What’s the most challenging part of decorating for you? There always seems to be a few areas that aren’t as comfortable as others. Many of these challenges are voiced when I visit people’s homes to help them with their decorating. Some people seem to know exactly what their issues are, but some aren’t so sure. A great way to assess the challenges, is to look at the home with fresh eyes, as if you’re walking into it for the first time, or walking into another persons house (we always seem to find their problems, lol). What bothers you? Identify the trouble spots. List them so they seem tangible and real. When you’re aware of the problems, then you can work toward ways of correcting them.
Here’s my top 10 list of decorating challenges, starting with the most “thought provoking”… (click on photos to enlarge)
1. Picking the right paint colors for one space or an entire house.
2. Picking the right window treatments for function, beauty and how/where to hang them.
3. Space planning and room arranging.
4. Blending colors, patterns and textures.
5. Decorating with the correct scale of furnishings and accessories.
6. Mixing and blending pieces with different styles.
7. Flooring options.
8. Lighting for ambience.
9. Accessorizing.
10. Knowing when enough is enough. Eliminating clutter.
These are a few I’ve encountered in my experience. Are any of these your Achilles heel, or, what others have you experienced? We’d love to know what your decorating challenges are and if others can relate or have the same.
A challenge does not have to be a bad thing. It can be a call to action that can cultivate creativity, engage excitment, broaden horizons, find and define your style. Embrace and identify those challenges and turn them into decorating conquests! Fight on!
1. My biggest challenges are time, energy and money (thankfully your site provides many answers for the money part).
That is what we need though….someone we trust to come in and list areas of improvement….my list would be a long one.
Actually I do know where I would work….
IF I ONLY HAD TIME!
Thanks for all your motivating ideas!
by Julie — 9/6/09 at 9:17 pm #
2. All of the above? LOL. Good list, Cathy.
My biggest problem is knowing EXACTLY what I want and not being able to find it. Customization would solve this problem but my budget leans toward household items that are mass produced. This means I have lots of areas of my home that are awaiting completion with items that exist only in my imagination. But gives me a good excuse to spend hours browsing the stores.
by Joan — 9/9/09 at 9:48 am #
3. Hey Joan,
I can relate! We get an idea of what we want in our mind and then can’t find it, or if we do then it costs too much. I guess we have to be flexible.
Have 3 plans. One we really want now (but can’t afford), one that’s OK and will work for now, or work slowly toward our goal and resist instant gratification. I’ve done all three! I guess it comes down to self control lol.
Good luck with your decorating…it’s challenging, but anything worthwhile usually is.
by Cathy — 9/10/09 at 12:34 pm #
4. I think most of the things you listed are my challenges! One major problem I have is knowing how (and if I can) to mix furniture I buy at different times, from different places and different colors, especially wood. Does all of the wood need to match? In my kitchen everything is natural oak, the cabinets, banister, table etc. I want to get a little bench/storage piece to put by the garage door, but I don’t know what color to get it?
Often I just get overwhelmed and end up not doing anything, if only I had your talent!
by Rachel — 9/12/09 at 11:40 pm #
5. Hi Julie, #1
Yes, energy, time and/or money always seem to hurdles to the decorating process. Work toward a goal slowly and those 3 challenges usually can be controlled. Do a little at a time so energy, time, and money will stretch and it will get done within your parameters.
There’s no hurry for good design, do it on your terms.
Great to hear from you and thanks for your nice comments.
LYC
by Cathy — 9/14/09 at 1:20 pm #
6. Hey there Rachel,
Thanks so much. Don’t feel overwhelmed, just go back an reassess and rethink. Mixing furnishings is a great way to have an interesting interior. Especially wood pieces in the house. I love a mix of dark, light and in between finishes on wood pieces. You don’t have to match all your finishes to your permanent wood elements. For your bench, you could go a dark finish or a painted finish on the bench. Mixing is much more interesting and has a wonderful collected look and feel.
If it’s something you love and feel comfortable with, then it will usually blend nicely with what you have.
Have fun decorating your darling house and don’t be afraid to mix it up.
LYC
by Cathy — 9/14/09 at 1:47 pm #
7. Hi, I have always mixed up my woods and styles(thanks to my mom who read every magazine + catalog known to woman.) So I have eclectic, antique, shabby, country, traditional, French, primitive, etc., and everyone always says my home is so cozy.
But, I have this problem…it’s this corner fireplace, and not being able to place the sofa on a wall. It’s just something I have to live with, and work around but any suggestions or ideas would be apprecitated. 
Thanks.
by Barb — 9/15/09 at 2:15 pm #
8. Yes, I have encountered all of the above. The problem for me is mostly money and time. I have a vision of how I want things to look and I want to do it all at once. When I try to execute the plan it doesn’t seem to come out the way I visioned it.
by Janekia — 9/15/09 at 2:49 pm #
9. I LOVE LOVE LOVE your blog and your ideas. You are a blessing!
Question- regarding draperies–
I am attempting doinga coastal chic feel” and would like to know where I can get those color block curtains? That picture with the beige, blue and brown is what I am going for–or color blocks with sandy tones and blues.
Thanks
Regina
by regina — 9/15/09 at 3:08 pm #
10. Hi Barb,
It sounds like your home is a wonderful mix of beautiful elements. That gives a home great personality. Your Mom taught you well.
Corner fireplaces can be a bit of a challenge. If your room is large enough you might try arranging the seating grouping on a diagonal, perpendicular to the fireplace. Use an area rug on the angle to solidify the group and repeat that angle. Set the sofa in front of the fireplace (on angle) and maybe two chairs on either side. Then the fireplace remains the focal point in the room. If that doesn’t work, draw a simple space plan of the room and the large furniture pieces in it (to scale). Then move the pieces around in the plan to see what functions and looks the best. Sometimes it’s much easier to view the problem in smaller scale and look at many options, than trying to figure it out in actual size.
Here’s the link on space planning you might want to check out…
http://openhouse.homegoods.com/index.php/2009/01/03/space-planning-101/
Enjoy your wonderful COZY home and do some space planning to find that best room arrangement.
by Cathy — 9/16/09 at 12:32 pm #
11. Hello Janekia,
Yes, time and money do have to spoil all our fun. lol. It’s good to have a vision of your plan, then you have ideas rolling around in your head of what you’d like. The thing that helps me, is to plan each step and not rush into anything. Get it down on paper first. Find samples, figure costs and proceed by the plan. Then you can work at your own pace and stay within your budget. Working slowly and by the plan seems to eliminate many mistakes so you are more satisfied with the final results.
Have fun decorating, it’s always rewarding in the end.
by Cathy — 9/16/09 at 6:24 pm #
12. Thanks so much Regina,
I’m glad you liked the draperies in the picture. Those draperies I had custom made for my client who also had a coastal style of design in her home. If you can’t find the color combination you like in ready mades, then custom draperies are a perfect choice. They do cost more, but if you sew or have a friend sew them, costs can be kept down. Just make sure you line them so they function, hang, and look custom.
As for locating tri-color draperies, you might try online and Google “tri-color or color blocked draperies”. You might get lucky and find the color combination you like, ready made. I wish you luck. They are a great look and make a big statement on the windows and in the room.
Stop back soon and keep me posted on what you find.
by Cathy — 9/16/09 at 6:41 pm #
13. My major problem at the moment is how to best display a number of pieces of pottery in a low bay window. The pieces are of various colors, sizes and shapes. Mostly vases, pots, bowls and a couple of small dishes. None are more than 12″ high. I want them displayed in the window, but it seems there must be a better way to do it than just sticking them there on the window seat. Besides, I’d like to get them out of reach of my active and somewhat aggressive pug who likes to bark out the window at all things real or imagined! Does anyone have any ideas?
by Nancy — 9/29/09 at 3:54 pm #
14. I am trying to see what sofas that are sold at the Home Goods stores, but I haven’t been able to bring anything up on the screen that shows the item by itself. HELP
by Kathy in VA — 9/30/09 at 9:37 pm #
15. I also have a design dilemma & am curious if there are any other ideas on how to approach the situation.
I have a large great room that serves as my living room & dining room…I have two very large..and very blank walls that are opposite each other and don’t have any clue what sort of wall art to put up, and still keep things tied in together. One wall is 22ft long & the other is 19ft.
If anyone has any thoughts, I am open to suggestions.
by Julie — 10/1/09 at 2:29 pm #
16. Hello Nancy,
Your vases and pottery sound wonderful and what a great place to display them in, a bay window. You didn’t state how wide your bay is, but if it’s not too wide, have 2 or 3 clear glass shelves cut to fit the height and width of the window. Then add the pottery on the glass shelves in a decorative way. (display only your best pieces so it doesn’t look too cluttered).
Then your view will not be totally obstructed, but your pottery will be showcased in the window at different levels. Or you can do a similar thing with a clear glass shelving unit set in the window.
Hope that was helpful to you.
Enjoy your home and collection of pottery and hug the pug!
by Cathy — 10/1/09 at 4:20 pm #
17. Sorry Kathy,
HomeGoods does not sell merchandise online. You can put your zip code in the “find a store” at the top of the page to find a store near you.
Hope that will help you.
by Cathy — 10/3/09 at 11:31 am #
18. Hello Julie,
Your home sounds lovely with the large scale architecture. But, decorating can be a challenge, especially your large wall areas. With large walls, you need to think large scale. A great way to add interest and fill the scale of any wall is to use art. You can hang a large piece of art or you can add multiple like pieces to make one large statement without
looking busy or cluttered. This is called “Series Art”
I wrote a blog on this, titled “Big Wall Try Series Art”. This application would work well on one of your walls. Here’s the link…
http://openhouse.homegoods.com/index.php/2008/01/05/big-wall-try-series-art/
On the other wall, you could hang a large mirror over a long console and add sconces on the sides or two tall trees on either side of the console to fill the length. Or have a large tall built-in bookshelf fill up the wall. Or even paint the wall an accent color and that can act as large art. Maybe, hang a large textile, quilt, artsy rug, tapestry, etc.
Look in some decorating magazines and see how designers approach big walls. You’ll get some inspiration there as well.
Enjoy your beautiful home.
by Cathy — 10/3/09 at 12:01 pm #
19. I have a modern open-floor plan and a wonderful maize colored linen couch in my living room that matches the wall-to-wall rug almost too perfectly. My walls are medium tan with white trim. I love the simple look but it’s time to add more seating in the room. I’m on the hunt for two additional chairs that will coordinate well. Recently, I found a set of dark brown leather chairs but am not sure how leather and linen will look in the same room. Should I stick to fabric covered chairs? Appreciate your opinions.
by Maria — 10/20/09 at 1:22 pm #
20. Hello Maria,
Your home sounds beautiful and love your calming room colors.
I don’t see why you couldn’t add some leather chairs. Both leather and linen are natural materials. Very compatable. Also the mix of texture is nice as well as a darker color in the chairs lend some contrast in the room. My only concern is with style. If your room is formal, leather sometimes conveys a more casual feel, unless it’s upholstered on more formal chairs.But, if your room is more relaxed and less formal, I think the leather chairs would look great. Then, you could also bring a simple patterned fabic, in browns, maize, tan in, to unify the colors and feel, with pillows on the seating, drapery, and a throw.
Bottom line…go for the leather chairs and add your fabic with pillows, drapery etc. It will look great and you’ll have the best of both worlds.
Thanks so much for your question, enjoy that beautiful room.
by Cathy — 10/23/09 at 12:18 pm #