by Leann Zotis

Created on: June 12, 2009   Last Updated: August 25, 2009

Decorating your home is a great way to display your tastes and reveal your inner-most personality. With just the right blend of color, style and personal attention, you can create a beautiful, comfortable environment that you can be pleased to share with friends and family. It can be easy to get carried away with the idea of displaying anything and everything you own or continually adding to your environmental decor without taking anything away. This is where some of the most serious decorating mistakes come into play.

A few basic decorating tips can go a long way to creating an atmosphere that is aesthetically pleasing as well as functional. Some basic no-no's should just be completely avoided.

* Decorating with overly big furniture pieces

Your room is a certain size and will not grow to accommodate wherever you decide to put in it. Evaluate the size of your room before filling it with furniture that may not fit. Navigating around awkwardly placed furniture does nothing to add to the appeal of a room.

* Framing all four walls in furniture

Wall to wall furniture makes a room look congested. If everything is pushed up against the wall it will look like you're trying to give a fake dimension to the space which, in fact, is what you are trying to do.

* The need to display everything

Excess knick knacks are nothing more than dust collectors and it shows. Too much stuff is distracting and forces the viewer to look in five directions at the same time. If you do have an interesting or valuable vase or piece of bric-a-brac, no one will ever know because they won't be able to identify it among the rubble. Limit your displays to a small number of truly outstanding pieces.

* Displaying your mother's (or anyone else's) favorite trinkets

If you don't love it, don't show it, no matter where you got it. Anything that was passed down to you through the family tree may have sentimental value but that doesn't mean you have to display it to the world if you hate it. That's what attics and basements are for. If you can't part with it, pack it up and put it away. Someday you'll come across it again and realize it's lost its meaning and you can part with it then. Until that time, keep it out of view.

* Overuse of prints and designs

Think before you purchase anything that is upholstered or otherwise patterned. Just because everything in your room is green doesn't mean that everything that is green will fit in your room. Choose one pattern or design piece and coordinate everything else in solid or textured fabrics that compliment.

Ultimately, the decoration of your home should reflect your true personality. Following a few points of good interior decorating can go a long way to letting your own true light shine through. Oftentimes, simplicity is the ultimate key to showing the best features of any room.

Learn more about this author, Leann Zotis.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.