Your Secret Decorating Faux Pas

So... for fun: What decorating "rules" do you shun?

mine:

1. lots of furniture in one room (sorry but some rooms just have a lot of "stuff" we can't live w/out)

2. fake flowers - One day I'll get silks but... I just love feeling the seasons inside, but I use very little... really.

3. full length curtains - I have made two sets in the dining and living room. It costs a LOT of money for good fabric to go floor length, and I don't like it, cause the kids just grab at them more and I have to move them to vacuum.

I sure there are more but that's me

[Auspicious]

Re: Your Secret Decorating Faux Pas

As I gaze upon both the futon and the mini-blinds in our living room, I have to think, "What decorating rules don't we shun?" Most of ours are because of being broke, though.

The habit that I think would be hard to break even if I were a gazillionaire is having the TV as the "focal point" of the living room. I know the room isn't supposed to be set up in worship of TV, and yet it kind of bothers me to have seating that doesn't have a good view of it, etc. Someday we'll need a creative solution for that.

[alison]

Re: Your Secret Decorating Faux Pas

As I gaze upon both the futon and the mini-blinds in our living room, I have to think, "What decorating rules don't we shun?" Most of ours are because of being broke, though.

The habit that I think would be hard to break even if I were a gazillionaire is having the TV as the "focal point" of the living room. I know the room isn't supposed to be set up in worship of TV, and yet it kind of bothers me to have seating that doesn't have a good view of it, etc. Someday we'll need a creative solution for that.

This is the one thing that my mil and I agree on.
We have a tiny tv, because it is most definitely the focal point of our living room. Until we have a basement or a den-type situation where we can hide the tv, we will stick with this one.

[DCJenn]

Re: Your Secret Decorating Faux Pas

i agree w/ the TV thing- but since we have the TV that will never die- we're stuck.

Right now I'm living with 18 different colors in splotches all over my walls. It makes everyone nuts. and I keep taping up new and different samples.

and the desk is this ginourmous monstrosity that my parents got from one of my dad's employers when they replaced their desks. It's solid- and I mean SOLID maple. but it's straight from 1967.

Jenn

[Vishenka69]

Re: Your Secret Decorating Faux Pas

I don't think our current set up could be called "decorating." The biggest problem currently is that I've kept the furniture so minimal that we can't entertain more than 2 people at a time because there's nowhere for them to sit (chair and couch-wise).

[HouseofWool]

Re: Your Secret Decorating Faux Pas

I cringe every time one of my friends comes over because she in an interior decorator. I know that she is able to look beyond our lack of a coherent scheme, but still...

We do have some art up on the walls, but none of it coordinates. The only curtains that are up are the ones that came with the apartment. I will spend the money in our next place, but it just didn't seem worth it for med school.

Let's not forget the Sauder brand entertainment center in the living room and the coordinating desk in the dining room. Yep, the dining room - complete with power cords wrapping around the door way because there is not one outlet in the dining room.

So, I guess it isn't a matter of if we break the rules, but how many at a time.

[Vanquisher]

Re: Your Secret Decorating Faux Pas

I know the room isn't supposed to be set up in worship of TV, and yet it kind of bothers me to have seating that doesn't have a good view of it, etc. Someday we'll need a creative solution for that.

Really? Isn't the whole point of a living room to watch TV?

Yup. I agree. TV should be the focal point of the family room/living room. It's silly to do otherwise. Homes are for living in, not for impressing random strangers. That doesn't mean I don't want my home to look very nice one day. I just hope I can have both.

[Auspicious]

Re: Your Secret Decorating Faux Pas

I want the living room to be for the TV, but from a decorating POV, I just don't want it to look like it is. And I don't want the setup of that room to sort of encourage us to watch more TV (because we don't need any more encouragement). We do do other things in that room as well, and I want it to reflect that, too, and allow us to do that without leading us to think "hmm, wonder what's on TV . . ."

[alison]

Re: Your Secret Decorating Faux Pas

I know the room isn't supposed to be set up in worship of TV, and yet it kind of bothers me to have seating that doesn't have a good view of it, etc. Someday we'll need a creative solution for that.

Really? Isn't the whole point of a living room to watch TV?

Yup. I agree. TV should be the focal point of the family room/living room. It's silly to do otherwise. Homes are for living in, not for impressing random strangers. That doesn't mean I don't want my home to look very nice one day. I just hope I can have both.

I agree that homes are for living in, but I hate it when dh and I sit there on the couch and stare at the tv and not speak a word to each other. Ideally, we'd spend an afternoon on the couch talking (HAHAHA!), reading, or playing a game.

[GrayMatterWife]

Re: Your Secret Decorating Faux Pas

So... for fun: What decorating "rules" do you shun?

mine:

1. lots of furniture in one room (sorry but some rooms just have a lot of "stuff" we can't live w/out)

2. fake flowers - One day I'll get silks but... I just love feeling the seasons inside, but I use very little... really.

3. full length curtains - I have made two sets in the dining and living room. It costs a LOT of money for good fabric to go floor length, and I don't like it, cause the kids just grab at them more and I have to move them to vacuum.

I sure there are more but that's me

OK, how big of a faux pas is this? I didn't even know these were rules... :huh:

Well, I'd never be mistaken for having Martha Stewart style savvy, anyway!

Re: Your Secret Decorating Faux Pas

I'm sure I have many faux pas, but I don't care. I decorate my house for MY family, not for some magazine layout.

Re: Your Secret Decorating Faux Pas

I am oblivious to the rules too, but I am pretty sure our plaid couch would not make it in a magazine spread. It is comfy though!

[spotty_dog]

Re: Your Secret Decorating Faux Pas

I'm just holding out for a place where we can paint the walls. I'm clinging desperately to the hope that with a little color, I can get motivated to do something, anything, that could be called "decorating".