Decorating a living room can be a tough job! Choosing color schemes, furniture, making sure everything is proportionate and balanced is a lot to keep in mind so here is a list of the most common styling errors that people make and how to steer well clear of them. 

1. Sofa is Too Large or Too Small

• • Selecting a sofa that’s the wrong scale for your living room is the biggest mistake people make. Keep in mind that a sofa can look entirely different once it leaves the showroom and enters your living room. Color also plays a big part in how big/small the sofa appears. For example, a dark sofa with a floor length skirt can look extremely heavy in a small living room space. You can avoid this mistake by measuring up your living room, the other furniture in the room, and the sofa you have your eye on before you buy. Consider the style of sofa. In a compact living room, consider a sofa on legs and with narrow arms to give the illusion of more space. If you have a large room, you might consider a more substantial sofa, such as one with wide arms that sits close to the ground.

2. Hanging Artwork Too High

• • Artwork is often hung too high to be properly seen or appreciated. Gallery style is the only hanging style that allows for artwork to be hung higher than eye height as it combines artworks of different sizes to create a wall of art. Make sure your artwork is hung at eye height, with the middle of the piece approximately 63 inches from the floor.

3. Making Your TV the Focus of the Room

• • Many homeowners will choose an oversize television that is too big for the room and then center all the furniture around it, forgetting that the living room is for entertaining and conversation too. The television can be an integral part of your living room without being the focus of it. The key is to conceal it as much as possible and create a space that performs dual functions as a watching zone and relaxing/social space. A built-in wall of cabinetry or a ready-made cabinet with shelves are two smart ways to detract attention from a television or conceal it altogether. Use the open sections of the cabinetry to house books, photos, ornaments and other interesting things that will draw the eye from the television and add personality to the room.

4. Rugs That Are Too Small

• • A great rug can be the making of your living room. It grounds your furniture and, in an open-plan space, defines the living area, but the most common mistake people make is purchasing a rug that is too small for the space or the furniture in it. A too-small rug sits separately from the furniture in the room, making the space look disjointed and feel uninviting. You can avoid this by measuring your living room and the main pieces of furniture before shopping. Ideally, the rug you choose should be big enough to allow the key pieces of furniture to sit on top of it. If your living room is not big enough to allow everything to sit fully on your rug, choose a style that is slightly wider than your sofa and allows for the front legs of your sofa and any smaller furniture pieces (such as side tables and stools) to sit on it.

5. Coffee Tables That Are Too Small

• • Just like rugs, it’s a common mistake to purchase a coffee table for your living room that is too small or doesn’t fit with the rest of your furniture. A too-tiny coffee table can also prove a practical challenge. If the coffee table is too small for the sofa or chairs, it will often get positioned far away from them in an effort to create a sense of balance, which makes it hard to reach. Remember this rules of thumb: your coffee table should be between half to one-third of the length of your sofa. Look to position it about 16 to 20 inches from the sofa and armchairs so you can reach it comfortably.

6. Putting All Your Furniture Against One Wall 

• • Pushing all your living room furniture up against the walls is another common styling mistake people make. When the sofa is against one wall, with a pair of armchairs against another, and the coffee table stranded in the middle of the room where nobody can reach it, the result is a dull room that feels a little like the waiting room in a doctor’s surgery. A good solution is to move the furniture deeper in the room and set up conversation zones that will instantly make the room feel cozier and more welcoming. The arrangement that works best will depend on the shape and size of the room. You may decide to put the sofa against a wall, with a pair of armchairs opposite it and a coffee table in between them. Or, if your living room is spacious, you may choose to place the furniture near the middle of the room, with space around it to move about.

7. Bad Lighting

• • With lighting, the problem comes down to either too much or too little light, and not enough options to allow you to use the space for different functions. Look to create a smart, layered lighting scheme in your living room consisting of different light sources, such as a ceiling pendant, table and floor lamps and up or down lights. Setting them on dimmers allows you to alter the lighting levels and mood to suit the occasion. A layered lighting scheme also allows two people to use the space at the same time for different tasks without disturbing each other. For example, one person might be watching television with the lights dimmed, while another person is reading in the corner of the room with a floor light on, There are three types of lighting you’ll want to include: ambient lighting — a gentle wash of light that allows you to move around safely; accent lighting — to highlight special features in the room, such as art; and task lighting — for reading and other tasks where you need to see clearly.

Have you ever made a decorating mistake that you regret? Let me know in the comments!

Until next month!

Resources: Houzz.com