7 Regrets in Home Decor Trends

Everyone likes their home to look at its best and lots of people enjoy decorating and keeping up to date with trends and fashions.  Some of these trends are timeless will always be in fashion but some trends lead to regrets.  These regrets vary in timescale from days to years, but they eventually happen.  The purpose of this list is to cover general trend regrets rather than specific items such as bubble chairs and backless barstools.  

Low furniture

Looks nice but is far from practical.  Not only does it present a problem when sitting down or standing up, there are also practical issues around cleaning.  Most vacuum cleaners will not fit underneath a low sofa or table.  This means they needs moving every time you clean your home.  Mid to high furniture is far more practical and creates a better flow around the space. 

Open shelving in kitchens

Open shelving has a purpose and is a lovely way to display photographs or a special piece of China for example, but they soon become a regret.  Unless they are always organised perfectly, they look cluttered and messy.

‘Open shelving simply leads to more work and chores for you,’ reports Sophie Christine, a designer blogger at Writemyx.com and Australia2write.com.  ‘Dust accumulates on plates and dishes which means you are cleaning them before and after use.’

Also, those families with pets who climb, like cats, are asking for trouble with open shelving.  One suggestion is to have glass fronts to display items rather than leaving them open to the elements.  

White 

Not just white carpets, but white anywhere.  White looks beautiful when it is initially installed or painted but this does not last.  It is nigh on impossible to clean a carpet back to perfect white and every scuff on a wall shows up tenfold.  It goes without saying that white and children do not mix but it is amazing how many family homes still opt for white.  If you are desperate for white, then use it against over colours and finishes.  A white rug on a hard wood floor for example.

Feature walls

This is not a statement of not using a feature wall as the design aspects around them are strong.  What needs to be considered is how they are used.  Huge wallpaper prints against bright colours would be an obvious faux par in home décor.  Whatever you decide to put on a feature wall needs to be considered carefully.  This can be different colour paint, a patterned wallpaper or even a mural.  Choose carefully is the key to avoiding a regret.  

Themes

More common in children’s bedrooms where the theme changes with the age of the child; nothing wrong with that as long as it doesn’t lead to changes on a yearly basis!  Where a theme becomes a problem is in other rooms of the house.  When the theme goes out of fashion then this leads to a complete redecoration of the entire room.  This has huge costs in terms of money and time.  

‘If a theme for your room is a décor must then less is more,’ says Daniel Richard, an experienced health writer at Originwritings.com and Britstudent.com.  ‘A couple of well-chosen decorations and perhaps a feature wall means the theme is easy to change and stops it looking tasteless.’  

Solo colouring

Unless you are a highly skills interior designer, using shades of the same colour in the entire room is a huge no.  The room will look drab and featureless, even if you have chosen to use a bright colour.  The advice around colour is to look for colours which compliment each other.  This ties the room together and still maintains a level of interest.  Choose the colour you like and then research which colours can be used alongside it.  Home décor magazines and websites are great places to research colour palettes that work well.

House plants

Less is more with house plants.  Careful consideration around where they are going to be placed and their size is vital.  Also, plants are another dust collector so will need maintaining.  If choosing living plants, there is the added job of watering them and taking care of bugs that like to feed off of them.

Enjoy decorating your home and choosing what makes you happy.  Remember to consider how it will look in a month’s time.  Will you still love the Moroccan theme for your lounge?  If not, it is best avoided.

This article is part of the HOGDigest editorial series.
Originally written by [George J. Newton] and republished with permission.

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