COMMON DESIGN REGRETS HOMEOWNERS HAVE
3 DESIGN PITFALLS TO WATCH OUT FOR AND HOW TO GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME
Designing a home means making a lot of choices—some big, some small, and all in tune with your style, lifestyle, and vision for how you want to live. And while no two homes are ever exactly the same, there are a few decisions I’ve seen homeowners consistently second-guess once the dust has settled.
These regrets don’t come down to taste or trends. I’ve seen them surface across budgets, square footage, and design styles—whether someone’s building from scratch, remodeling, or simply refreshing a room that needs new life.
The good news? These “I wish I’d done that differently”-moments are entirely avoidable—once you know what to look out for and how to approach your project with more intention from the start.
So, let’s take a look at the top three design regrets I see most often.
01. Underestimating the details
Let’s say you’ve just finished furnishing your living room. You’ve invested in a beautiful sofa, a striking coffee table, maybe even a gorgeous area rug. But when you step back, something about the room still feels… incomplete.
Perhaps it felt good in theory—but in person, it falls flat. Like the heart and soul of the space hasn’t quite shown up yet.
This feeling is incredibly common, and it usually comes from one mistake: assuming that a few standout furniture or decor pieces are enough to carry a whole design.
But in reality? The magic of a truly welcoming, polished space always lies in the layering. In the combination of all those subtle, thoughtful details that bring a room to life.
And it’s not about cluttering your home with more “stuff.” It’s about tuning into the mix of quieter elements that collectively shape how a room feels. For instance:
The tension and harmony between varying materials, like stone and linen, or metal and wood
The rhythm of high and low elements, soft and hard surfaces, smooth and more textured finishes
The negative space that gives your eye places to pause
The quiet repetition of color, shape, or finish that brings cohesion without shouting for attention
And even how light (both natural and artificial) changes in your space throughout the day
And when these details are given the same care and attention as when choosing a sofa or kitchen cabinetry, everything begins to click. Your home doesn’t just look good—it feels warm, personal, and lived-in in the best possible way.
02. Playing it too safe
A timeless look is always a great goal for a home. After all, no one wants to invest in a space that feels dated just a few years later, right?
But here’s the problem: in the pursuit of timeless, many people end up creating spaces that feel generic and cold. Spaces that don’t feel like anyone in particular could live there.
And the truth is, timeless design isn’t about playing it safe with everything. It’s about understanding where to invest in classics and where to let your personality shine through.
Just think of the inspiration you’ve saved to your Pinterest boards or bookmarked in design magazines. They probably all have something distinctive that made them stand out to you. Like a furniture piece with a story, an unexpected color that just works, or that sculptural light fixture that commands attention.
These elements don’t date a home. They humanize it. They tell a story. And in doing so, they create the kind of soul-filled, enduring design that will feel relevant long past trends.
03. A Piecemeal Approach
Making decisions and purchasing pieces for a home one by one without a cohesive vision—also known as the piecemeal approach—is incredibly common. And I get it!
Designing a home is a big project, and doing it room by room or item by item often feels more manageable.
But here’s the thing: without a big-picture plan, this approach almost always leads to a disjointed look.
I see it all the time. You find a beautiful dining table on sale and scoop it up. A few months later, you add some chairs that feel close enough. Then a rug, because the space needs softness. And on their own, each of these pieces is lovely. But when you step back, they just don’t work together.
Or maybe you decide to design room by room, only to realize that your open-concept living and dining spaces ended up clashing more than they complement. The scale is off. The vibe doesn’t match. The finishes tell a whole different story.
And what’s missing isn’t better furniture, paint colors or materials—it’s the bigger picture!
Because while a home doesn’t need to be completed all at once, it does need a clear, guiding vision. One that holds the flow within and between rooms—and makes everything feel like it belongs.
