Let me start out by saying that I am not here to judge, but merely to point out some of the decorating blunders I have seen throughout my decorating career, and to help you find better  and  more stylish solutions. After all, my job as a Decorator is to solve design problems and gently guide my clients to finding their design style and achieving beauty and comfort in their homes. So if you are guilty of any of the decorating faux pas on the proceeding list, please know that my constructive criticisms are coming from a good place – a heart of design love, so please – no hate mail

So without further ado, here goes my list of decorating pet peeves.

• Toilet Rugs and matching lid covers - I am referring to those rugs that are used in the bathroom, that are contoured to match the base of the toilet. In most cases they come as a set with a matching lid cover. I guess I can understand why people would like them – they keep your feet warm when you need to spend some time on the “throne”. But toilet rugs and lid covers are germy little things and usually aren’t that attractive anyway. Definitely every designers’ decorating pet peeve.

Solution: Go for a small rectangular area rug or a runner instead, and keep them at a safe distance from the toilet. If you have to keep the little piggies warm when you go, just wear slippers!

• Drapery panels that are too short – My next decorating pet peeve is store bought drapery panels that are often too short for a standard height window. Most big box stores stock them in lengths up to 84″; way too short!

Solution: You can shop for custom drapery panels starting at just $269 per pair through my online store. If you already own the short curtains you can visit your local fabric store and purchase a small yardage or remnant of a fabric that coordinates well with your short drapery panels. You can even use an old dust ruffle for this. Sew or use iron-on tape to add the fabric to the top or bottom of the panels, and voila, they look like they were designed that way. Beaux R’eves Blog has a step-by-step guide to doing this. Click here to see.

• Art hung too high – This is one decorating pet peeve that I’ve seen more than my fair share of. Art should be hung at “eye level”, but whose eye level? What if you are 6’4″? Then clearly it would be too high for me, who is 5’2″ to comfortably view.

Solution: A simple rule of thumb for hanging art is to place the centerpoint of the art at 60″ to 63″ above the floor.  From there you can adjust accordingly for the overall height of the ceiling or height of the furniture over which the art will hang.  This measurement provides a great base-line starting point and a good foundation for staying away from the too-high syndrome. To find the centerpoint of the art piece measure the full height of the piece (if framed include the frame in the measurement) and divide by 2.  Then measure the full width of the piece and divide by 2.  The point at which these measurements intersect is the centerpoint of the art piece.

• Room in a bag sets- You know the ones, found in department stores where the bedding matches the curtains that match the pillows that match the shower curtain. I understand where the designers of those sets were going with that concept – they want to make it easy for homeowners by doing the matching for them. Well the problem is just that, they lack personality and way too matchy, matchy. The one shown below is a 24 piece set! Yikes!

Solution: You can opt for custom bedding, where it’s all designed just for you with your choice of fabrics and trimmings. Custom bedding can be quite pricey, but another alternative is purchasing a comforter set and then choose pillows, bedskirt and shams in fabrics that coordinate with the comforter set rather than matching exactly. Our online store has a great selection of comforter sets. Click here to take a look. Also, try to avoid matching your draperies exactly to your bedding. A wonderful mix of fabric patterns, fabric types and textures is so much more interesting than fabric matching.

•  Wallpaper borders – I’m sure there was a time when wallpaper borders would make a wonderful statement in a room (can’t think of that time right of the top of my head :-)), but these days they make a room look very outdated.

Solution: Run the opposite direction! :-). On a serious note try doing an interesting paint treatment instead, like bold horizontal stripes, tastefully done faux painting, or a full wallpaper treatment on all the walls. Here are some examples

So there you have it, my list of decorating pet peeves. I am sure you all have a few that you could add to this list as well. In fact, go ahead and leave a comment with a list of your decorating pet peeves. Don’t hold back, I’d love a good laugh :-).

Of course I am here to help you find solutions to those pesky decorating pet peeves. I am just an email or phone call away

Be Inspired!

Veronica Solomon