The ten most common decorating mistakes, in random order are:

• Not focusing on how your family lives in your house.
• Artwork that is hung way too high.
• Too many accessories.
• Wrong kinds of lighting.
• No defined conversation areas.
• Lack of a focal point.
• A room that is off balance.
• Lack of cohesion
• Furniture of different heights.
• Furinture lined up along the walls.

These are the top mistakes that we designers see over and over again. Most people have not been trained in the art of interior decorating. These mistakes pop up due to the lack of training. I am hear to help explain them, so that you know why you are making the mistakes you are.

Not focusing on how your family lives in your house

The needs of the family and how they use the particular rooms needs to be addressed before any redesign is done.By this I mean, does your family go barefoot in the house or do they all wear shoes? It is important to know this so the right type of flooring can be installed. Does your family watch TV and read in the room? Then you will want to have comfy chairs, good lighting, a TV, and bookcase.

Artwork that is hung too high

This is a great pet peeve of mine. One way to find out where to hang a picture is to mark the spot where you think it should go, and then go down 3 inches. Laying the artwork on the floor is another good way of practising where it should go. Some people say eye level; but the eye level of whom. It is usually the eye level of the female. All frame bottoms, however, should be even wiith each other. Artwork that goes above a sofa should be no less than 4 1/2'x3 1/2'. It can be one piece or 3 pieces. As long as it doesn't go beyond the 4 1/2'x 3 1/2'. Don't hang pictures on every wall. It is OK to leave some blank walls. Your eyes can drink in the artwork better if there is some space around it.

Too many accessories

Your home is not a museum. Therefore, it is allright to store some of your accessories away and too rotate them. Less is more. It takes less time to dust them if most are put away. Too many accessories confuse the eye because there is too much stuff displayed. Your eye needs a break. Books and knicknacks can live together on a bookcase if placed correctly. Your books should lay on their side. On top of them, place one vase for example. Next to the books you can either place something else, or just add the one item. Designate a few shelves for just accessories and some for juct books. Too many things on a shelf is once again confusing for the eye.

Wrong kinds of lighting

There are three types of lighting:

1. Task
2. General
3. Accent

Task lighting allows one to do a specific thing such as reading, writing, cooking, watching TV. Some examples of task lighting are portable lamps and pendant lamps. Recessed or track lighting can also fall into this category.

General lighting is the importatnt one in the room. It provides overall illumination to the room. Some examples of general lighting are chandeliers, wall sconces, track lighting, and recessed lighting.

Accent lighting is just what the name implies. It adds drama to a room or a tree perhaps. Some examples of accent lighting are wall mounted, recess, or track.

No defined conversation areas

Conversation areas in a room are important.  They prevent eveyone from having to shout across the room or having to turn to talk with the person next to you. Conversation areas should be located around the focal points of the room. Generally it is best if the traffic flow of the room were to go behind the conversation area but thi is not always feasible.

Lack of a focal point

A focal point is that something that anchors the room. A room may have more than one focal point. Windows and fireplaces are the ususal focal points. But televisions can also be focal points. If there is more than one focal point then more conversation areas need to go around these focal points.

A room that is off balance

Off balance means that everything in the room is of varying heights. If you were to go around the room look at the tops of all the furniture, artwork etc. and then go all around the room you would probably end up being dizzy. This is known as the roller coaster effect. All pieces of furniture should be of the same height. All side tables should be the same height, the top of the sofa and the chair should be the same height.

Lack of cohesion

Put like things with like. For instance, all picture frames should go together. If you have silver frames then all the frames should be silver. If your furniture is mostly leather, then you want to add some leather accessory pieces like a leather pillow or a leather chair. Use the same fabric throughout the room and incorporate it into curtains, a footstool etc.

Furniture of different heights

We mentioned this above in the room balance paragraph.

Furinture lined up against the walls

This might be OK if you were going to be using the middle of the room lets say for dancing, but in real life furniture along the walls is a no no. It is OK to pull furniture away from the walls. You need to move the furniture and put it based on how your family uses that room.  People place furniture along the walls because they don't know that it is OK to put it on a diagonal. Moving it away from the walls gives the room a more cozy feeling.

I hope that these tips help you and give you the inspiration to rearrange your things this weekend.