8 Things You Should Never Decorate With (What to use instead) – Worst Decorating Mistakes!

hello everyone I'm Julie and today we're talking about the top eight things that you should never decorate your home with and what to use instead over 18 years in the industry and I have seen some good and bad design and while I do love a good Timeless Trend there are some decor items that stay on our radar but they don't necessarily add any style or functionality to our space I'm here to tell you that you could do better after watching today's video I hope you'll have a better understanding of all the decorating mistakes that you might not even know you're making and be inspired by the Endless Options out [Music] there we're just going to jump right into this list the first item that you should never be decorating with is plastic Furniture we're talking about exposed plastic furniture that you're using right in your living room or dining room we're talking about those plastic living room chairs those plastic folding dining chairs acrylic Furniture plastic consoles accent tables yes get rid of all of those Tupperware bins that are lining your bed room because there are so many better options out there than the Tupperware aisle in your local Dollar Store plastic Furniture is one of those filler pieces that you might have added to your home because they just served a really functional purpose maybe you needed something really cheap and inexpensive and Walmart was having a sale it was like buy one get one 50% off and then all of a sudden in your bedroom you have an entire elevation of plastic dressers instead of going out and investing in like a solid wood piece plastic Furniture just really screams I'm broke and plastic really should be relegated to behind your cabinets I'm all for using plastic storage bins and anything plastic but like hidden behind a closed door if you want your space to feel a little bit more grown up a little bit more elevated definitely more luxurious and it doesn't look like you are making a decorating mistake you want to get rid of all of that plastic Furniture yes that includes all of the acrylic furniture that was having a hot moment in design I mean not even too long ago you remember about 15 years ago when Baroque and Hollywood Regency was like on the rise and and then all of a sudden all of these designers and manufacturers were whipping out like all of this acrylic Furniture those acrylic Louis ghost chairs that you saw at every single wedding reception that year and then all of a sudden people were bringing it into their homes and they're using it as like dining room furniture but here's the thing plastic Furniture not only looks cheap it is cheap if you've ever tried to sit on a plastic chair it is not comfortable not only is it uncomfortable it buckles over a lot of weight it buckles over time it warps it chips it cracks and it discolors typically budget is a really huge Factor when you're deciding to bring in new furniture in your home I get it those plastic bins were fill of furniture they really just served a purpose okay now that you know exactly what the purpose is that you need in that room why not find a more stylish option that has a little bit more longevity has a little bit more of a Timeless appeal something that you're not afraid to show off yes right in the middle of your living room I love to sour secondhand when I first purchased my home almost 9 years ago I mean I was broke we just made a really huge down payment and I'm really going to invest you know another1 $20,000 into brand new furniture heck no even though we didn't have any kids we were starting to build this home together I got rid of all of those cheap plastic bins and I sourced a majority of our furniture on Craigslist back then Craigslist was so hot and nowadays it's all about offer up FB market and of course your local thrift stores and flea markets the great thing about Facebook Marketplace is once you start to browse a particular item let's say you're trying to replace the plastic storage bin that you're using as your dresser in your bedroom and then you start to look up wood dressers this is when I love the algorithm and it comes into play once you start looking for a particular product on FB Marketplace it just keeps on kicking you that same type of product in the same type of style that you're looking for let's say you're looking for a wood dresser you could also type in midcentury or MCM as a search term and it will keep delivering these same types of looks to you a lot of sellers often deliver these heavy bulk items for a really small delivery Fe Fe too so you always want to key into sellers that are local to you they're not too far away maybe within like a 5 mile radius and you might even get free delivery the next item on today's list are taped posters you're not in college anymore let's rip off all those posters with tapes at the corners especially if it's lining all of your bedroom walls unless you still are in college so I'm going to say it's okay if you're in a dorm room but if you don't want that dorm room look in a grown-ups bedroom get rid of all those tape poster Stacks I'm not saying for you to throw away the posters now a better alternative is to Simply Place those posters in a frame you could purchase oversized frames at Ikea for less than $10 for like a 20x 30 frame the great thing about Ikea's frame selections is that there's such a variety of different sizes and options out there they have different frames with acrylic and plastic fronts so that you're not paying a little bit more for a glass front you remember when DIY was having a really huge moment and washi tape was like everywhere I remember everyone running out to their local Daiso and just buying this washi tape in bulk and and you would create like all this random art on the walls with washi tape you've got your postures you have your cute little like contrasting washi tape and then all of a sudden it's lining an entire wall in your bedroom and it almost looks like wallpaper at that point if you're a teenager and you're experimenting with art I love this look I mean I think that's the great thing about teenage bedrooms you're experimenting with colors you have a certain artist that you like or a certain aesthetic that you love and that is what you're filling your room with but as a grownup in a grownup space nothing makes artwork feel more prominent than installing it within a frame we're not saying you have to purchase a brand new frame you could also go out to your local thrift store and harvest a bunch of frames that you love even if you don't necessarily love the artwork that's behind it that's one of my best designer tips for getting artwork on the Fly I was able to install an entire gallery wall in my guest bathroom renovation for less than $100 I was filling up wall to--all artwork I mean I had these two huge blank Black Walls and I filled it up with over 20 different pieces of artwork and all less than $100 you could also purchase really inexpensive canvas art at your local thrift store and simply reuse the canvas you don't have to do anything to the canvas itself as long as the size of the canvas is larger than the size of your poster you can just glue that poster right on the canvas and then boom all of a sudden you have a beautiful piece of artwork that looks custom made another really great tip to elevate the look of your posters after you put it on a canvas it's just to apply a really thin layer of Modge Podge or like the shellac that lacquer the front of the art piece what you get is a one-of-a-kind piece of custom art that looks luxurious and bonus points you made it the next item on today's list of the things that you should never decorate your home with and this one I feel to my core are dead flowers show of hands for anyone who has ever saved a bouquet of roses from their ex-boyfriend like back in high school and you still have it you're kind of thumbing through your old yearbook and there it is the dead rose that your ex-boyfriend gave you okay you got to get rid of that like ASAP Dead Flowers equals dead R energy in funu funu is all about the art of spatial arrangement we all want to live in a harmonious space we want to add Furniture in our space that not only is functional but it's also really beautiful and stylish a funu is really huge on symbolism you want to decorate with things that are auspicious they bring better energy into the space they harmonize and balance the space where you are excited about the colors that you bring into the space and all of those decor items that symbolically align with all of the elements that we're working with dead flowers are not only a huge funu no no but they're also one of those like decorating pet peeves that I have if you're decorating with dead flowers chances are the flowers were alive at one time or another fun loves fresh Active Energy Dead Flowers equals dead energy dead energy permeates our space it doesn't allow Chi to flow well Chi looks at a dead flower and it's like oh my gosh I'm not even going to go into that corner of the room it just feels like really dead and listless to me dead flowers could be anything from a dried up bouquet that you're using to decorate a table it could also be that bowl of poery that you have sitting in the corner of your bathroom not only is it collecting dust but it doesn't even give off any fragrance or scent anymore it's also that single rose that you have hanging upside down that's right by your window you need to get rid of all of those dead flowers and replace them with fresh flowers instead I mean what an easy upgrade but of course I understand fresh flowers every single week Julie do you know how expensive that could cost yes I do know how expensive that could be which is why I am a huge proponent of having fresh Greenery in the home you could go out to your local hardware store I mean even Trader Joe's has some of these like little greeneries and little ceramic pots that you can place right on your window sill just to add a little brightness into the space now there is a really huge difference between dead flowers and artificial flowers I'm saying don't decorate with dead flowers but artificial flowers that almost look and feel like the real thing in funu that's actually acceptable you could use artificial flowers faux plant plants if they look and feel like the real thing and you keep them completely clean like Immaculate you want to keep the leaves dust free you want to regularly wipe off all the dust and the debris that collects on the petals and the leaves by doing so you actually reverse the concept of the decor item being dead but you're actually using something that feels fresh and Alive one of the common questions that I get asked about dead flowers is what about pompus grass is pompus grass considered a dead flower in funu technically pompus grass is a dead flower but for me personally as an interior designer and a funu practitioner I find that pompus grass is one of those loopholes to Dead Flowers the reason I believe this is because once you cut pompus grass stocks and Stems straight from the bush years later they still look exactly the same so if you're ever on the cusp of whether or not you should use a flower that is artificial or dead always think did it look like this when it was alive if the answer is yes then I would say it's perfect fine to use it in your space to decorate your space and make it feel a little bit more luxurious but if it's wilted it's dusty if it's like done super dead then it's time to say goodbye the next item on today's list of what you should never decorate your home with is trophies and award plaques I know you peaked in high school back in the Heyday you kind of won every single award there was to give out there you got the athlete of the Year award MVP president Award Best dress biggest flirt oh yes I'm proud of you honey but you know what that era is over you know what we're grown adults now do they still give Awards and plaques you know what they actually do my husband won a fantasy football trophy is the ugliest freaking trophy I've ever seen in my life he wanted to put that on my beautiful dresser that I purchased for him that's sitting in his closet I'm like hell no that needs to go it's kind of like the tape posters that is in your teenage or dorm room bedroom right yes I get it you're very proud of your accomplishments but is this the type of conversations starter that you want your guest to have the minute that they walk into your home maybe in a private area like your Den or your home office like in the back of the Shelf I might say that that's okay unless it's like an Emmy an Oscar a Grammy I would say please put your little plastic trophies away give it to your mother give it to your grandmother I'm sure they have a really huge storage unit where they can put all of your trophies on display but on the flip side if you are very proud of your accomplishments I am going to show you how to style it in a way that makes it feel very intentional really Chic and elevated one of my best designer tips is to Corral all of your trophies and plaque in one area of your home I love a buil-in for this purpose or even a dedicated bookcase the trick to making this look like a high-end installation versus your high school bedroom is to style it in a way that shows a little bit more of your personality hobbies and interests use the rule of thirds when styling your bookshelves let's say you have like a really tall bronze trophy you want to style that with two other elements one that is smaller in scale and something that throws off the entire combination let's say you have a trophy you could also style it with like a little book or a little Greenery let's say you play baseball and you got a trophy for the most home runs in a season you could also style the bookshelf with a game-winning ball that all of your teammates signed now you've added another element to the Bookshelf that feels a little bit more personalized and is definitely more intentional you see where I'm going here decorate with the things you love decorate it how you want to but in order to make it feel a little bit more intentional you have to put a little bit more thought into it don't just slap a poster on the wall and call it a day add a really unique element like an element of surprise maybe it's a signed guitar that came from your favorite band maybe you got a VIP all access backstage pass and you had it on a larat and you went to this really awesome concert you could use that to decorate alongside the poster or the trophy or the award plaque and then all of a sudden you've created not only a composition but you made a statement for this wall the next item on today's list list of the eight things that you should never decorate your home with is stuffed animals now I have two little girls one is four one is almost two and my house is littered with stuffed animals did I intentionally decorate it this way no oh my gosh no I'm trying to get rid of them but dist stuffed animals find their way into my home then all of a sudden they multiplied absolutely it seems like every time we leave the house we come back with a brand new stuffed animal I don't know how that happens it's like we go out you see your claw machine I want to play it my daughter like sees a squish mellow and you know she doesn't have this particular character so we want to add it to the mix and then all of a sudden the sofa in my living room that used to house just like one or two pillows is now littered with stuffed animals I always try to clear these off before guests come because you know what where are they going to sit if you're still decorating with squish Mellows or emoji pillows and it's intentional then I'm going to tell you you don't need to get rid of it okay because clearly that is your design intent but if you're decorating with it because you're like you know what I have a young girl's bedroom I want it to feel like a young girl's bedroom then yes that's great decorate with all of the stuffed animals that you like but once those stuffed animals start making their way into your grown adults bedroom I'm going to say that's when you need to crack the whip is there a really stylish way for you to Corral a bunch of stuffed animals into a space and still make it look Chic and stylish here's a sneak preview of my girls bedroom now I haven't shown you the full makeover because I'm still putting my finishing touches on it but I do want to show you how I display some of their favorite stuffed animals I really believe in monor based learning where I don't leave a whole lot of things out I want my kids to be really intentional with the things that they play with and even their stuffed animals I'll rotate a lot of the stuffed animals out and leave just their favorites this allows the space to feel really new really fresh really exciting they don't get bored of all of their toys because I'm kind of rotating it out and bonus points for it not looking like a toy store threw up in their bedroom is there a way to professionally decorate with stuffed an animals in a very chic and minimal way um I'm going to say I'm still looking for that answer so if you have an image of a room with stuffed animals decorated in a really stylish way I absolutely want you to send it to me the next item on today's list that you should never decorate your home with I mean at least intentionally is multicolor strip lighting I hate multicolor lighting I don't think it's Chic I don't think it's functional I mean are you a Tik Tok content creator where you need like all sorts of ambient Li because you're changing up the background and you're dancing to every single scene if you are then forget everything I said about strip lighting but if you are a grown adult in an elevated space I would say multicolored lighting is better left for parties and events if you're looking to add under cabinet lighting or strip lighting to your home and you want to invest in something that has a little bit more of a Timeless appeal look for just simple one color light okay it could be a warm white which is my personal favorite it could be a daylight color it could be a neutral tone or even a cool tone but always look for white lighting I think white lighting especially with dimmer capabilities really helps to elevate the look of your home and add strategic lighting to some underused Corners I love strip lighting under cabinets especially to light a counter top in a kitchen or a bathroom I also love strip lighting in tray ceilings Ledges niches even the toe kicks in your kitchen to add that warm ambient glow but the minute that you turn it on to a specific color or even one that rotates all of the G Biv colors I almost feel like I'm at a rave you know the next item on today's list of the eight things that you should never decorate your home with is oversized beads I know you know what I'm talking about you know those oversized beads and those oversized bowls on an oversized coffee table that's sitting in the middle of your living room what are those beads even doing there how did they get there what are those beads I can't even recall who started this movement was it Joanna gains during like modern Farmhouse I'm not even sure but all of a sudden these really huge beads made their way into our deor vernacular and they never left I know they haven't left because I just recently went to my local HomeGoods and there you have it in the row where all of the home decor goes to die there were like piles and piles of beads I understand the appeal is this textural element that had a little bit of a contrast versus the hard surfaces of a bowl or your countertop or even a coffee table it had a really beautiful draping quality you can kind of spay on the surface and it looks interesting but it's just one of those decor items that just look cute you know does it serve a purpose does it have a function I'm perfectly okay with decorating your home with objects that you love that you find fascinating that you find unique if you went to Temple recently and great monk was sitting there making these hand beads and they were kind of giving them out to all of the patrons that has a purpose to me there's sentimental value in those beads and you're decorating with that but there's no sentimental value or personal value when you just go out to your local big box retailer and just purchase these beads because you feel like you need to decorate your space and you want to fill it up with an item that you found in a store those types of decorative items while they might serve a purpose and they look good just to fill a space to me don't have longevity is one of those things that you'll replace with something that has a better story that's attached to it beads handmade at a temple from a monk versus beads that you purchase at HomeGoods which one do you think will have more sentimental value in your home and the last item on today's list of the eight things that you should never decorate your home with is to me the most offensive it is word art I know you know what word art is live laugh love eat play bar at one point or another I feel that we might have all Fallen victim to The Graphic appeal of word art while I never had a poster or a plaque that said live love laugh in my home I did have posters or little plaques that said things like you know my kids have four feet this is before I actually had kids and I was raising a bunch bunch of dogs I also had little quotes that I would frame and kind of place them up on my bookshelf or walls so I understand why people like word art but what I'm trying to tell you is that word art does not Elevate the look of your home another tricky element of decorating with word art is that you're never just satisfied with one piece of word art it's almost like you need that word art in every single room in the house you have one in the kitchen you have one in the entry you have one lining the stairwell and then all of a sudden you walk into your home and it's like the home is kind of telling you what to do I think it's almost as bad as throwing on a sweatshirt and it says like fashion in the front of it it's like really is that sweatshirt really fashionable just because it has a word Fashion on it you understand what I'm saying now what do you replace all of this word art with instead it's really simple anything other than words I would probably make a case for like vintage posters with a little bit of Graphics or words on it but just a plaque or a poster with just words alone it's just not going to cut it in an elevated space think of lining your walls with a really huge statement piece of art it could even be a gallery of smaller pictures or portraits that you absolutely love if art is not your thing how about a patterned or colored wallpaper I'm loving tiny printed wallpaper I feel like it could be a really beautiful backdrop to add and layer on more artwork but at the same time even if you land it on a really beautiful print that can act as artwork in itself that can buy you time before you start layering on other things that speak to your personal aesthetic and home values that's it for today's video of the eight things that you should never decorate your home with and what to do instead this video is not meant to tell you what to decorate your home with what to remove it's kind of just giving you options a lot of us might be decorating with things that we've always had in our home you might have decor and artwork lining your walls and you haven't switched it out for like the past 10 years and it's not because you don't want to it's kind of because you're stuck like what do I replace it with instead how do I start adding more elements into my space when I'm on a limited budget the best design advice I can give you for today's video is to pull everything off of your walls and off of your shelves you're not getting rid of it you're not donating anything you're kind of giving your space some breathing room and coming back to it with fresh eyes you could reuse old canvases and frames you could donate items that you know you absolutely are not going to use anymore I love a Great Purge I think editing is one of those key design tips that everyone should kind of adopt especially in a space that you've been looking at for so long remember that there's no such thing as a decorating mistake if it is intentional if you're enjoying this Channel and you like this type of content please give this video a thumbs up comment below and let me know from today's Roundup what do you think is the worst offensive decorating mistake for me it's the word art I still go into my friends and family's homes now and I see the word art on their walls and I can visualize exactly what that elevation would look like without the word art and already it could be such a more clean and refined look than what they're going for if you love this video definitely check out my entire comma design mistakes playlist I also have a brand new video that I made just a couple of weeks ago on the common design mistakes for your home we've got tips for the living room the dining room the bathroom pretty much every single room in your home broken down into really easy to apply tips don't forget to subscribe to my channel if you haven't already and click that little notification Bell to be notified of new videos that we drop on the channel every single Thursday thank you so much for watching everyone I'm Julie and I'll see you next [Music] week

Channel: Julie Khuu

Views: 148,935

Keywords: interior design, interior designer, home design, home decor, home improvement, designer, common design mistakes, julie khuu, interior design ideas, worst decorating mistakes

Id: 2f-kVpNnFJE

Length: 22min 29sec (1349 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 22 2024