EVEN if you spend a fortune on rugs, furniture, and accents, the wrong styling choices can make your home look cheap.
According to interior design experts, the solution is an easy fix – follow a few simple rules to elevate your home's interior fast.
Decor experts at Homes and Gardens shared five mistakes that can ruin the look of thoughtful home decor.
Luckily, the solutions don't require a lot of money to fix.
"Even if you are decorating on a budget, there is no reason for your space to look cheap," the experts wrote. "In many cases, the things that lead to a house looking cheap aren't even a reflection of wealth."
Take a look to see if you're guilty of these design sins in your home – and learn how to fix them.
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I’m an interior designer – the huge mistake people make when styling their home
POORLY-PROPORTIONED FURNITURE
For example, the size of your furniture matters a lot more to the price, especially if the room is noticeably smaller or larger than others in your house.
"Disproportionate furniture will make a house look cheap, almost like you threw whatever you had together and hoped it would work," designer Amy Youngblood told the outlet.
Tiny furniture in a gigantic room will make it look empty, as though you can't afford enough furniture to fill it up.
Meanwhile, furniture that's too large will crowd your space, making the room look small. A mixture of disproportionate furniture is visually confusing.
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"Figure out a good balance of positive and negative space to help the flow of the room," Youngblood recommended.
Use the same principle to clean up your walls, too. "This can also include artwork if it is disproportionate on the walls of the space," she said.
THE WRONG RUG
Your furniture isn't the only home decor area where size matters. Choosing the wrong-size rug can also be detrimental to your interior design.
A rug that's too small could be what's "off" in your living room, the experts warned.
You can trust their genius guidelines to make sure you buy the right rug for every room.
"For large living rooms, it's best to leave at least 12 to 18 inches of visible floor space between your large rug and wall," said Therese Germain, director of core product at Ruggable.
"To unify the area, try to ensure that the front legs of your sofa and lounge chairs sit on the rug and overlap it by a minimum of 8 to 12 inches," she added.
For open-floor spaces, pick a sharply-contrasting rug that will be distinct from the floor.
This will draw focus, which creates a visually-designed space and makes even an open floor plan feel intimate, she said.
MATCHING IKEA FURNITURE
IKEA is a great budget buy, but don't go overboard securing every piece in the MALM or EKTORP series.
In fact, matchy-matchy pre-made furniture will leave your home looking cheap and outdated – more "dorm room" than "designer."
The experts at Home and Gardens recommend sourcing inexpensive secondhand furniture instead of going to the big-box stores for flatpack furniture.
Your unique pieces are often more affordable than brand-new furniture from a discount store.
"They will also be sturdier and will inject personality into your space," the experts explained.
"Plus, you can rest safe in the knowledge that the piece you buy has already survived decades in the home and is likely to continue for many more to come," they added.
But IKEA furniture still has a purpose, so don't throw out your drawers and shelves.
The inexpensive brand can "prove invaluable in hidden spaces, such as garages, to provide plentiful storage," the experts wrote.
WEIRD FLOORING COMBOS
If you've lived in your home for a while, you might have completed piecemeal renovations that have left inconsistent flooring around your home.
That can be a big aesthetic eyesore, warned designer Jennifer Walter.
"Inconsistent hard surface flooring like LVT and laminate in different rooms will make a house look cheap," she told the outlet.
Mixing laminate flooring and real wood is also a cringe-worthy mistake. Follow Walter's one simple rule to avoid it.
"Pick one color, and use it throughout," she recommended.
Walter also reminded homeowners to be cautious when picking a color scheme for their floors.
"Grays in wood alternatives tend to make a house look sterile and staged," she said. "It can make a house look cold and unnatural."
Stick with warm, bright, natural colors for real and faux wood – and above all, be consistent.
UNLINED CURTAINS
If the eyes are the windows to the soul, then your windows are where the soul of your home resides – that's why it's important to showcase them.
But the wrong curtains can leave a bad impression to visitors, whether they enter your home or not.
Interior designer Christian Ladd warned that unlined curtains look flimsy and unkempt.
"We always line drapery four times so that they are finished and visually appealing even from the exterior of the home and always do so in a soft ecru or bone rather than white," Ladd explained.
This might be an often-overlooked area, but it's the best place to start if your house needs an instant upgrade.
"Above all else, draperies are the single most effective way to elevate a home," Ladd said. "When finished impeccably and include details such as hand-sewn passementerie, they instantly create a more custom, elevated feel."
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