| There is nothing worse than getting all excited to | | | | reason most stores sell vintage-style accessories. |
| decorate only to have your efforts fall flat. Here is an | | | | Accessories should look like they are a part of your |
| overview of the top five decorating mistakes and how | | | | history. |
| to avoid them. | | | | How to Avoid This Mistake: Try adding a child's |
| Number One: Not Getting Help | | | | painting or a sculpture your best friend made. It will add |
| The number one mistake homeowners make is | | | | a personal touch to your room. The other accessory |
| thinking they can pull a house together by buying a | | | | mistake is in arranging them. Don't just put one |
| few individual pieces they like and putting them in a | | | | accessory in each place. Group them. Try to create a |
| room. This is an invitation for disaster. It is too easy to | | | | theme, find something that relates the pieces to each |
| buy the wrong size (usually too big) and colors and | | | | other. And don't be afraid to move your accessories |
| patterns that don't mix well. | | | | around once in a while. There is no rule that says that |
| How to Avoid This Mistake: Your best bet is to call a | | | | decorating must stay stagnate once designed. |
| decorator and ask for a few hours of planning help. A | | | | Number Four: Window Treatments Out of Control |
| decorator can look at your house and find out how | | | | The biggest mistake people make when adding |
| you plan on using each room. This will help her | | | | window treatments to a home is to forget how they |
| determine how you will live in your home. Once she | | | | will look from the outside. Sure different colors may |
| knows that she can help you design a decorating plan. | | | | look great from the inside, but do you really want one |
| This plan will incorporate pieces you already have and | | | | green window, one blue and one red from the street? |
| give you a shopping list to buy against. This is the key | | | | It will make the outside of your home look strange and |
| element. A decorator will help you define color, texture, | | | | comical. |
| fabric and size. With just a few hours of a decorator's | | | | How to Avoid This Mistake: Make sure you use one |
| time, you can save yourself from making big mistakes | | | | consistent treatment underneath all window |
| in the furniture showroom. | | | | treatments. This could be the same color sheers or |
| Number Two: Poor Furniture Arrangement | | | | blinds. It will hide the different colors from the street |
| There is nothing worse than walking into a room | | | | view. |
| where all the furniture is lined up against the wall. This | | | | Number Five: Painting It Wrong |
| actually makes your room look smaller. It also drains | | | | Most people are simply too timid about color. They |
| the life out of it. | | | | think they have to be conservative for resale value. |
| How to Avoid This Mistake: The best tactic to keep in | | | | They think they should stick to natural colors to make |
| mind when arranging furniture is to never place an | | | | the room look bigger. This can be a big mistake. |
| upholstered item against a wall. You want to create | | | | How to Avoid This Mistake: Be bold. Try dramatic |
| warm, intimate groupings that will give the room some | | | | colors that you love. It won't change the visual size of |
| character. Also, having the furniture away from the | | | | the room. But it could change the feeling. And if you |
| walls, makes the room look bigger. Being able to see | | | | make a mistake, so what? Paint is relatively cheap and |
| beyond the furniture to walls visually expands the | | | | easy to cover up. But just because it is a cheaper |
| space. | | | | element in the home doesn't mean it has less impact. |
| Number Three: Haphazard Accessories | | | | To avoid the biggest mistakes in decorating, you have |
| The worst thing you can do when adding accessories | | | | to let your personality show through your. The style of |
| to your home is to buy everything at one time. What | | | | your home should come from within. Be bold or timid, |
| you put around your home as accent pieces should | | | | but match your personality. People should know who |
| reflect who you are. It is unlikely that you will be able to | | | | you are when they walk through the door. |
| find these things all at once or in one store. There is a | | | | |