Most Common Interior Design Mistakes (& How to Avoid Them)

You’re ready to make your home feel like your dream space, once and for all. You’ve filled your Pinterest board with cherry-picked photos of “design ideas,” “interior décor projects,” and color schemes. But before you go any further, put down the paintbrush and stop the online furniture shopping rampage. Save yourself headaches and interior design regret when you read up on common decorating mistakes — and learn how to prevent them in your home!

Interior Design Mistakes You Might Be Making

1. Relying only on overhead lighting.

Interior design is so much more than choosing furniture or art — it’s also about creating an ambiance in your room! Bad interior design ignores lighting and mood in a room and relies only on stark, cold overhead lighting. The best way to avoid this interior design mistake? Add lamps!

Once your furniture is arranged how you like it, shop CORT Furniture Outlet for table and floor lamps that can create a comfortable atmosphere, add much-needed task lighting, and make a style statement — even when they’re turned off.

2. Buying cheap, bland pieces from big box stores.

Picture this: you buy a cheap dresser or couch from a big box store. It has a pretty simple and clean look, and for a few weeks, it’s great! But what happens when something breaks because it’s not a high-quality piece? Does broken furniture scream “sophisticated” or “put-together”? Of course not.

Skip the mass-produced, some-assembly-required pieces and shop for high-quality furniture from CORT Furniture Outlet instead. Everything is backed by our CORT Certified program, which means you can purchase with confidence, knowing that your furniture will look great and function beautifully for years to come.

3. Choosing art that’s too small.

When a room feels off, scale and proportion are often to blame. Too-small wall art looks accidental or haphazard, and unfortunately, it’s one of the most common decorating mistakes. To help you choose the perfect wall art for your space, keep in mind that wall décor should be about 2/3 the size of whatever you’re hanging it above. Save yourself from regret when you bust out the measuring tape before you shop for statement wall art.

4. Buying individual pieces instead of coordinating looks.

No one wants to create bad interior design on purpose, but sometimes we lose sight of the big picture. We buy individual pieces here and there, then look at our room and realize that it doesn’t look good together. Ugh — is there anything more frustrating?!

With CORT Furniture Outlet’s selection of living room furniture and bedroom sets, you can turn your decorating mistakes into successes. Shop coordinating looks to ensure your room’s vibe is cohesive and chic, and save cash when you purchase a furniture bundle instead of separate pieces.

5. Excluding color and texture.

We’re going to hit you with a truth bomb here: even neutral-lovers NEED to incorporate some visual interest in a room. Keeping everything bland to “play it safe” isn’t just boring—it’s one of the biggest decorating mistakes that can ruin a room. Well-placed textiles (think blankets, throw pillows, and rugs) can add gorgeous texture to a space, and incorporating colorful accent pieces in your interior design can step up a room’s style factor.

Have you made some of these interior design mistakes? It’s never too late to change your ways, and now is the time to put your newfound interior design knowledge to work! Visit your local CORT Furniture Outlet for quality furniture and home décor at unbelievable prices.