Setting up a polished, personalized room in your home is difficult and take a lot of finesse and fine tuning. Selecting color schemes, furniture and wall decor that play well with each other is no easy feat. It’s common to get it wrong before finding the perfect combo. Below is a guide to 5 common mistakes people make when decorating their home.

1. Extra large furniture

2. Not having a focal point

3. Poor lighting

4. Fake greenery that looks fake

5. Not using the rule of thirds

Extra Large Furniture

Before buying furniture for a space make sure to measure its dimensions. Bigger is not always better when it comes to design. Furniture that is too large can make a room appear small and crowded. It’s also a good idea to add varying heights to your furniture, as this adds dimension and scale to the rest of the space.

Not Having A Focal Point

"Overstyling," or having too many small objects in a room can be distracting, making an appealing room feel busy and crowded. Having one or two main pieces in your space can give the room a purpose. These focal points can be further emphasized with other styling objects and art.

Poor Lighting Sources

A mix of poor lighting and insufficient natural light is another reason many rooms do not fulfill their potential. Natural lighting paired with a combination of floor lamps, table lamps, wall lighting fixtures, & backlit shelves can help add more dimension.

Fake Greenery That Looks Fake

Plants are a great addition to a space, they add texture, color and improve air quality. For those that do not have the best luck with live plants, faux plants are a great option. There is no judgement here, sometimes having a fake plant that you don’t have to take care of is ideal. There are many great faux plant options on the market today, they are worth the price tag, trust me! A word to the wise: be careful of the overly fake looking plants. They can make even a well styled room look cheap.

An alternative is to use branches, twigs or dried greenery in vases, or do your research on a plant that is easy to maintain and take care of that will add that natural touch to a room. Whatever you decide, if you invest in a good looking fake plant, don’t forget to dust it!

Not Using The Rule of Thirds

The jist of the rule is: objects that appear in groups of threes are more appealing. Not just in design or photography, but in everyday life as well. IE: beginning, middle, end. Three blind mice. Rally songs like: go, fight, win! (you get the idea). This rule serves as a way to create depth and by rearranging style pieces to reflect this can dramatically alter the flow of a space.

Remember when choosing 3 objects to opt for varying heights, shapes and sizes.