THERE are a number of interior design mistakes you may be making that could be ruining the rooms aesthetic.
Some interior designers have spoken to Insider sharing the biggest mistakes people tend to make when decorating their living room.
Buying an ill-fitting rug
One common mistake is to decorate with a rug that is either too big or too small for the room.
Gena Kirk, the vice president of design at KB Home says: “A rug that is too large will look overwhelming in the space and can make the room appear smaller.
"A rug that is too small forces your furniture to be closer together, leaving the room feeling unbalanced and creating the feeling of wasted empty space."
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She recommends that before purchasing you measure the space use tape to create outlines as to how you envision the rug looking in the space.
Placing your sofa up against the wall
Instead of placing your sofa up against the wall, you should consider “floating” it, meaning having it off the wall, or maybe even in the middle.
This can make a living room of any size look and feel bigger as you’ll be able to walk around the sofa.
Matching your furniture
While you may think this will look nice, Lauren White, the owner and principal designer of Ellen W. Interior Concepts says this is actually a major no-no.
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"A space that looks too 'matchy-matchy' isn't a good thing” she says, adding that this can make your home look unlived in and like a showroom.
Hanging your TV too high
"I know that placing your TV over the fireplace is the 'it' thing to do, but it does a huge disservice to your neck," says Lauren.
While you may think it’s more aesthetically pleasing to hang your television up high, this should always be situated at eye level.
If you watch TV a lot, as many of us do, you won’t want to constantly strain your neck by having to look up.
Not prioritising comfort
No, you don’t have to sacrifice comfort for style, and only focusing on style can actually make your lounge space look worse.
Without any comfort your living room won’t have that lived-in look and feel, and could have an almost clinical atmosphere, which can be off-putting to guests.
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Even if you can’t afford to splash out then just adding some cosy blankets and cushions can make a world of difference.
Only having one light source
Interior designer Sara Ray says that your living room should have a number of lighting options:
“There should be overhead lighting on a dimmer that can be used to move throughout the space or dimmed to provide the right ambiance for a party.
“You want to have plenty of secondary lighting so that tasks like reading can be done while sitting in the space."
Not having the right sized furniture
It’s so important to pick out the right furniture, and to do so you’ll need to consider the size of the room itself.
If your furniture is big and your room small then it can make the room appear even smaller, and make you and any guests feel cramped in.
You’ll also want to space your furniture out to create a less claustrophobic space.
Interiors expert and founder of Unique Markets Sonja Rasula recommends leaving 30 to 36 inches between furniture pieces in a large room, and 18 to 24 inches in smaller spaces.
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Having ill-matched furniture
While you don’t want completely matching furniture, you don’t want a complete mismatch of items either.
You’ll likely want to stick to one aesthetic or style for the majority of your furniture, for example if everything in your living room is in light shades, having a dark black armchair would look out of place.
Having large items on shelves
According to Sonja Rasula there’s a right way and wrong way to organise the shelving in your living room.
"You should utilise shelving space as much as possible, but try to avoid overhang, which could cause the space to look overcrowded," she says.
Overhand occurs when items are too large for the shelf and hang over the edge, which can give your shelves a rather cluttered and unorganised appearance.
Not having enough tables and surface space
A high traffic area of the home, such as the living room should have ample space to set down your drinks, books, and other items.
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In a particularly large living space you may wish to have coffee tables, side tables, and any other you can think of.
While in a smaller space you will still need some surface space you can probably get away with having quite a lot less.
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