrangements, accessories or furniture, too much symmetry is just plan boring. Give the eye something it can chew on a bit; something that catches its attention. Of course, you can carry this too far the other direction as well. But, as they say, “Variety is the spice of life.” Creating too much of the same pattern, or squared off and overly symmetrical arrangements, is one of the more common living room decorating mistakes made by an untrained decorator.

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These are only a few suggestions on what to avoid when decorating your living room. But, by keeping these tips in mind, you too can create a comfortable and inviting living space that will serve your family well for years to come.