Decorating Mistakes You Don't Realize You're Making

By Alyssa Laffitte on July 27, 2018

This article is brought to you by CORT Furniture Rental. We take the hassle out of furnishing your new place so you can do more important things like read this article. Learn more about why furniture rental is the best way to get a great looking apartment.

As college students, we are learning how to decorate our own places. We are not born with decorating skills, we must learn them throughout our lives. Because of this, we sometimes make mistakes when trying to decorate our apartments or dorm rooms. In this article, we will discuss some common decorating mistakes you might not know you are making, and how to fix this!

Image via Isorepublic.com

Not including an accent piece

If you want to spice up your room, don’t forget to include an accent piece. A monochromatic, one-color room is terribly boring. However, an accent piece makes your place more colorful and interesting! Especially if your color palette is more neutral, it’s a good idea to insert a small pop of color throughout your room. For example, if your room is black and white, add a bright blue throw pillow. If you want to be more adventurous, paint one of the walls red if the rest of them are a sandy color. Of course, you don’t have to go to those extremes, but adding any little pops of color will make your place look more alive.

Painting a small room in a dark color

Painting a room in a dark color makes the room look smaller, because the dark color will absorb light rather than reflect it (as a light color would do). For that reason, it’s not a good idea to paint a small room in a dark color, because it will make it look smaller! If you want to paint a small room, consider painting it in a brighter, lighter color (like white, baby blue, pastel pink, or lilac purple), rather than a dark color (like black or dark blue), as this will make the room look bigger.

Using the wrong lighting

Similar to my last point about the color of a room, the lighting in a room is also very important. If your room does not have good lighting, it will make the room look smaller, because there is less light to reflect. However, if you install a bright light fixture, there will be more light to reflect and your room will look much bigger, brighter, and happier. That’s why I would recommend that you spend some time looking at different light fixtures and at different light bulbs to choose the one that will best fit your place.

Matching everything

Again, monochromatic rooms are boring. If everything in your room is the same color and if everything matches everything else, your room will be very bland. Instead, add more colors to your room’s color palette or add an accent piece like I mentioned before. These touches will make your place livelier.

Ignoring texture

When decorating your place, don’t forget about texture! Matching textures are just as boring as matching colors. If everything is shiny and smooth, it will all the look the same. Try to switch up the textures in your room to make it prettier! For example, if you have white marble floors, opt for a dark Cherrywood table. If you have tile floors, you can opt for a smoother table. Adding new textures to your room can be another way to brighten up your space.

Overfilling a room with furniture

This mistake is easy for us college students to make, since we often live in small spaces. Don’t overfill your tiny room with lots of big pieces of furniture. If you do this, your room will be cramped and overwhelming. Plus, you will have less space for the things you actually need in your room. Instead of overstuffing your room with large pieces of furniture, add only a few small pieces of furniture to your room. You can always buy more when you move into a bigger place. But for now, it’s better to go the simpler route and keep only a minimal amount of furniture in your room. Clearly, it’s a mistake to overstuff your room with furniture.

Focusing too much on the details and forgetting the big picture

A room is more than just the individual pieces of furniture you put in it. Sure, focusing on the details of a room is great, but don’t forget about the big picture! For example, one piece of furniture might look bad by itself, but it will work well when put in a beautiful room with other pieces of furniture. So, when you decorate your place, don’t forget the big picture, which is the room and the place as a whole. Aim to have a beautiful place rather than just a beautiful piece of furniture.

If you are still learning how to decorate your first place, that’s okay! It’s a skill that comes with time. But after reading this article, hopefully, you will have a better idea on how to decorate, and what not to do as you decorate.

Looking for an easy way to furnish your off-campus apartment? Renting furniture from CORT saves you time and money. See how easy it is to get great looking furniture without breaking the bank.

Follow Uloop

Apply to Write for Uloop News

Join the Uloop News Team

Discuss This Article

Back to Top

Log In

Contact Us

Upload An Image

Please select an image to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format
OR
Provide URL where image can be downloaded
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format

By clicking this button,
you agree to the terms of use

By clicking "Create Alert" I agree to the Uloop Terms of Use.

Image not available.

Add a Photo

Please select a photo to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format