14 Home Decor Tricks That Seem Trendy but Actually Are as Old as the Hills

In today’s world, trends change really fast. Thanks to social networks, blogs, magazines, and television, novelties become popular within a day and lose their appeal after a few months. This happens in many areas, including trends in interior design. In order to create a cozy and original interior that you will enjoy, even after a few years, you should try to avoid these overused tricks.

At Bright Side, we found a few clichés that can do nothing but irritate a person.

Decorating the entire home in the same style

When you try to decorate your entire apartment with a single strict theme, like in a Scandinavian, Bohemian, or minimalist style, you will certainly face several difficulties. It’s not easy to choose furniture and accessories based on rigid frames. Moreover, what will you do with all these lovely trifles and interior details that don’t match the chosen style? Will you throw them away or hide them?

Any stylistic decision will go out of fashion sooner or later, or you will get bored of it, and you’ll have to renovate your home again. Such interiors look great in a magazine, but they are really uncomfortable to live in. This doesn’t mean you should reject the theme you like. You just have to remember that everything is good in moderation.

Always following the rule of 3

There’s a very cliché idea that says if you use a pop of color in a room, it should appear in 3 different places, which is quite a funny thing to suggest! Accents are great when they’re unique. You’ll begin to feel dizzy looking for a cushion, rug, or painting that can all match in color.

A color becomes dominating when there’s too much of it. A bright blue sofa looks nice when it’s the only object in this color. You don’t need to select other accessories that match this hue.

Choosing pastel colors for your walls

There is a common belief that dark colors make a room look smaller. But that’s not exactly right. Saturated colors can add depth to a space if they’re used in the correct way. You should decorate the walls with light elements of decor because empty dark walls won’t make your room look bigger.

Assuming curtains are necessary

It’s a good tool to protect your home from the glances of strangers outside. But if you have a wonderful view from the window and other people can’t physically look inside, you can easily get rid of this accessory. This way, your room will look more spacious and be filled with light.

You can replace curtains with wooden blinds. They won’t go out of fashion anytime soon. And unlike curtains, you won’t need to wash or iron them.

Pairing wallpaper

Wallpaper with a dark pattern at the bottom and a lighter top is long out of fashion. Paired wallpaper follows suit. The combination of different textures and colors can create a bright and unique atmosphere. The main thing is finding a balance between different elements.

Buying furniture sets

On the one hand, a furniture set is a simple and quick solution for room decor. On the other hand, it looks boring and is sometimes quite expensive. You can assemble your own set by choosing elements of different styles.

If you already have a furniture set in your house and it bores you every time you look at it, don’t throw it out. Try breaking up the pieces and relocating them to different rooms. Your space will look much richer.

Pairing furniture pieces

Nightstands, vases on a chest of drawers, or identical chairs — all of these can make a room feel really boring. It’s so much more inspired and interesting when pieces are complementary versus when they’re perfectly coordinated. For example, you can pair a chair or a stool with a nightstand.

Symmetry looks great in photos, but in real life, it looks boring. You can connect non-matching elements with the help of textiles or small accessories, such as flowers.

Using a lighter shade on your ceiling

A white ceiling is another cliché. This surface is called the “fifth wall” for a reason. With the help of wallpaper or paint, a boring ceiling can become a bright interior detail. By using a lighter hue of the room’s color scheme, you will make the space look bigger.

Matching everything you can

When furniture, paintings, photographs, and other accessories are chosen specifically to match each other and not because they’re liked, it feels boring. You can find a lot of examples of perfectly matching elements on the Internet or in movies and magazines. This kind of interior seems to be the simplest, but it’s the dullest at the same time.

Instead of buying sets in the same store, it’s worth wandering around and looking for items in different places. It’s not only cheaper but also more interesting. An apartment, when decorated this way, will look cozy and unusual.

Quotes and signs on the walls

It’s not a good idea to decorate your home with colorful posters containing quotes, or signs. You can find such graphics in different bars or hotels, and they’re so overused. Moreover, many of these quotes are clichés and you’ll have to look at them every single day. It’s a much better idea to buy a good painting or print photos.

Using only neutral colors

Neutral colors, like beige, brown, gray, and white, have been popular for years. But it seems that these colors are slowly but surely turning into clichés. Using only these colors in your interior will leave you feeling bored. To make your home brighter, add elements of deep blue, green, or pink hues. This applies not only to accessories but to furniture pieces as well.

Wall decals

You can find them everywhere — in restaurants, hotel rooms, and homes. This element looks great in a child’s room, but it’s definitely not good enough for a living room. Despite the fact that there is a wide range of decals available out there, they’re rapidly going out of fashion.

Wood wallpaper follows suit. This pattern looks great in an interior but it’s very overused.

Using pieces that have become too popular

Unfortunately, some unusual designs quickly become fashionable and you begin to see them almost everywhere. However, nice looking elements become boring clichés. This happened to sun-shaped mirrors, Edison bulbs, poufs, and upholstered headrests. But there is no need to throw these items away if they’ve become cliché — design trends tend to come back. Just buy original pieces that match your own taste, not popular fashion.

Following decorating rules

Following strict rules is also a cliché. We decorate our home’s interior in accordance with our own taste and feeling of comfort and not for the sake of a photo in a magazine. An ideal home may look prestigious, but it’s barely cozy and nice.

Which interior details would you get rid of? Tell us in the comments below.