Remember how your mom told you to sleep early the night before your field trip so that you would have enough energy to go exploring the next day? Remember how you didn’t listen and stayed up all night because of your excitement? Remember how you regretted that after falling asleep on the bus and feeling tired and cranky throughout your trip? This is proof that in life, some lessons are learned the hard way.
As an adult, these life lessons might manifest in different ways, including choosing the wrong major at uni or giving a flaky friend the benefit of the doubt. This sentiment also applies to decorating your home. Seemingly innocuous design choices can turn into costly mistakes fast. So, if you’re about to furnish your new home or planning on redecorating your current one, make sure to avoid the following expensive decorating blunders:
1. Shopping without a design plan
You’re at the mall or passing by a furniture shop display, and you notice this gorgeous coffee table. You’re sure it will look good in your living room, so you buy it. Next thing you know, you have three other pieces of furniture that also caught your eye. But will these pieces complement each other or look good in your home? The worst thing you can do is to go décor and furniture shopping on a whim. If you’re serious about decorating your home, envision what you want, set a budget, and stick to your plan.
2. Ordering furniture without measuring
Sure, you might have seen the perfect sofa from a window display or an online catalog, but will it fit in your intended space? If not, then you’ve just wasted time and money. The right way to buy any piece of furniture is by choosing the correct measurements. So refer to your design plan, take out a measuring tape, and list the dimensions of the spaces you want to fill. You can refer to these numbers when you’re buying a sofa online or any other piece of furniture that catches your eye.
3. Not testing paint colors in different lighting
Picking the right color of paint is tricky. What might look in good under artificial lights might reflect horribly in natural lighting. So if you forget to test paint colors in different lighting, you might be shocked to see how different and unsuitable it looks once the paint has dried. Apart from the cost of the paint that’s already on your walls, you’d have to spend on repainting them.
4. Mistaking cost for quality
Just because something is expensive doesn’t mean they’re durable of high quality. Cost often comes with an established name. So if you’re thinking of buying furniture and décor because they’re expensive, think again. Inspect their quality, such as the craftsmanship involved and the materials used. You’ll get a better grasp of if they’re suitable for your needs than simply picking the most expensive choice.
Furnishing and decorating your home doesn’t have to be a stressful and expensive endeavor. Take note of the costly mistakes above so that you’ll know which moves to avoid when you’re decorating.
