I’m an interior designer – 11 mistakes that make your home look cheap, your lampshades need to go for a start
WE all want to try and keep to a budget when redecorating our homes.
But in the same sense, we don’t want our living areas and bedrooms to look cheap.
From paint colours and lighting to wall treatments and bedding, it can be tricky to get it just right – especially if interior design doesn’t come naturally to you.
But there are some mistakes DIY fans should avoid when doing the interiors of their home, and the experts are here to help avoid.
And interestingly, making your home look chic isn’t always about splurging on expensive items.
Speaking to the Home Decorations site, Veranda, interior experts believe it is about combining key design elements to create an inviting space.
Declutter
Kerrie Kelly of Kerrie Kelly Design believes that people should select a few meaningful pieces that “truly reflect” their personality.
She believes that “too many knicknacks” can clutter a room and make it feel “dated” so it is important to be strict when choosing your keepsake items.
Lighting
Old, dull fixtures can really bring down the vibe of your interior,” says Kelly.
She believes that it is time to part ways with the chandeliers and the “gaudy brass sconces from the ’90s.”
Instead, she suggests to opt for a “less is more” approach and go for layered lighting that illuminates your space and creates a welcoming ambiance.
Bethany Adams of Bethany Adams Interiors also urges homeowners to make sure they have good lighting as harsh light makes a space look cheap.”
Avoid matching
Rather than your living space feeling flat, mix wood tone and finishes with furniture to “add visual interest,” according to Audrey Scheck of Audrey Scheck Design.
She suggests incorporating antique or vintage furniture alongside newer pieces to achieve a curated, eclectic feel.
Avoid being bland
Less is more, according to Bethany Adams of Bethany Adams Interiors.
She says there are a few tricks to keep your home looking like a “discount store” as she revealed a “few tricks of the trade.”
Bethany says: “If you can’t afford silk draperies, for example, don’t settle for cheap polyester panels.
“Leave your windows bare until you can save for the real thing. Invest in your drapery fund instead.”
But don’t make it too colourful
Colour can bring life and personality to a room, but a mismatched array of hues or bold colours without proper balance can quickly become overwhelming.
Bethany Adams of Bethany Adams Interiors, known for her vibrant designs, cautions against going overboard, as she says going “colour crazy without the right budget or designer is a mistake.”
Scale it
When it comes to furnishing a room, scale is crucial for achieving a harmonious look, according to Audrey Scheck of Audrey Scheck Design.
Utilising a larger rug makes the room “feel more spacious” and by choosing appropriately scaled pieces, you can create a more balanced and inviting environment.
Focus on the ceiling
Kelly believes that homeowners should make sure their ceilings are smooth and flat, rather than bumpy.
Original Art
By diversifying your art collection, you can create a more distinctive and inviting atmosphere, according to Audrey Scheck of Audrey Scheck Design.
Incorporating original art can add charm to your space.
Find unique pieces by exploring local antique shops, or supporting small businesses.
Bedding
Don’t hesitate to combine different colours and textures to craft a bedding ensemble that’s uniquely yours, rather than something straight out of a bed-in-a-box set.
By mixing and matching, you can achieve a more dynamic and individualised aesthetic in your home.
According to Kerrie Kelly of Kerrie Kelly Design, “It creates a more eclectic and personalised look than the predictable matchy-matchy feel.”
Quotes and slogans
Kelly Hoppen's Luxury Design Tips on a Budget
INTERIOR design guru Kelly Hoppen knows how to create plush living spaces.
The former Dragons’ Den star has worked with celebs including the Beckhams and has created glam interiors for hotels and superyachts. But she also loves a bargain and says there are ways of adding luxury to your space without breaking the bank.
This is no doubt music to the ears of the one in three homeowners planning to renovate interiors this year.
“Luxury isn’t about how much you spend, it’s about how you feel,” she says.
“It can be very easy and affordable to add a touch of luxury and comfort to your home. It’s all about finding different ways of looking at things.”
Here, Kelly gives Emma Lazenby her brilliant tricks for making your pad more plush.
Place it down
RUGS are a brilliant place to start if you want to quickly change a space. A great way to have fun with them and add texture is to also layer two together.
You might already have rugs that are either too big or too small, but layering can put them to better use. When I was styling Boy George’s house, I placed one rug over another, slightly to the right, and it instantly gave an eclectic feel.
People sometimes panic about rugs, but layering makes it easy to adapt them to your space.
Pad it out
CUSHIONS are fantastic if they are positioned well. It’s common for people to put them across the back of the sofa – left, right and in the middle.
But one of the ways I’ve used cushions in my new home is to put them against the side of each sofa arm instead. It creates a completely different look.
It’s also quite nice as an arm rest when you sit down.
I’ve tried putting a smaller, flatter cushion in a different colour on top of a larger one, which works really well too.
Turn books into art
BOOKSHELVES and bookcases can be arranged in a cool way by taking the books that you don’t really need or want to look at – we all have those – and turning them the other way around so you see the paper and not the spine.
Then you can pile them up at different heights and place accessories on top. It can create a really artistic-looking space.
And if you have ten or so random books that happen to be the same colour, you can turn those to have their spines facing, piling them horizontally and placing them between the paper-facing piles.
Get a wonderwall
IF you are renting your home and cannot paint or wallpaper your walls, or if you do not want to commit to anything permanent, buy a large MDF sheet, wallpaper it and put it up against a wall.
This would not be the whole size of the wall, but you could have it in the centre and push it up against the wall with your chair or sofa to keep it in place.
It then means you have a whole new backdrop with a different texture.
You could move it to another room if you wanted to, or even paint it a different colour as the seasons change.
Mix it up with marble
THERE are some amazing tiles out there right now and you can get cheap marble off-cuts that work really well for creating both kitchen and bathroom splash-backs.
My top tip here is to mix marble with more matte tiles so you can play around more with patterns. Just make sure you stick to the same colour tone.
Make a splash
WHEN you move into a new place, it is often the kitchen that can feel a bit icky, with dated walls and tiles. But a really good and easy way to freshen up the space is putting up a metal splashback panel over the oven.
You can get these in stainless steel or even bronze. They are easy to keep clean, create a different texture and reflect light around the kitchen.
Stack it up
ANOTHER trick with books is to stack them on your floor against a wall. If you are like me and you have a lot of them, but not many bookcases, you can pile them up neatly, with the bigger ones at the bottom and the smaller ones at the top.
I’ve grouped together books of similar colours and every so often I will put a little sculpture on top, which gives an artistic look.
The large ceramic vase from my new M\&S home design range (£29.50) would work perfectly here.
This is also a very cool way to create a small table next to a chair or sofa if you can’t afford to get a new piece of furniture. Just place a dish or similar on top and it looks really cute.
According to Kristin Marino of KozyKasa, certain items can make your home appear cheap.
This includes artwork gallery “sets,” which often come across as contrived and unnatural.
Instead, opt for unique art pieces or a combination of pieces that truly reflect your personal style.
This approach not only provides emphasis but also gives the eye a place to settle, creating a more authentic and visually appealing space.