Essential Interior Design Tip #10:
Don’t follow every rule, tip, or trick you’ve ever heard! In design – there are no rules!
(To read a previous post on this subject: The #1 Rule of Interior Design click here.)
- When you try to apply and adhere to every rule, tip, or trick you’ve ever seen or heard you are setting yourself up for failure.
It’s the quickest way to get frustrated, waste your money and guarantee that you DON’T have any fun in the process! By no means should you ever feel like you’ve messed up because you broke some expert’s rule!
I take issue with designers who spout their personal preferences as fact. Tossing around words like “always” and “never” – implying that they are rules. Sacred rules to be followed and “never” broken.
For example (and these are all tips I’ve actually read or heard):
- Buy drapery panels that will either kiss the floor or puddle on it – the bottom of the panels should never be above the floor.
(Never?! What if you could save some significant money by going with a little shorter panel? Or what if you have a pet that will destroy a panel that’s too close to the floor? I bet you’re creative enough to figure out how to “make it work” – as Tim Gunn would say!)
- Never push furniture against the walls.
(Uh never?…so absolutley NO furniture against the walls at all?…that’s just weird!)
- Never match your walls to a color in your fabric. Use a grayed out version so not too strong.
(What if you want your walls to make a strong statement?)
- Always use white linens and towels. Never cross the line.
(Oooo…that one has an “always” and a “never”. The decorating police will be coming for you soon!)
- When it comes to bookcases – stick to books.
(That’s an implied “always”…but really?…There’s only a gazillion cool pins on Pinterest that suggest otherwise.)
Now I understand where all these tips come from.
They’re not BAD tips. There’s some truth to all of them. (Especially the one about drapes kissing or puddling the floor.)
But when they use the words “always” and “never” they turn them into rules. And you know by now that in design – there are no rules.
So, should you ignore all rules, tips, tricks, or whatever else they call them?
Absolutely not.
Just don’t get hung up on them. Don’t let them get you off-track or frustrate you. Use the ones that you deem useful and forget the rest.
And be sure to check out the rest of the “Essential Design Tips Series” so you can determine what’s really important!
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Next we’re taking on:
Essential Interior Design Tip #9: DESIGN first! SHOP last!