The Bad Habits of the Interior Design - EP08

Creating your own space can be so exciting, but sometimes people misunderstand what interior design is. There are so many bad habits that people can make when designing a dream space for whatever reason: not studying enough in the room, not familiarized with the whole process, not familiarized with what's on the market and more. 

Sometimes, Interior design, or the design in general gets a bad reputation because of the same thing. People trying to build something thinking it is as easy as choosing colors on a wall or just picking up a plant to give the room “life”. No wonder are people so unhappy with what they ended up with. This is a list that every designer should consider before getting into a project and avoid that disappointment.

Bad habit #1: Picking up colors or buying stuff. 

This sometimes is either one or the other, which is the worst. I once had a client so frustrated because what he had done with the place didn't satisfy him (changing the entire color of the house), so he hired me. The fact that you dedicate some time to picking an exact vase or a couple of bed sheets doesn't make a design complete. Not even started. I'm sure you can pull something much more meaningful that a beige on the walls. 

Bad habit #2: Don't consider textures and materials 

Interior design is everything you see when you enter a home, office, store. It creates a sensation (hoping for a positive one), activates all your senses and in some cases, gets your mood so well that makes you study the room to see why you like it so much being there. This amount of feelings comes with the combination of everything, and literally everything that is in the room. From the specific plants selected, to the carpets, chandeliers, the texture of the furniture, the color of wood, even the size of the space. The exotic mirror you chose gives the place a sophisticated look along with the candles that you put on the table. Everything is everything. 

Bad habit #3: Design without a Concept.

The fact that you liked a striped rug, and a minimalism lamp, and a very bright green, doesn't mean you have to put everything together in the same project. I highly recommend thinking and planning before locating and constructing. Designing without concept is like going to the market and buying everything you're interested in. The difference is that you're not gonna eat everything at once. Please have a Concept that will guide you till the whole process, along with a mood board to keep you between the colors that combine and style of furniture you want. 

Bad habit #4: Change your design constantly. Worst during construction.

I get there is a -try this instead of that- part of the process. I'm one perfectionist kind of designer too. I'm talking about once you have finished and ready to get all the materials ready, but suddenly you saw a photo that you really liked and it is the end of the world. This can happen even when constructing! This bad habit definitely is the most expensive one, since some stores don't have return policies. Love your work and don't proceed until you're absolutely in love with it.

Bad habit #5: Planning without budget.

Yes, another expensive one. This is a bad habit if you don't have enough money, cause if this isn't your case please don't even read it. This is more common during projects where you want to change almost everything. And building new furniture or getting everything new is pretty money demanding. 

Bad habit #6: Planning without standard measurements 

I'm totally guilty here. Happens most of the time in modeling softwares that you just draw as it looks better, doesn't matter if it is 10 inches larger or shorter, it just looks better that way, so you end up with a custom made article (or several), and of course, there's no store that offers the product so you end up either changing the shape, or with a very high bill. This can be a problem later with your client because clients expect exactly what you offer, and this may force you to go with the out of the budget bill. 

Bad habit #7: Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V.

Very bad habit and very common. The Copy & Paste method is one of a kind, ironically. Having referential images is one thing, but copying the whole project is another. The referential images are very important FOR YOU. They help you untangle your ideas and you’ll get an idea of what would go best for a specific project. I’m sure you and I can come up with a very high quality design picking up a few things for one image, and a few things from another, plus your own ideas. 

Bad habit #8: Thinking of unavailable products

It is common when you’re downloading a few models for lamps, sofas, chairs or even plant pots for your final renderings. People are very creative when designing all kinds of features, and you just love how it looks in the project, except this is not available in your country, and bringing it could cost more time than money. Knowing what your country offers is key, because all projects are expected to begin almost immediately after the clients agree on a design. Of course there are exceptions to the rule, and in bigger projects there are clients that have quality control and set standards on the materials or furniture so it is a Must to bring everything. 

Having bad habits it’s part of the process too. The key is to identify it (hopefully on time) to become the best version of yourselves and achieve some of the most wonderful designs you can think of. Don’t worry if you make a few of these, after all, we’re constantly learning from our experiences. Practice makes perfect.