When Good Decor Goes Bad

Interior mistakes that I've made in my own home. Millennial pink walls, overstepping my fabric boundaries, listening to my family about decor, killing plant life and just generally overdoing it.

Oct 12, 2024

I have spoken many times before about how getting your decor just right is a virtual impossibility. Over the years, I've gone through many phases in my quest to create the perfect space. Our first home together was a rented new build flat off the Tilehurst Road in Reading, a two bedroom top floor Barrett beauty with a ruffled floral roman blind above the kitchen sink that was a recipe for disaster. We furnished it with a huge fabric navy blue sofa from Furniture Village with cushions that shifted from under you of their own accord and needed constant plumping. It didn’t matter how much attention I gave it, it always had the look of one that had been abandoned next to a skip. Each evening we would return from work to sit on this sofa, smoking Silk Cut, drinking Chardonnay and keeping up to date with the soaps. Emmerdale, Eastenders, Brookside, Coronation Street - pre children, there was little that Joe and I didn’t know about the lives of the ‘streets’ not to mention an in depth knowledge of the goings on at Holby City. Living the dream.

My first major interior error occurred when it came to colour choices in the bedroom of our first buy, a terraced house on the same estate. For reasons unknown, I chose lime green for the walls and matched it with a lime green jersey duvet set from House Of Fraser. We chose a king sized bed that filled the entire space, giving the overall reflective effect of making anyone who entered the room look like they were about to throw up. My second furnishing faux pas came when decorating the kitchen of the same property. We'd bought the house off plan and - again, inexplicably - I had chosen mint green MDF faux wood effect kitchen cupboards (the late 90’s has SO MUCH to answer for). At the time, I was pregnant with my first child, had given up Silk Cut and Chardonnay and I can only presume that the trauma of withdrawal mixed with the hormonal outrage my body was undergoing convinced me that the way forward for the kitchen walls was dark lilac. A year later, we sold the house to a single man in his twenties who was either colourblind or had been living in the interiors equivalent of Siberia.

Since these decor dicing times, there has been much interior dodginess in my quest to achieve the perfect space. In the interests of community awareness, I have managed to narrow it down to my Top Five interior mistakes from the last 25 years. Read it and weep, people.

Overdoing The Whole Trend Thing

Trends come and go as quickly as a Yorkshire summer. Throwing yourself wholeheartedly into a new trend is never a good idea. Some years ago, I was totally obsessed with the combo of blush pink and green which was ALL over the magazines and my social channels. I needed it in my life. My Pinterest boards were swamped with it. I wasn't going to stop until I had it in my home. So I threw caution to the wind and painted my sitting room. It was an impulsive move that started with a tester pot at 10am and ended with the entire room, including picture rail and above, transformed to a soft shade of pink by 4pm. I loved it. For at least two days. Then I realised that I had massively overdone it. There was way too much pink, plus I hadn't taken into account the orangey red sofa and the combination was appalling. I had pushed the trend boundaries to an unacceptable level. Pink walls, I realised, looked great in other peoples houses but the reality of them in my own home was deeply wrong. It didn’t suit my own personal style or my decor. So what should I have done? I should have added a pink cushion. Lived with it for a while. Then perhaps added a pink throw. Then, finally, painted one wall pink ‘just to see’. That, readers, would have been the correct course of action.

The Decor Police should have been called IMMEDIATELY I opened that paint pot.

Instagram is a bastard for giving you ideas for your home. It's a trend focused hot bed of inspiration and it's hard to know when to stop. Over the last eight years of posting, I have seen endless accessory trends come and go, from pineapple lamps through to sheepskin rugs and neon cacti. However, I have learned many lessons from my time spent online and if I have one piece of knowledge to impart as a result of this experience it is, buy with care. Yes, add to your home with small pieces that won’t break the bank (if they come second hand, that’s even better). It’s fun to chuck something into the trolley when you pop in to Sainsburys for a chicken or add to bag online when you’re having a browse. But when it comes to the big stuff, consider with care. As I have waffled on about before, buy only what you actually really LOVE. This means that the hardcore, bones of your home - the key pieces, like sofas, kitchens and bathroom tiles - remain but the accessories can come and go. So incorporate the touch of a trend, but make it easy to remove when you’re bored.

Listening To My Family

My husband Joe works in the motor industry. I write and post about interiors. I have no interest or quest for knowledge of engine size, tyre pressure or why lights come on randomly. Therefore, I don't expect him to have an input into issues of home styling. This understanding has generally worked well throughout our 25 year relationship but there are areas where he has attempted to cross this boundary, most notably in regard to seating arrangements in the living room. When it comes to sofas, Joe has no interest at all in aesthetic value. None whatsoever. If a sofa was placed in front of him, he would view it only on the basis of whether or not he could lie on it comfortably. Given a choice he would buy a cream puff leather LazyBoy with electronic rising footstool and a headrest that cocoons your neck.

Years ago when the kids were small, I bought an 8ft grey velvet Heals sofa on eBay for £10. Yes, £10. I do always worry when people sell things this cheap (what could possibly have occurred on that sofa for the owners to want to sell it at this giveaway price?) but we needed seating urgently and had no money so it ticked the box. It arrived and was, predictably, massive, taking over an entire side of the room with no room for a side table or lamp. Too massive, by far.

Joe loved that sofa so much. He would return from work and rush to lie on it before he had even kissed me hello. It was very deep with feathered cushions and was, in truth, the sofa of his dreams. He treated it like an actual bed in the living room and it drove me MENTAL. His contribution to the running of the household (okay, aside from financially - cue raised eyeballs emoji) was very lacking as it was; the sofa became a thorn in my side. ‘Let’s swap it for a smaller one that doesn’t look like a bed’, I’d say, only to be laughed at. ‘Why would we ever get rid of this sofa? It’s the best sofa in the world. And, it only cost £10’, he’d say. So one day, when he was at work, I stuck it on eBay for £150 (he who dares, Rodney) without telling him. Someone bought it within an hour (a massively tall man, true story) and the next day when Joe arrived home from work, the sofa was gone. He still mentions it, even to this day, but the point was made. Home styling, Joseph, is my bag, not yours.

Buddy the dog has more input into home decor than my family. And that, my friends, is how is should be.

I also made the grave and rookie error of allowing my children to choose the colour of their own bedroom carpets. Looking back, I don’t know what I was thinking as they all choose varying degrees of the colour grey, a colour that features NOWHERE in my house at all. No dissing in the direction of those who are fans, but for me, it is not a colour that makes my heart sing. Not one bit. Anyway, every time I enter their rooms to be accosted with grey flooring I am fuming with myself that I didn’t ignore them and insist on beige (yes, I know this is also not everyones favourite colour) which is far more adaptable to switch ups, suits the rest of my decor and has more natural tones. I didn’t think it through. I didn’t take my own advice of CONSIDER HARD when it comes to the bones of your home. Sigh.

Being Enabled By Second Hand Furniture Sites

When it comes to interior errors, second hand sites such as eBay and Facebook Marketplace are sneaky sidekicks. They’re the Thelma to my Louise, an enabler to achieving my decor goals. Even if I need NOTHING, I still can never resist just looking to see what’s going on. Many is the time I think to myself, ‘just a quick five minutes before I go to sleep’ and whack on the iPad, only to find that an hour has passed whilst I frantically search, having JUST THIS MINUTE decided that it is essential that I need a vintage rattan lamp base (I don’t, yet will spend many hours finding the perfect one that I don’t buy). Such a time waster.

Auction sites are my nemesis, with poorly perceived ‘bargains’ that start at 99p and go up to £800 within about three seconds. One minute it's yours, next minute somebody hunched over their iPad in Coventry is going in with three seconds to go and outbidding you. It's a dasher of dreams. Many years ago, I won what I thought was my best buy EVER. Two Andrew Martin pink velvet theatre chairs for £80. I was over the moon, paid £90 for a courier to transport them from the Cotswolds to York and waited with bated breath for their arrival. They didn't disappoint. They were totally gorgeous, totally huge, massive velvet cubes. They barely got through the door and once in, it was immediately obvious that they were also, way too big. And also, way, WAY too pink. What was I thinking? I moved them around my house for a week before I had to admit defeat. Back on eBay, sold for £45 the pair. Gutted. And poorer.

Just looking at these pink velvet Andrew Martin chairs makes me want to cry with loss. But they were not to be.

I also have a tendency to think that I can breathe life back into things that others have discarded, even if they look like they are only fit for the tip. Some years ago, I won (such a misnomer) a Pieff glass dining table with six matching chairs. The leather on the chairs was stained and ripped but the set was a bargain for £120. I found a local upholsterer, chose a fabric without much consideration and awaited their glorious revival. I had chosen a brown tweed (to this day I have no idea why) and I knew the moment that they arrived back that I didn't like them. I have never been very good at choosing fabrics (pattern is not my forte) and this was WAY past my capabilities, if I’m being honest.

Unfortunately, the upholsterers bill was £350, thus making the total cost of my error £470. In keeping with my, if you don't like it, get rid of it mantra, I put the six chairs back on eBay. I can only say that the person who came and picked up the set after winning it for £68 (I wasn't the only one who thought I'd made a fabric faux pas) looked like they'd won the lottery. I took solace in the fact that the glass table made an excellent desk for many years.

Since these fraught episodes, I've been far more restrained and try hard to source furniture which is more local to me, although I am still prone to a bit of Shiply courier when the occasion warrants. I’ve had my winners too - the 70’s glass tubular table that is identical to the one we had as kids, found via eBay in the far North of Scotland (yes, the courier charge was worth it that time), the vintage French writing table on which I now work (another eBay buy but only ten miles from me). But I like to think I am now a little more considered with my bidding finger. Lessons learned.

Knowing My Plant Care Limits

In the nine years that we’ve lived in our house, I have been through what can only be described as a plant journey. Prior to moving, I didn’t own a single plant. My mum was always trying to palm them off on me; most of the time I palmed them right back on to her. I mentioned the other week that every year at Christmas, she would give me a poinsettia, a plant that is literally IMPOSSIBLE to kill. I am not a fan of the poinsettia. It would still be hanging around in April, when I would be forced to tell her I’d had enough of it and give it back to her.

We moved in 2015 and I had plenty of space to try out new things. I started posting pictures of our home on Instagram as I decorated the rooms and soon realised that all spaces were much improved with the addition of greenery. A plant can add softness to a shelf space or colour to an empty corner; it can fill a space whilst also adding texture and best of all, it connects the inside with the outside. Not only that, they’re good for your health and purify the air and ALL SORTS of things. A winner all round, really,

Bigger is better, fact. And MUCH easier to look after.

The tables had turned and I went big time for the plantage. I became a regular at my local garden centre and was often seen prowling the Clearance section for bargains. I realised that I could propagate (cut off a bit, stick it in water for a while until it roots and then plant, for the non plant people) and grow mini plants of my own. I had entire shelves filled with plants, trailing greenery on the window ledges and cacti lined up in the bathroom. I decided that I was, after all, a plant person.

But then, it all went a bit sour. With around 40 small ones scattered across the house, they often dried out as I regularly forgot to water them; I was always busy with work and never got round to repotting them when they grew. It wasn’t good. I had gone overboard and exceeded my own capabilities of plant ownership. The intent was there, but I had not realised my limits. Also, the cat kept eating the trailers. It was a horticultural horror story.

However, the big ones were a different story. They were far hardier, needed much less frequent attention and didn’t take as long to water. So I rehomed the smaller ones and increased my ratio of big ones - palms, ferns, fiddle leaf figs, monsteras. I investigated which were easy care but with maximum impact and invested wisely. As a result, I have not had to admit defeat for at least four years and my plants, astonishingly, just keep on going. No plant funerals round this part of the woods, readers. I do have a few smaller ones in the kitchen, but they’re nice and close to the tap so there’s no fear of forgetting them. Bigger, in this case, is better. PS: I wrote a post a few weeks ago with a list of easy care plants - tap here to read.

Overdoing It In General

As a consummate charity shop thrifting professional, this was one of my issues for many years. I've an obsession with kitsch that won't go away and in our previous house in Caversham, I took this to the limit. The kitchen walls were covered in plates, vintage prints, flying dolphins, china parrots, decorated wood with doe eyed deers on, topped off with my collection of religious iconic images (in fairness, this survives today in the bar area). There was a flourescent plastic rug on the floor and I had a beaded palm tree curtain at the door. I'm surprised I had room to cook, tbh.

I had a huge mid century sideboard in the dining room that I'd picked up for £20 and I filled it with my charity shop treasure. I spent many hours at the Sue Ryder Sale Of Unwanted Goods in Nettlebed (sadly now shut down, but I have many items to this day that I discovered as a result of my regular visits) and as a result, I would buy whatever I liked the look of and add it to the collection. This veered from small iron donkey's to heavy glass ashtrays and mustard pots, all out for display and adding to my friends view that I was close to Storage Hoarder status.

I loved the look of it but my house was starting to look as if it were a branch of Age Concern. It was at this point that we moved to York and I realised I had to get a hold of my obsession before my family disappeared under a pile of vintage Jesus and Mary's. So what have I learned? First of all, I am now in control and I edit regularly. When I refresh a room, I sort into piles and give what no longer works to friends, donate or sell. Also, I have realised that cohesion is key. I group my collections. Instead of mixing it all up, I filter what I have and arrange it by theme. So whether it's coloured glass in different tones of the same, or different heights of candle holders, if it's grouped together it works. It stops looking scruffy and random and it creates a focal point.

I still have a lot of ‘stuff’, but I’m far more restrained.

I have, however, accepted that I will NEVER be able to walk through the holy doors of the chazza without coming out with a new find, so something had to give. Regular editing and switching up and out is what works for me. As a result, my house is far less cluttered and significantly more curated than it was ten years ago. Job done.

So those are my five biggest interior errors. What I have learned from these mistakes is that I should always go with my gut instinct and that the only way to REALLY find your own style is by trial and error. Don't be influenced by others when it comes to decorating - your space should be a place that you love being in, adore coming home to and that makes you happy every day. And most of all, styling your own home should be an enjoyable experience. Mistakes are never really mistakes - they just help form your spaces into ones that work for you.

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