Decorating mistakes are going to happen. Hopefully, by sharing some of the ones I have made in my home over the past eight years, will help you avoid making them too.
1. Rushing Into It Without a Vision
We bought our house pre-Pinterest.
Actually we didn’t even have internet or smart phones in the house for the first couple of years.
Although I have always loved designing and creating things, I had never actually thought through the kind of look I wanted in my home.
I didn’t think about cohesiveness at all.
So, in a hurry to get the place spiffed up, I chose a different color for every room. A blue for our room, yellow for the kitchen and green for the living room. The kids rooms were lavender and a different shade of green.
I also painted all the trim and windows a yellowish off-white which you will read more about below.
Not only did the color scheme make it hard to find the right color when I needed to do touch ups, but it also did not give my home a cohesive feel.
Each room was decorated separately from the other.
How to avoid:
Make sure you have a clear vision for your home before you start renovating. Make Pinterest boards to see what you’re drawn to and what inspires you. When you see all your ideas in one place you can decide if your ideas are cohesive and make you comfortable. It is easier to edit on paper than in real life.
2. Not dealing with the popcorn ceilings before we moved in
I hate our textured ceilings. I seriously cannot stand them, BUT, I hate the dread and fear of scraping off something that most likely contains asbestos into a home with four kids.
In order to take care of the issue now, we would literally have to move out to do it. If we didn’t it would be all over our stuff and lingering in the air.
Because of this, we will likely never remove our popcorn ceilings. Oh, I know we could panel them or put up beadboard but, at the moment, we have no time for that. To do all the ceilings would be a huge undertaking.
It would have been much smarter to deal with the problem before we really settled into our home.
How to avoid:
Get the dangerous things out of the house before moving in. If you ever plan to rip up an old floor or remove popcorn ceilings, pay the money, hire the experts and get it over with!
3. Thinking I needed to fill the walls with stuff
I thought every blank wall needed some kind gallery wall, photo canvas or sign.
I would stare at any walls that were blank and try to think of what I could put on them to fill them up.
Everything from that phase has since come down. They always kind of drove me crazy and never looked quite right.
How to avoid:
Gallery walls can look awesome, if done right and kept to a minimum. Not every single wall needs to have something to fill it up. If you aren’t careful your place will start looking like Applebee’s or Cracker Barrel.
Try adding texture instead. I love a blank shiplap or board and batten wall. Minimally styled built-ins also look great on a wide open blank wall.
4. Painting all the doors, windows, crown molding, baseboards and cabinets the wrong color
This should really be the first on the list because it was the most costly and time consuming mistake to fix.
The previous owner of our home somehow decided it was a good idea to paint, instead of leaving the original wood, every single inch of all the lovely wood trim, 5 panel doors, windows and kitchen cabinets a whacky color.
The cabinets were sponge painted blue. The baseboards were green in some rooms, blue in others and wood colored paint in some places. She had the crown molding ever color of the rainbow. The five panel doors were sponge painted a different color in each panel.
All the trim around the windows, which in this old farmhouse is A LOT, was blue, green, orange and any other color you can think of.
Total craziness in this place.
I can’t make this stuff up.
I’m so mad at myself for not taking more pictures, but blogging wasn’t even on my radar at this point.
So, obviously, we were in a hurry to get busy painting. It was going to take a lot just to make the place look normal.
I went to the local hardware store and bought several gallons of Benjamin Moore Ivory Tusk. It looked like a good enough off-white color to me. Without testing the color anywhere in the house, I got busy painting.
Really busy.
Like at least three coats on everything busy. That may not sound like a huge ordeal, but we’re talking 20 windows, 9 doors, 20+ cabinets and baseboards and crown molding in every single room. It was a huge undertaking.
Well, fast forward a few years and I totally cannot stand the original color. It had a serious yellow undertone and made everything look so drab.
You can see the yellowish off-white color that I used for EVERYTHING on my cabinets in the picture below.
Considering the amount of work it would be to repaint everything, I tried hard to convince myself that I actually really loved the color.
Plain old white would be boring anyway, right? Too bright. Yep, that’s what I told myself. But, I knew it wasn’t true. I even told my husband several times, “I am NOT going to repaint everything bright white.”
Well last summer I finally gave up! I made a goal to paint one hour every night for three months straight. And…it actually took even longer than three months.
So, if you value your time and sanity, don’t do what I did. Make sure to test the color in one room, or one part of the room, and live with it for a while. See the undertones at all hours of the day, at night and when the sun pours in. You will save yourself sooo much time down the road.
5. Keeping stuff I just didn’t love
I spent years with all kinds of crap I just never loved, because it was free or gifted to me at some point. I kind of let the design of my house happen to me, as opposed to being an active participant. It took some major decluttering last spring to give me the blank canvas I needed to really start designing a home I could actually like.
I had to get rid of couches, end tables and even my entire bedroom set. But in the end, I wished I had done it sooner!
How to avoid:
Start looking at your possessions with a fresh set of eyes. I like to ask myself the question. “Would I buy this for 10 bucks at a garage sale?” If the answer is no, then why is it still in my home? Look around and decide which items are standing in your way from designing a home you love.
A lot of the items I got rid of in my decluttering spree, I was actually able to sell and use the money to buy things for our home that better fit my style.
Have you ever made any decorating mistakes in your home? What did you do to fix them?
Isabella says
There still could be hope for those popcorn ceilings! You can buy ceiling grade gypsum board which is lighter. Screw that up over the exisiting ceilings and apply a skim coat for paint. You can rent a drywall lifter at Home Depot. Perhaps you could do one ceiling a year to break up the task. Maybe you are in a position where you can hire this expense once a year. It would be so worth it if you plan to stay in your paid-for home, and if that popcorn is driving your crazy! (Plus in the grand scheme of things, a lot easier than scraping it all off.)
Lisa Bass says
I absolutely love your idea of doing one room a year. A lot of times I can handle small goals like that!
Isabella says
Lisa, we did our own painting to save on costs, but that could be considered in the total too. Our 20 foot family family looked so much better with a new ceiling. You can cover a multiple of sins with new ceiling gypsum board! I love all that you are doing on your home. It’s so charming!
Isabella
Isabella says
Oh, I see that you have crown molding, such as in your upstairs landing. That would make it more tricky because it would have to be removed first and then replaced afterward. But…..maybe one room each year beginning with the main living spaces?
Lisa Bass says
Yes, every room has molding, but I still think one a year should be doable!
Isabella says
Oops. Here again. I forgot to mention that we had this done in a rather large family room. Our handyman took down the cheap tiles and replaced it with new gypsum board. The job took 2 days and looked fantastic.
Lisa Bass says
I bet that made such an improvement. Thank you so much for all your advice Isabella!
Renae Nash says
Yes, me ✋. When my husband and I bought our first home, he took charge of decorating. I was pregnant with our first child and working full time. I really didn’t mind, until the second year we decided that i would be a stay at home mom. Being home and finally taking the time to look around got me dizzy…lol. Every room was a different color. Gold living room connected to a green dining room. Just then i noticed the wallpaper he hung was upside down…lol. He must have had a lot of fun painting, because he began to do some pretty creative stuff : green triangle and shapes in the nursery, masking tape design on the door, he even added texture to my RED bedroom walls. red everywhere all walls and bedroom closet doors. I finally had to take action in a slow and loving way. It’s been a long process with a small budget, but I’m planning to do the same- wait for the house to be paid off for the major renovations….6 more years. Thank you for your honesty and tips. Sometimes while scrolling through IG i believe I’m the only one with a budget…. and popcorn ceilings..lol
Lisa Bass says
Oh I totally agree on the stay at home mom thing! Anytime you see a place that often you start critiquing it and wanting to improve it! That is awesome, though, that your husband takes an interest in decorating. Most seem to not care at all! LOL But yes, definitely take it slow. No need to get all worked up and stressed over it! (preaching to myself here LOL) Thank you so much for reading along! I really appreciate it!
Ellen says
My hubby & I just bought an old farmhouse that’s been restored. Not sure why but the previous owner painted EVERY room & bathroom a different color, (peach-2 different shades), blue, green-several different shades, yellow, and lavender. It’s driving me insane. I want to paint everything white! I was worried I might be making a big mistake but after reading this blog I think I’m spot on! The only color I like is the very light yellow in the dining room. Should I paint it white too?
Lisa Bass says
I say go for it! It will be a major improvement and you can always repaint it down the road if you get sick of the white! Personally I love all white. It makes everything look so fresh and you can always add in color with other accents! 🙂 I had a light yellow in my kitchen for many years and recently painted it white. I love the change.
jen says
we didn’t think to fix the drop ceiling in our house before we moved our stuff in… It’s a mess under there! It takes up 40% of our home. Cheap fix…. just a time consuming fix. We’ve been here ten years. It is still the most hated part of the house.
Lisa Bass says
Ugh. I feel ya! Maybe you can do one room per year, or six months, or something. Might seem more doable to do it that way!
Lisa Bass says
Those kind of things are hardest to get rid of. If they are stored in a place where it doesn’t bother you, then I don’t see the harm. 😉
Pat says
I just have to comment about your comment, telling people to go to Pinterest. NO!!! It’s full of homes that either look like the inside of a boutique, or a home on a TV set where REAL LIFE is not depicted. I don’t know about you, but life actually happens in my home. Pinterest, in my opinion, just gives people one more thing that keeps them in that horrible mindset of trying to ‘keep up with Jones’!!
Lisa says
I just mean to nail down your style and what you love, not to compare yourself or maintain that standard. Just for “pinspiration,” if you will. 😉
Jen says
I totally get that pinterest ideas. Ideas are great but i got hooked looking at all the ideas and turns out it is expensive to try to copy ideas. We just turned our front room into a dining room and went from dark wallpaper to light and a light green on top with a chair rail and white under chair rail and that was 2 years ago and still trying to find the perfect decor to finish it. Now i started watching your blog and thinking i should have did all whites like you have done.. i have popcorn ceilings in my LR and thats our next big project. With 3 kids in college some things take time and alot of money! Love your blog!
Lisa says
I actually heard green is coming back! Just do what you love because styles change all the time! 🙂
Ann says
Oh my, can I relate to you about the popcorn ceilings?! You can stop feeling like the dumbest person on Earth for making that mistake…I had them (actually knockdown ceilings–a minor step up) put in our house deliberately when we built 23 years ago…and it’s still there! Good grief, what was I thinking?!!! When I first moved to Florida almost 48 years ago, most homes had popcorn ceilings (hated them then too), so I suppose it didn’t occur to me there was another choice. ARGH! At this point in life, my only solution is don’t look up, and be grateful for high ceilings (ours are only 10ft–jealous of yours). Oh, you might want to add open floor plan to your list. Our 2500 sq ft home is such, as is much of Florida–do one room and there’s no where to stop (excluding bedrooms & baths).
Love everything you share, Lisa. Thank you so much for being a great teacher and vlogger. I joined The School of Traditional Skills as a founding member, all thanks to you. So excited to begin the courses!!!
Lisa says
It was a trend. I do things all the time that are “in” now that I will probably regret later. :)Thanks so much for following along, Ann!
Susan says
When we moved into our first house a good friend told me everything thing you do in the first year moving into a house, you undo in the next five years. Wait a year before doing anything major. Fourth years and six homes later it’s still true. I painted my kitchen cabinets and bedroom white before we moved into our little retirement cabin. I heated it almost from the start…..three years in I broke down and painted them both an avocadoy green. It has turned out to be so cozy and right for the pine paneling! Lol I never would have predicted that color would be what we needed. ( popcorn ceilings might be an exception to waiting a year though……have it tested, not all popcorn had asbestos in it)