Interior Decorating

1. Up Against the Wall. . . Not!

Try angling your bed or sofa. Or float that large sofa facing a fireplace, two smaller conversational seating groups, or a pair of chairs arranged at an angle. Depending on the shape, size, and scale of your room, consider using two loveseats or settees instead of a large sofa. Walk through the room and note the traffic patterns. Move the pieces around you find an arrangement that works with the space and with the traffic flow. That is, do not block access to other rooms or doors with furniture arrangements or individual pieces. You will want to direct traffic while allowing easy access to pathways in, out of, and around the room.

2. Picture this: Getting the Hang of It

As a rule of thumb, artwork should be placed no more than five to nine inches above a sofa and no more than seven to ten inches above a table. The placement of your artwork should also relate to its surroundings. As a guideline for proportion, one or more pictures (including mirrors or other wall decor) should cover about 2/3 of the wall space above the piece of furniture. For example, if you have a 6 foot wide sofa, plan on a single picture or an arrangement that is about 4 feet wide and centered above the sofa.

3. That's Odd! Off-center is On-target

Unless your display is of Noah's Ark, avoid putting things in pairs. Odd numbers are far more interesting. A group of three or five items is usually better than two, four, or six. Items that are different in shape, height, color, texture or some other dimension should be balanced, but that almost always means they should not be centered and spread out or lined up evenly in a straight line.

4. Of(f) Color: Avoid White Blight

I know white walls are very appealing to some of you, but having no color on the walls makes a room seem cold and uninviting. It also makes it very hard to decorate. If you must use pure white, use it for trim, fabric, or accessories with a color or even a light neutral shade on the walls. White only works on a wall if you know how to use it -- and since that is a difficult thing to do, we do not recommend you try it yourself. And be sure to choose the right intensity of color. Do not rely on small paint chips as the color will look different on the wall. Purchase a small amount of paint and try it first. Live with it a couple of days. View it at various times of the day and night since the color you choose may look different with different lighting conditions and with different colors adjacent to it .It is worth the slight extra investment to avoid spending many times more only to have it turn out darker or lighter than you expected.

5. Lighten Up

Do not neglect the importance of sunlight (or the ability of ultra violet rays to fade furnishings and artwork). When thinking about room lighting you should also pay attention to the direction the windows of the room face, when it is likely to have the most sun, if you want the maximum exposure to that sun or it will be too glaring, if you want the light but not the UV exposure, or if you want to block the sun (in a media room or perhaps the bedroom of someone who works the night shift and sleeps during the day).

6. What's the (focal) Point? Very Important

So, what is a focal point? In general, it is the most dramatic element in a room. It is what your eye is drawn to when you first enter a room. It is attention getting and should be the centre of attention of your décor.   Furnishings should be arranged in relation to the focal point -- such as a conversational group around a fireplace. Other main elements in a room are arranged to face, frame, or be part of the focal point.

7. Carpets

A room-size area rug should have a 9 to 12 inch border of floor showing between the
rug and the wall. If using a room-sized area rug, it should be large enough to tuck under the edges of any furniture around the room, such as servers, or china cabinets. If you already have one that it is too small, use it somewhere else.

(full post: http://---chazz.squidoo.com/ten-biggest-decorating-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them)