This subject has been on my mind lately as I have been perusing pinterest and various blogs around the web. Is there such a thing as over decorating? I have come to the conclusion that yes, you can go over the top in a space, leaving your room feeling busy and possibly cluttered.
We are living in a time of so many fun DIY projects that are inexpensive and fun to create. We also are surrounded by so many fun decor stores that beg for us to buy things off their shelves...so how can we avoid overdecorating our spaces?
THREE QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF:
What do you want people to notice when they walk into your space?
Our eyes can't process everything in a room, it is going to pick out a few things to notice while we are in a space and as decorators of our spaces, we can choose and direct someones' attention to what we want them to notice. So, do you want your guests to notice your light switches? Or would you rather draw their attention to the pillows on the sofa?
By choosing 3-5 focal points in a room to really emphasize, we create a space that is simple and not overwhelming or busy. Letting functional things in the room such as light switches, ceiling fans, heater vents etc. be in the background, without drawing attention to themselves, will help keep things simple so your eye can focus on more interesting things.
How many patterns do you have going on?
When ever we have fabric reps come in to our office and show us the latest and greatest fabrics, I often get excited and my mind starts thinking of how I can possibly use all these fun new fabrics... There are stripes, paisleys, birds, flowers, embroidery prints... I love them all. But as in all things in life, you can have too much of a good thing.
Trying to add in too many patterns in a room can be disastrous. We need solid textures and neutral colors to ground our fun prints. Try and limit the patterns and prints in a room to 3 - depending on the size of the room. For example, if you are doing your living room, you could do a print on the sofa pillows, a print on the drapery panels, and a print on the seat of a chair. This leaves your sofa and chair a plain color, your lamp shades cream, and your walls a solid hue.
Would you see this in Pottery Barn, Restoration, West Elm, etc?
**Or replace with your favorite store or magazine... Before you spend your time and money on a DIY project, keep this question in mind. Would I see this in Pottery Barn? Before I cover all my switch plates in paisley fabric I would ask myself, would I see patterned plate covers in House Beautiful?
Asking yourself these questions will often help you steer clear of really trendy things, or decor that could come across as hokey or cheesy. Take the lamp shade above, you probably wouldn't see that exact shade sold at Pottery Barn Kids, however you could see a green lamp shade with pink trim along the bottom edge.
We hope these three questions will help you avoid "overdecorating" a space, because we know all too well that there are so many fun projects, fabrics, and home decor out there. In fact sometimes the hardest part of a project is editing out things that you love, leaving you with the BEST options for your room.
