Today’s post will most likely elicit some good discussions. Did you happen to catch this HGTV special recently? Evidently there are 25 Top Decorating Mistakes that we absolutely should not do. Oh, the horror of it all! I was holding my breath, hoping against hope, that I had not ever committed the decorating sins that I was about to behold. Can you hear the sarcasm here? OK, so I did commit a few of them….let’s see if YOU are off the hook!
- Fake flowers and plants (I confess, I have both in my home at the moment, although not nearly as many as I used to.)
- Too many pillows, on the bed or sofa (yes, I’m guilty of this one too)
- Knick-knack overload (have plenty of these, but not as much as a granny would)
- Fear of color (apparently, this is not one of my problems)
- Ignoring windows (not a problem for me either)
- Pushed back furniture (don’t do this for the most part, if there’s room to float, I do it)
- Tacky couch covers (they were talking clear plastic, can you imagine? does anyone do that anymore? I never see it in the South)
- Frames too high (this is a pet peeve of mine too)
- Improper lighting (I think I have this one covered just fine)
- Floating rugs (nope, not a problem either)
- Too many colors/patterns (love color & patterns, but I think I’m under control)
- Furniture that doesn’t fit (I think they mean oversized & too much in one room)
- Following fads (I have been a wee bit guilty of following some fads, but only the good ones)
- Everything matches (this seemed to be too much of one color in a room, everything the same color).
- Lack of traffic flow (not good for directing foot traffic in a room, I’m OK with this one)
- Uncomfortable diningroom chairs (mine are upholstered & completely comfortable)
- Too formal (nope, I’m not that formal in any room)
- Keeping something you hate (nope, I will not have anything out that I hate)
- Lopsided furnishings (this is balance in a room, not having too much on any one side)
- Outdated accessories (don’t think I have too many of those, but my mother sure does)
- Themes (I’m not much for themes either)
- Undressed cables (hidden for the most part, I did just tack down the white satellite cable in our bedroom with white tacks next to the white baseboard..much better).
- Ignoring the foyer (oh, I love my foyer & would never ignore it)
- Too many family photos (have a few in the livingroom, but not overload)
- Toilet rugs (I gave up the contoured toilet rugs long ago, but we do have a rectangular rug in front of the toilet, that tile is entirely too cold in the winter. I do have one of those toilet seat covers, yes on all 3 toilets…call me tacky, but I like them, this is not a hotel…but, I’m thinking I might take them off eventually :). Fess up…who has a toilet rug OR toilet seat cover? I want to hear from all of you! Is it a Southern thing? There are tons of them still in all the bath stores.
OK, true confession time. How many of these have YOU committed? I can tell this is gonna be a good discussion. I recently wrote about this topic over at Blissfully Domestic , the online magazine and got some really fun comments going. I’m a Decorating contributor over there and will be posting about once a week, so go and check it out, join up, and read lots of other fun stuff, not just decorating!
Speaking of HGTV, one of my blog friends here in Alabama, Layla at The Lettered Cottage is auditioning for HGTV’s Design Star. Go over and vote for her here and let’s help get her on the show! She’s an adorable and talented girl and I’d love to see her on the show next season. If you haven’t visited her blog, please do so, you will love it. Best of luck, Layla!
You’ll notice my banner got a new Fall makeover too! Here’s to cooler weather just around the corner.
Birmingham girls: See the note on my left sidebar. I’m going to a big neighborhood yardsale on Saturday a.m. bright and early. Just email me if you’d like to join me!
Diane@A Picture is Worth.... says
Uh oh…on the toilet rug thing! I didn’t know til now that it was a mistake! LOL
I have a few fake plants too…I think things would look bare around here without them!
Wish I lived in B’ham! Have fun tomorrow. I look forward to seeing the report on your blog.
diane
Brown-Eyes says
Gulp…I’ll ‘fess up…l do have a rectangular rug in FRONT of each of the toilets, because those tile floors are cold…and yes, I do have 1 silk ivy and 2 silk floral arrangements…it pained me but I let bunches of them go a while back. 😉 Bo
Steph says
I do have silk plants in some places around the house. I have to or my cat would eat them! He even tries the fake ones at first!
I think if you buy a good quality and keep it free of dust they are fine.
What I don’t like are fake flowers that are in colors not found in nature! 🙂
Melissa Wertz says
I think I have several of those violations going on right now. As for plastic coverings.. I like a table cloth on the kitchen table… and I always have a plastic sheet on it. And I cover the upholstery on my kitchen chairs with the same plastic. Just makes cleanup much better. And I can always keep a nice clean table cloth on the table.
And fake plants don’t die on you. 😉 I have thought about putting some of those in my yard the next time I hear of a drought.
Twice as Nice says
I think I did pretty good on the test. My big thing is accessories. I think I don’t have enough to dress up the space. I can never seem to find enough things that I love or how to put them all together without looking cluttered.
I’m not a fan of toilet seat covers. With 3 bathrooms and kids I see how scummy those toilets get. I would have to wash the cover just about daily. I think they would be a breeding ground for bacteria. I could never figure out what purpose they served. But that is my personal choice.
Great blog today Rhoda–as usual. Wish I could go to the yard sale with ya. The ones around here aren’t so good but Twin and I keep trying!
The Tomball Three says
I left my beautiful condo in Dallas to move to Houston to marry the most wonderful and CUTE man! I moved here, I married him … and he already had a house. It was like moving into a dorm room. He had a Texas A&M flag PUSHPINED over his bed and his bed was black laquer with mirrors all over it. YES. I finally wrestled the bed away from him, he took down the flag and even painted for me. He has given the entire house over to me … but I CAN NOT get those stupid bathroom rugs and toilet seat covers away from him. His mama must have engrained them into his head in the 70's … pray for me.
Jen r. says
I have a ton of fake flowers.. who can have real dirt with little hands around? I also have a rectangular rug in front of the potty.. who wants cold feet? 😉 I am glad to see you are a contributor on DB. I am too… 🙂 Jen R
paintergal says
Undressed cables? ‘Fraid I do have some nekkid cables.
Floating rugs? Not sure what those are!
I don’t care for the toilet seat covers. I can’t imagine one staying very clean. Ewww.
Scooterblu's Whimsy says
Opps…send the HGTV decor police, cause I am committed quite a few of their boo~boos. At least 4-5! 🙂 Number one is my worst offense! Oh well! LOL! ~Rhonda
ursula says
Okay, no toilet covers/rugs here, but how do we do without fake flowers/plants? I can’t afford fresh flowers everyday, and I need to fill those urns and baskets!
sandra/tx says
Hmmm… I don’t have toilet seat covers, but your post makes me want to buy some just to be a rebel! LOL
paperjunk-lc says
I’ve committed a couple of those no no’s. I have a few silk plants. I kill everything else. I’m sure I’m too matchy sometimes.
I have bath mats but have never had toilet seat cover.
So c’mon Miss. Rhoda get with it and purge those toilet seat covers!!!
Jennifer says
I used to have a toilet rug (tiled bathroom over garage, it was either ugly rug or freeze on the pot) but I have no idea where it is now. I didn’t intentionally remove it but I really don’t know what happened to it!
I do have a few fake plants. No unnatural colors like hot pink, though.
My husband is over 6 ft tall and he insists on hanging stuff at his eye level, which is too danged high for the rest of the world.
Ally0005 says
I have got rid of most of my fake flowers still have two , one on my dining room table (well right there are toys on it) and one in my entry way. I have no idea what I would replace them with.
I love the pillows on my bed I have a lot.
I still would like to know the best way to hide the cables. In my family room to have a light on one side of the room the cord had to be run from the TV cross in front of an end table then under the sofa. I have pillows in front of the end table to hide them, I couldn’t think of any other way to hide them. My office/Scrap room is another story, there are too many cords.
I have lot of photo’s, I have a round table in my family room that holds most of my photo’s .I do have a few here and there in other room. I love photos.
I gave up toilet rugs long ago after I came back from a trip from CA and seeing model homes out there, I wouldn’t even think about putting one down. I don’t have toilet seat covers either.
Sher's Creative Expressions says
Rhoda, love your new banner.
Ummm, I have a toilet seat cover on all my toilets. It’s not a southern thing ~ I’m a northern gal. I think it looks nice 🙂 BUT what bugs me is when people/visitors use my bathroom and leave the lid UP. CLOSE the LID people ~ that’s what the program should have mentioned 🙂
Blessings,
Sher
Anonymous says
The problem with this list is that those that commit these sins don’t recognize themselves!
nancy says
My Big Mistake is never getting
finished, takes me a long time
to get a room done.
For the B’ham Girls, Garden Ridge
is now open in Irondale. Go
check it out.
Anonymous says
I’m from Jacksonville, FL and I have 3 (eek!) toilet rugs.
Anonymous says
Rhoda,
I forgot to compliment your new banner. I noticed it the second I saw it. Nice job! Your blog always looks good!
This is fun. I’m not guilty of many of the sins, but I come close in some areas. The fake plants are compliments of my stager who insisted I use them for show purposes. I also started to worry that the living room with the fifteen million shells was looking a bit theme-parkish. I had the shells primarily in one or two areas, and they ended up being scattered about the room along with every copy of “Coastal Living” I own. 😉
I love color, (I prefer it in my fabrics for the most part), and I love Mario Buatta and Keith Irvine. Need I say more? I also love the late Mr. Banks-Pye. These decorators are not known for a decluttered look, favoring the English style of layers. That includes layers of pattern in some cases.
Many times I think that HGTV tends to want everything to look like a hotel room or hotel lobby. But I do understand about too much of some things. People (me included) can get carried away! There are just so many wonderful shiny objects out there!
The thing I tend to fixate on is art, and I collect paintings. In one house, I did a gallery effect up the staircase, and that worked very well. The rest of the house was very balanced. I like balance, whether it’s asymmetrical or not, but I have to agree with something that Bunny Williams said to a girl who had asked her to do her appartment in NYC after someone had come in and moved her sofa into the middle of the room (not that I don’t think that looks good in the right setting). She looked at the girl and said, “What on earth is this sofa doing here?” The girl said the previous decorator had done it. To which Ms. Williams replied, “We’ll it needs to be moved because it makes no sense.” I rest my case. If it makes you happy and makes sense for you, if your heart sings when you come in your house and makes you and your family feel warm and fuzzy, go for it!
Sheila (The Quintessential Magpie)
Deserae says
Nope, no rugs in front of the toilets! I don’t think I have broken but a couple of the “rules” but I honestly don’t care!LOL….Afterall design is nothing more than opinions when you really think about it…………
~Des