Hey friends and followers! We're back with a post that may make some people feel personally victimized (just kidding).....but we are going to go over common design mistakes. But do not worry, we're here to help!
#1 Furniture Arrangement
Something we've noticed in the homes we've been in, is that the furniture placement isn't quite right. In living areas people tend to either squeeze all the pieces too close together, or everything is pushed out against the wall(s). Furniture placement can really change the way a space feels so it's important to make sure you have everything located in a reasonable distance of each other. One way to make it much easier is to have an area rug.
Area rugs anchor the space and help it feel more defined! Now to make sure you have the right size area rug.....depending on how large the space is, a good rule of thumb is to have no less than 1 foot of floor space showing. Now to place your furniture - either the front 1/3-2/3 of the furniture piece should be on the rug, or the entire piece should be on the rug with 3-4 inches of rug hanging out. This is entirely determined by the size of your space and the size of the furniture, and of course the size of the rug. With that being said, always have roughly 14"-18" of space of walking space between your sectional or sofa and your cocktail table.
If you don't have an area rug, or do not wish to have one you should still be able to follow those rules of thumb. Or an even quicker way would be to center your cocktail table where you please, come out from that the 14"-18" with your main piece of furniture (sectional/sofa), and then go from there to see what feels right! If there is space behind a sofa that feels incomplete to you, the best thing to do is put a console table with some styled pieces.
Just remember, not every space needs something!
#2 Scale of Furniture
The scale (or size) of the furniture similarly goes hand in hand with the arrangement. If the furniture is too large, or too small it can make your space feel empty or squished together. If it feels awkward or something looks 'off' about it, it probably is! Your space should feel full without feeling squished. This goes for all spaces, there should be a comfortable amount of walking room. That's going to be your best bet for finding the right sized pieces. If you're looking to purchase new pieces of furniture, and you're unsure about size the best thing to do is tape it out and try to imagine walking around it and using it!
The height of a piece should be taken into consideration as well. For example, a coffee table should hit no higher than where the top of any upholstered furniture is, and no more than 3 inches below. The same rule of thumb goes for side/accent tables except using the height of the arm of the furniture piece as your guide. With bedside tables, the top of the mattress will be your guide.
Modern furniture is naturally lower, which is okay if that's the style you're going for! Just make sure it makes sense with your home and that it's consistent throughout.
#3 Too Many 'Favorites'
We see this a lot, people who love different styles or have seen pictures of something they love and just end up combining all of it. The solution to this is usually sacrifice and compromise! Take it space by space, what's one thing you would love to have in your kitchen? What's the second thing? Will those two things work together? Sometimes there are ways to make it work and other times they may be too contradictory. Maybe you absolutely love colored cabinets but you also love colored backsplash. That could work, but your two best friends are going to be contrast and neutrals! So you could go with either a toned down color on the lower cabinets/island, white on uppers, and a complimentary patterned backsplash! Or you could take it the other way and do a deep colored island/lowers and a muted color backsplash. Every other finish should be significantly more neutral, white is usually a safe bet. Go through each space and ask yourself those questions, as well as "will this work with the rest of my home?". Texture and contrast are two key elements in design, but when there's too many competing elements/styles it can make the space feel overwhelming.
#4 Hanging Art & Mirrors to Low/High
This usually happens when we ask our s/o to hang something for us, they're usually significantly taller and they usually hang it at arms length or directly in front of them. Listen carefully.....art and mirrors should be hung at a standard eye level (5'-7" - 5'-10"), not the top of the frame but the top 1/3-1/2 mark of whatever you're hanging. No one should have to crouch down or stretch their neck! Now there are some exceptions to this rule......if the art is on a second story wall (i.e.) an entry of a two story home, or if it's above bed. It depends on the height of the headboard, but it's probably safe to say 4"-6" above the frame.
Hopefully these are some helpful solutions to the common design mistakes! Do you feel like you've made any of these design mistakes? Or maybe you have something else you're unsure about.....let us know in the comments or over on our Instagram @naomiewertinteriors and we'll help ya out! Until next time....
XO
NWI
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