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Friday Finds: Don’t Make These Interior Design Mistakes

Pine Cone Hill patterns Design pattern

Design inspiration is everywhere. Watch TV, read this blog, or pick through Pinterest, and you’ll find plenty of  exciting design ideas. But sometimes that’s a problem. How you put them together is where you really make the magic — or make a mess.

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So, in the spirit of “putting it all together,” our Hirshfield’s professionals put together a list of interior design mistakes you shouldn’t make.

Don’t forget about space and scale.

Don’t shop for things you love (or saw elsewhere) without thinking of the size of your room — and how they’ll all fit together. Some people put too many small things in a room, thereby cluttering the room and not giving the eye a place to land. Others put too many large, bulky items in one room, making it look stuffed and small.

Remember, your furniture will look different at home — where size, color, and other items matter — than it will in a big showroom.

The secret to proper scale is a mixture of different shapes, sizes, and heights. One trick: when buying your furniture, tape out the size of the pieces so you can see how the pieces fit in your room, the traffic flow, etc. You’ll be glad you did.

pine cone hill bedding
Pine Cone Hill bedding

Don’t paint first.

Pick out the rooms fabrics and main textiles, such as rugs and curtains, before you worry about paint color. After all, it’s much easier to find a paint color to match a fabric that you love than limit your fabric choices on the front end.

That’s especially important in bedrooms. Customers come into the store looking for a new room color and they either haven’t picked out the bedding yet, or they haven’t brought it with them. Buy your bedding first, then bring in a pillow sham so you can work with a Hirshfield’s salesperson to select a paint from the thousands of colors we sell.

Don’t skimp on the lighting.

Lighting is a necessary design element for any space, yet people overlook it. How much lighting do you want from your fixtures? How about lamps? The answers will change the way everything else looks and feels.

Don’t skip the paint samples.

Color swatches are great, but sometimes they aren’t enough. We know. So buy a sample pint and paint part of a wall so you can actually live with the color for a couple of days before ordering your gallonage.  See how the paint looks with your lighting, furniture, carpet, etc. Don’t be one of those people who choose not to sample their color and are disappointed when it gets on the wall.

Don’t do it alone.

Depending on the scope of your decorating/design project call in the professionals. Interior designers are available to help you pick out a paint color to overseeing your remodeling project from start to finish. And never worry about bouncing any of these issues off of our Hirshfield’s professionals. We love talking about design, and we’re always happy to help.

paint sample pints
One customer’s quest for the perfect white!

Since Frank and Elizabeth Hirshfield opened their first store in 1894, it has been our mission to do the best job possible meeting customer needs and solving customer problems. Hirshfield’s. People and products you can trust.