This Month’s Home Team feature in The Dallas Morning News is all about what not to do when designing your home. We are sharing a few of our tips on how to keep from making those common mistakes. All images: Melanie Johnson Photography for Studio Ten 25

“When you go into as many homes as an interior designer does, you’re bound to see your share of design mistakes. Too much clutter, rugs in the wrong size, mismatched furniture — they’ve seen it all. The good news: Many of the problems are easy to solve. Even better, with a bit of planning — and advice from our Home Team experts — the costly and unsightly mistakes are easy to avoid.”

 

 

It can be tempting to make all your purchases from one place and be done with it, but don’t, Abbe Fenimore says.

“Purchasing all of your furniture from the same source or same set is a big no-no,” she says. “You do want the pieces to coordinate and the room to feel cohesive, but you don’t want everything to match perfectly.” It’s hard to create depth and personality in a space if all the pieces look the same.  “Don’t try to re-create a look from your favorite store. There is a good chance that your space will look nothing like it and will always feel like something is missing,” Fenimore says.  Instead, shop around and take your time putting your space together.

Filling a room with family pieces adds history and character, says Fenimore. “Most of the time, you find them hidden in a room that isn’t used or under a pile of boxes in the garage,” she says of inherited furniture. Even if a piece isn’t exactly your taste, if it’s the right scale, there’s a way to make it work.“Having the piece refinished, painted or updated with new hardware can make all the difference and breathe new life into it,” Fenimore says.