We all strive to make our homes unique and the centerpiece of our daily lives that guests simply cannot stop talking about by filling them with luxury furniture or modern design furniture and style. However, nearly every one of us makes some pretty drastic mistakes from the very beginning when we start our designing efforts. To try and help you to avoid these common mistakes, we are going to cover the top five most common interior design mistakes we have encountered. With this information, your interior design efforts should be more successful.

Fabrics Before Paint

Probably the most common mistake people make when they start their interior design efforts is painting before you have selected the textiles and fabrics you want to use in your design. Before you even begin looking paint schemes, textiles such as curtains and rugs should be selected first. Why? The answer is actually a simple one, it is easier to match your paints to your fabrics than it is to match your fabrics to your paints. So, once you have selected the fabrics you want, you can then go and find the paints that work best.

Lack of Focus

By lack of focus, we mean that the room you are in the process of designing has no focal point. Every room in your home should have a focal point, larger areas can have more than one focal point. For some rooms, such as the living room or the game room, the focal point is usually the television and its immediate surroundings. Other rooms, however, can be a bit tricky. To establish the focal point of a room, you first have to determine the purpose of the room. Let’s look at your den, for example. Since the den is typically used for entertaining guests, the focal point should be one that encourages people to have a seat and enjoy a good cup of coffee along with stimulating conversations. For this purpose, perhaps a simple coffee table surrounded by cozy seats will serve as the perfect focal point.

Incorporate Your Personality

In order to get the most enjoyment from a room, it should connect with you and serve as a reflection of you, your adventures, and your life and not simply be filled with fine furniture. A cookie cutter room is not only boring for your guests, it is also not going to be as enjoyable. Add elements to your interior design that let people know who you are while enabling you to truly unwind and enjoy your environment to its fullest.

Lack of Scale

When you are planning your design, avoid making everything the same height and size. By adding elements of different sizes, heights, and shapes, you create a room that is properly proportioned and has a great scale. In other words, do not include too many large items but also avoid too many small items. Each has its own negative effect on the overall appearance of your design. Too many small items make a room look extremely “busy” and cluttered while too many large items will make a room appears smaller than it really is.

Not Asking for Help

There is a reason interior designers get paid for what they do, it is not an easy job. One of the biggest mistakes we make when we start designing our homes or offices is not seeking professional interior designer help. Instead of spending months working on the same room, wasting time and money, you could have a professional from John William Interiors point out the areas of your room that would serve as the best focal point, what elements would best complement your design ideas, and can even let you know if your ideas will even work in that area.

By avoiding these five common mistakes, your design project will have a better chance of being successful while retaining some of your sanity, time, and money.