If you’ve ever walked into a room and thought, “Wow!” then you know how exciting decorating can be. The problem is that there are times when people don’t stop when they should and continue to add more stuff. This isn’t good for your home or your budget. When does it make sense to stop adding items to a space? Here are some tips:
The room looks complete.
When your room looks complete, you can stop decorating. You shouldn’t be able to walk into your room and think “Oh, I can use one of those,” or, “I wish this were five feet wider.” When the space is finally balanced pleasingly, you’ll know it’s time to stop decorating.
It should look comfortable and inviting—a place where someone could relax for hours without wanting anything more than what’s there already: a warm blanket on the couch, maybe some tea brewing in the kitchenette (or at least enough countertop real estate for two mugs), soft lighting from both lamps and candles…you get the idea!
You have some space on the walls.
When you have space on your walls, then it’s time to stop decorating.
The opposite of this is also true. If your home is filled from floor to ceiling with stuff, it’s time to stop decorating.
Your room is not balanced pleasingly.
One of the most important principles of design is balance. Balance can be achieved in several ways, including having an equal number of objects on each side of the room or using only one color throughout your space. If you notice that your room feels out of balance, it’s time to start decorating! For example, if there are more lamps than tables and chairs in a certain area, it might mean that there need to be more lighting elements added.
If you don’t have enough chairs for everyone who wants to sit down at mealtime, then this is another sign that it’s time for some furniture shopping or rearranging before hosting a dinner party!
Your room feels crowded or stuffy.
This is an obvious one, but worth mentioning: if your room feels crowded and stuffy, it’s time to stop decorating. You don’t want to make yourself feel like the walls are closing in on you.
That said, there are some other ways that a room can feel crowded or stuffy besides just feeling like there is too much stuff inside of it. If the space feels too small for its purpose or if it makes you feel like you can’t breathe easily (and this isn’t because someone else has been smoking in there), then it’s time to take a step back from adding more decorations and try something else instead!
If you have balance, look complete, and are comfortable, you are done decorating
If you have balance, look complete, and are comfortable, you are done decorating.
Balance is important because it means that the room has a pleasing appearance. It means that there is no space on the walls or floor. Balance also means that the room is not crowded or stuffy, which can make it feel smaller than it appears in your head—that’s when you start adding more stuff to fill up all those extra corners!
Balance is achieved when every item in space looks like it belongs there, whether they’re pieces of furniture or decorative accents like clocks and paintings. That doesn’t mean every item has to match perfectly; rather, each piece should be visually appealing on its own merits while also contributing something to the overall appearance of the room (which we’ll discuss shortly).
Conclusion
And that’s it! Once you feel like your room is complete, there’s no need to keep adding more stuff. You may feel like something is missing or off-balance, but the best way to solve that problem is by removing things from the space. Remove one thing at a time and see if it makes a difference before adding anything else back in.