A person who is new to designing a house or even a room is bound to make some rookie mistakes. There are times when someone’s decorating mistake can be another person’s pleasant if eccentric surprise. Alair Homes Springwater highlights 10 common design mistakes and how to correct them:

1. Bad Lighting

It’s easy to make the lighting too dim or garish. One way to fix it is to blend ambient light, task lighting and accent lighting. Ambient light is general illumination, task lighting is a light such as a lamp used for reading, and accent lighting is directional and pointed at something the homeowner wants to highlight, such as a painting or work of art.

2. Furniture That’s Too Big or Too Small

There are tricks to use with over or undersized pieces of furniture that can make a room look bigger or smaller than it is. In this case, the furniture is either too small or large for the room, and everyone knows it. The way to avoid this in a normal size room is to take its exact dimensions, write them down, then take a tape measure to the furniture store, and measure the furniture. Furniture should be arranged and should be the right size to allow an easy flow of traffic around the room.

3. Too Many Photos

Frame the best and most beloved photos and put them discreetly around a room. Everything else needs to go into photo albums, and the photo albums need to go into the bookcase.

4. Choosing Paint Before Furniture

This sometimes happens in apartments, where the landlord offers to paint the rooms of the new tenant for free well before they have any furnishings. It is always easier to choose the furniture and upholstery first then find paint colors to complement them.

5. Clutter

Some people may not be able to let go of old furniture that has been passed down in the family. If it simply does not play well with the rest of the furnishings, it may need to be secreted in a guest bedroom or repurposed.

6. Multi-Purpose Rooms

In a small house or tiny apartment a multi-purpose room may be a necessity. However, it must be tidy, and the purposes it is used for must have their own space. The books used in the office part of the room should not be stacked on the workout bench, and barbells should not be found under the desk.

7. Naked Storage

Many design websites and decorating magazines show neatened open shelves, glass fronted fridges and other storage areas. In real life these places do not stay neat. Choose closed storage that will allow you to hide items that don’t need to be seen.

8. White Walls With Kids and Pets

White walls are aesthetically pleasing in some homes and are excellent backdrops for artwork. However, if a household has young kids and pets, every smudge and fingerprint will show. Expanses of white walls with nothing on or near them also look unwelcoming.

9. Badly Displayed Art

Some homes can have a great mingle-mangle of paintings and sculpture on every surface. If you need help hanging or arranging art, hire a professional to place art on the walls of your home.

10. Too Many Elements in the Room are the Same Height

A room where everything is just about the same height is very odd looking indeed. Vary the heights of window treatments, art, and furniture.