COMMON DESIGN MISTAKES I ALWAYS NOTICE
And how to fix them
There’s a reason the majority of my DMs are questions about curtains, paint colors, and how to make a space feel more “finished”. The answers are rarely one-size-fits-all, as they depend on everything from ceiling height to window placement to the kind of light the room gets throughout the day. But in most cases, they point back to the same handful of design details that tend to get overlooked.
When you’re going at it on your own, it’s easy to focus on the big pieces: a sofa, a rug, maybe a couple of pillows and one piece for the walls, but if the space still feels flat or unfinished once those are in, chances are one of the issues below is the reason.
Here are the most frequent missteps I notice, and I get asked about, and how to fix them.
1. The Rug Is Too Small
The mistake: Rugs that are just a little too small for the room, like when the front legs of the sofa are barely grazing (or not on) the edge, or a rug stops just short of anchoring the seating area.
Why it matters & how to fix it: A rug should anchor the space, and when it’s undersized, everything feels like it’s floating. Aim for at least the front legs of sofas and chairs to sit fully on the rug. In a bedroom, the rug should extend at least two feet around the bed, or be large enough to create a soft landing on each side. And sometimes, the right solution means going custom!
2. The Curtains Don’t Work
The mistake: Curtain panels hung too low, too narrow, or in the wrong proportion for the windows or shades used when curtains would’ve been better, and vice versa..