7 Common Decorating Mistakes That Involve Walls & Windows and How to Avoid Them

There’s either a full moon coming or Mercury’s in retrograde cause I’m feelin’ a bit feisty today. Today I’m sharing a roundup of common design mistakes that involve  windows and walls (*cue lil jon*) and how you can avoid them.

1. Not using appropriately sized art

I’ve seen this a few different ways: art that is too large or too small for the wall, or art that is too small for the wall, which makes the art looks like it’s floating. Cue example of too small:

How to avoid: The rule of thumb I use when hanging art above a sofa, bed or console table is it should fill 60-70% of the wall space above the furniture to appear balanced. The eye will notice something is a bit off if your art/mirror is covering less than 60% of the wall space. I apply this rule whenever I’m hanging one large canvas, two medium-sized canvas or a gallery wall.

2. Not hanging art at the right height

 I’ve also seen the common mistake of hanging art too high or too low. Cue example:

How to avoid: Hang the art at eye level, 55″-60″ from the ground in the center of the wall – about eye height. If you’re hanging art above a sofa, 6-9″ is typically a good spot. The art and the piece of furniture it’s hung over should look in sync…kind of like they’re engaging with each other. If the art and furniture are too far apart, you may be wondering if they’re separated or divorced.

Here’s a good example:

3. Hanging things too close together or too far apart

How to avoid: Put the art up and step back to take a look at it. If you’re hanging more than 2 pieces, take a large piece of kraft/tissue paper and lay your frames out the exact way you want them displayed on your wall – about 1.5″ – 3″ apart depending on the size of the frame and the length of your furniture. Trace each frame and then tape the paper to your wall and step back to analyze. Take a picture if you need to. Adjust accordingly.

Here’s a good example of art that (I believe) to be spaced a good distance apart:

4. Hanging curtains at the wrong height

How to avoid: Similar to how large mirrors make a room feel bigger, hanging curtains as close to the ceiling as possible makes the room feel taller and your windows appear larger. Rule of thumb is to hang curtains 4-6″ from the ceiling. This will elongate your windows to give a sense of height to your room.

5. Hanging curtains that are too short

Windows shouldn’t be wearing capris, they should be wearing a nice pair of elongating bootcut jeans from Club Monaco.

How to avoid: Measure from the top of the window to the floor, and then add inches of height where curtains will hang from (remember, 4-6″ from the ceiling). For reference, my ceilings are 96″ high, and I always buy ~96″ curtains so the bottom of the curtains can “puddle” or be flush with the floor, like this:

6. Hanging curtains that are too narrow

How to avoid: You want abundance, not flimsiness. Keyword here is abundance. If you can afford to double up on curtains (2 panels on each side), do it. It gives the room a rich, luxurious feel. Here’s a great example:

7. Buying low-quality curtains

How to avoid: Shop around. Half Price Drapes has some amazing products that I use in my clients homes. I recently found Anthropologie velvet curtain dupes for ~$120 on Amazon and I’ve been preaching about them for weeks…check this post.

Enjoy your week!