Stop Punishing Your Living Room! Decorating Trends to Avoid at all Costs 

No two styles are alike and while for some, home decorating comes naturally, there are others who should leave it to the experts. Decorating trends to avoid.

64% of the American population are homeowners. That’s a great number that we’ve seen recover nicely from the market crashes of 2008.

While the population’s home-owning game is on point, unfortunately, our home design skills still leave a lot to be desired.

Think about it… How many of your friend’s living rooms have you walked into and thought to yourself, “Wow, this place is a mess.” Or maybe you walk into your own living room and feel that way.

There’s a solution to all of that and that solution is knowing which decorating trends to avoid.

Below, our team walks you through a number of living room design no-no’s so that you know-know how to make your family space shine!

1. Multi-Height Decor

If people can’t easily access your coffee table while sitting on your sofa and both pieces are right next to each other, you’ve got a height problem.

In a perfect world, all of your living room furniture would be the same distance off of the ground.

That means flesh coffee tables, ends tables and couches.

Mind you, your furniture height doesn’t need to be perfectly in-tune. Just shoot for keeping things as even as possible and go from there.

2. Making Your TV the Focal Point of Your Space

We get it. TV is great. There are better things though.

What’s better you ask?

We don’t know… Maybe socializing with the people that are sitting in your living room!?

In all seriousness, making your TV the focal point of your family space is one of the top decorating trends to avoid because not only is it tacky but it also puts prominence on something other than people.

To avoid making your TV the star of the show, decorate your space before putting your TV in.

3. Not Caring About Lampshades

If lampshades are an afterthought for you when it comes to room design, you’re making a big mistake. Lampshades can have a profound effect on how your space looks and the amount of light that it receives.

In general, keep lampshades modern to avoid that creepy, old-person’s house feel. You’ll also want to opt for lampshades that allow light to pass through freely if your space is large.

Lampshades that choke light in large living rooms lead to them feeling too dark.

4. Fake Plants

Do not put fake plants in your living room. They are easy to tell apart from the real thing and look bad.

There are a number of live plant varietals that will make your space shine. Many of these plants can be very low-maintenance if plant care is a concern for you.

Our picks for the best low-maintenance plants that you can invest in are Spider Plants, Peace Lilly’s and Jade Plants.

5. Photo Overload

We get it. You think that your family is cute.

No matter how cute they are though, it’s overkill to fill whole walls with framed photos of every single thing that they’ve done over the last decade.

Ditch the classic “photo wall” and instead, pick one larger picture to hang near a bookshelf and scatter a few others on your entertainment center, computer desk, etc.

Pictures are nice. You just don’t want an overemphasis on memories to detract from creating fun family room moments in the present.

6. Wire Insanity

Don’t think that people can’t see all of those pesky wires scattered around your walls. Those wires are very visible and need to be dealt despite conventional decorating wisdom saying that a few wires are socially acceptable.

This decorating trends to avoid pain point is actually very easily circumvented. All you have to do is invest in a wire box that matches the color of your walls.

If you do that, you can pile all of your cords in there and the box will blend right into your living room’s background.

7. Non-Insulated Conservatories

If you’re lucky enough to have a conservatory that branches out from your family room, you’re probably only using it during the spring and fall.

That’s because conservatories tend to get too cold in the winter and too hot during the summer.

Buck that trend. Start using your conservatory for the entire year by getting the room properly insulated.

Doing so will add a ton of value to your house. It will also allow you to relax and feel close to nature while sitting inside no matter which season it is.

8. Trend Chasing

Closing out our decorating trends to avoid list is the trend of “trend chasing”.

Interior design trends are constantly changing. That constant change often brings about trends that might seem sheik for a moment but end up not being able to stand up to the test of time.

If you become obsessed with chasing trends, you’re going to end up spending a lot of money on things that end up going out of style fast. Instead, stick with things that embody just the right amount of conventionality and don’t worry about changing things up too often.

Wrapping Up Living Room Decorating Trends to Avoid at all Costs

Your living room is probably one of the top two places where your family congregates inside of your home. The better designed it is, the more happy and sociable you and the people that you live with will find yourselves.

Keeping in mind the decorating trends to avoid that we’ve just gone over can help you achieve that end!

Life is too short to not know how to maximize your happiness. That’s why our team at iStoryTime shares the best information on all things lifestyle related and beyond.

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