Interior Designer Shares What She Would Never Have in Her Home

Interior Designer Shares What She Would Never Have in Her Home
  • Insider requested an interior designer about what matters she wouldn’t have in her house.
  • Very small equipment or gallery partitions with little items can include clutter to rooms. 
  • Rather of wall-to-wall carpet, choose for hardwood flooring during your house.

Insider spoke with Cathy Hobbs — a movie star interior designer and operator of property-staging organization Cathy Hobbs Style Recipes — to locate out which developments and designs she’d hardly ever have in her very own area.

Dried, artificial flowers can make a home feel dated 

Dried, gray-ish fake flours in lit up shelf

Other dried crops can function better.

Dzmitry Kaprusynka/Getty Photographs


Though greenery — like faux solutions — can incorporate life to your space, Hobbs stays away from synthetic dried bouquets when coming up with her household. 

“These typically come to feel dated and previous-fashioned in a modern decor plan,” she explained to Insider.

She as an alternative recommended opting for synthetic palm leaves, grasses, or succulents. 

The designer stays absent from framed posters

When incorporating artwork into your residence, never only body low-cost posters. According to Hobbs, that appear can carry down your place.

She said you can decide for an low-cost wall hanging or framed photograph if you cannot afford to pay for canvas artwork. 

You will not likely uncover acrylic or plastic decor pieces in her dwelling

Hobbs stays absent from acrylic and plastic furniture or equipment, even although they are low-cost.

“Not only do these components generally crack, but they also are inclined to search ‘milky’ more than time,” she told Insider.  

She recommended on the lookout for a strong choice, this kind of as a substance which is suited for equally indoor and out of doors use.  

She avoids gallery partitions complete of tiny items

A neutral-toned living room with a gallery wall of art

Gallery walls are not generally good for anchoring your space.

Photographee.eu/Shutterstock


Though generating a “wall of very small matters” — or an eclectic gallery wall — may well be an quick way to fill up blank area, you won’t locate this decor alternative in Hobbs’ residence.

As an alternative of a wall with frames and mirrors of different sizes, the designer advised going for large, bold parts to much better anchor your room. 

Compact pieces and extras can look like muddle

Equally, home equipment, accents, and other items that are also compact generally develop visual litter, in accordance to Hobbs. 

She instead advised choosing out more substantial decor pieces that’ll aid to floor your area without staying a visual distraction. 

Hobbs would not overcrowd her bookshelves

Living room with sofa, art, and clean wooden bookshelf

Continue to keep house open on your bookshelf for a minimalist seem.

Photographee.eu/Shutterstock


Even although bookshelves are good for storage, don’t overfill them with all of your publications and trinkets. 

Hobbs proposed leaving some shelves empty for a minimalist search.  

She avoids the ‘overworked’ search in home workplaces

According to the designer, you can find no purpose to go away your workspace cluttered when you’re not employing it. 

“Crystal clear the muddle, and decide for a workspace in which operate can be tucked away when not in use,” she explained. 

You can decide on a desk with drawers or stow your merchandise in bins.

Blank walls in extended hallways are a wasted decor prospect

Hobbs will make guaranteed to incorporate style factors to extensive hallways and will sometimes use mirrors to elongate them. 

“Hallways seldom have home windows or get significantly gentle,” she described. “Including mirrors can assistance make these slender areas sense broader.” 

She swaps out wall-to-wall carpeting for hardwood floors 

White kitchen in home with hardwood floors

Hardwood floors are a well known selection.

Breadmaker/Shutterstock


The designer avoids wall-to-wall carpeting, in spite of how it can generate a seamless look.

“The reality is that for many, wall-to-wall carpeting sends a visible signal of ‘outdated,'” Hobbs instructed Insider. 

She mentioned it’s in your best curiosity to opt for hardwood flooring considering the fact that most homebuyers choose it. 

Shiny and stylish household furniture can go out of model

Though shiny colors are surely pleasurable for key home furnishings parts, Hobbs told Insider that it is really greatest to keep neutral. 

“As a substitute of selecting furniture that may well feel stylish, choose for those people that will stand the test of time,” she reported. “Gray and cream are wonderful foundational colors when deciding on most important items these kinds of as sofas.”