You’ve gone through the Pinterest boards, you’ve done your research and you know exactly what you want your home to look like. You put the work in, you feel ready and inspired to enjoy the most impeccable end result. Then you look at your home décor and it’s nothing like what you envisioned. In fact, it looks tacky and even cheap.
Certain minor mistakes can result in a kitschy home that loses the elegant touch you were going for. Here are some of the things you’re doing that professionals will never condone.
Fake Plants
You find it difficult to keep greenery alive? No worries, put a few faux plants in the living room and call it a day! That seems like a great solution, doesn’t it? Well, it’s not an optimal choice and interior design professionals will never opt for such an arrangement.
No matter how well made they are, faux plants still have that plastic feel to them. It usually cheapens the most elegant of spaces and nothing you can do will balance out the appearance of such décor pieces.
It’s much better to stay away from greenery altogether than to put fake plants in your home.
Alternatively, choose easy to care for plants. You’ll find many types of decorative greenery that can thrive in all conditions. There are even plant species capable of surviving without being watered for weeks. The best aspect of choosing such plants is that many have an exotic, ornate appearance bound to add colour and excitement to your home décor.
Another thing you can do is choose natural elements that don’t require care or a lot of maintenance. Moss wall art, a sculpture made of a tree branch and even an artistic arrangement of sea shells will give you that outdoor feel without having you worrying about irrigation, pruning and fertilisation.
Faux Finishes
When working on a tight budget, you may prioritise a faux finish instead of the real thing. There are finishing products that can replicate the appearance of any material – marble, stone, wood, even metal.
Faux finishes, however, can be notoriously difficult to work with if you’re not a professional. These have to be applied meticulously to give you a realistic outcome. A crease or any other imperfection will take away from the illusion and produce a tacky outcome.
Spray painted metallics are very easy to recognise, even if you’re not a trained professional. Instead of trying to recreate such materials on a large scale, invest in a few quality authentic pieces. While such accents may be a lot smaller, they’ll look exquisite and exciting.
If you do intend to use materials and finishes that resemble something else, do opt for a professional application. Contractors know which finishes produce the best results and they also know how to make such installations flawless.
Print Confusion
Prints provide a simple and very effective opportunity to make a statement.
Overdoing bold prints, however, will result in the wrong kind of statement. Just imagine too much of an animal print in the living room. That’s a vision you’ll instantly find cheap and tacky.
There’s a fine line between utilising accents to enhance the overall beauty of the décor and allowing them to take over. If you’re not a trained professional, you’ll cross that line fairly easily.
Animal prints are absolutely fine and they will appear tremendously luxurious when used sparingly. To make them the star of the show, let the rest of the interior design be simple and neutral. Print confusion can ensue if you attempt to do too much, mixing and matching options for a more eclectic look.
Mass-Manufactured Art Work
You’ll find lots of prints and framed pieces of art in the local furniture store.
The problem with these pieces is that they look mass-manufactured. The absence of authenticity is tremendously tacky when it comes to art. Unfortunately, many people opt for such pieces because they’re simply afraid of choosing genuine paintings, photographs or prints.
Art needs to be personal, especially if you’re going to be putting it in your home. Do a bit of online research. Save images of the things you like. This way, you’ll get a better idea about your style and the aesthetics that you enjoy the most.
You don’t need artwork by renowned painters to enjoy quality. Embracing the work of some local talent is equally good. Just make sure that the pieces you choose have some distinctive character that’s in line with what you enjoy.
Too Much of a Theme
Having an interior design theme will give your execution cohesiveness. Staying too thematic, however, is going to deliver an immediate tacky effect.
Just imagine a home that’s nautical all the way through. Or a home that embraces the barbiecore aesthetic in every single room. It will be overpowering, too busy and cheap.
Interior designers know how to bring the theme to reality without having to rely too heavily on elements consistent with it. In other words, you don’t need anchors and seashells everywhere to create a nautical heaven.
Anyone who’s very passionate about a certain theme or a style should talk to a renovation contractor in Singapore like the Home Guide team. Contact us now and we’ll work together on an end result representative of your style. You’ll get a fresh, modern and personalised solution that accentuates your home’s best assets and is perfectly aligned with your lifestyle.
