6 Mistakes to Avoid When Decorating Your Apartment, According to Pros

Mistake #1: Buying Before Measuring (a.k.a. “It Looked Smaller Online”)

Pros can spot a measurement skip from the hallway. The sofa is blocking the door swing. The dining table is wearing the refrigerator like a backpack. Or the rug is so tiny it looks like it arrived with a “sample size” label.

In apartments, scale and proportion matter more because every piece has to earn its square footage. A too-large item dominates the room and kills circulation. A too-small item makes the space feel unfinished and oddly sparselike you moved in yesterday and are still “figuring it out.”

How the pros avoid it

• Measure the room and the pathways (doorways, hallways, elevators, tight turns). The prettiest sofa is useless if it can’t physically enter your apartment.
• Tape it out. Use painter’s tape to outline the footprint of furniture on the floor. Add extra tape for clearance so drawers can open and people can walk.
• Think in “visual weight,” not just inches. Two pieces can share dimensions but feel totally different. A bulky rolled-arm sofa reads heavier than a clean-lined sofa on legs.

Specific example

Let’s say your living room is compact and you’re eyeing a long media console. A traditional, extra-wide console can overwhelm a small wall fastespecially if you also need storage, a floor lamp, and a place for the router to live its best life. A slimmer console (or wall-mounted option if allowed) preserves breathing room and looks intentional rather than wedged in.

Apartment-friendly shortcut: If you don’t want to draft a floor plan, at least confirm three numbers before you buy: the furniture width, the room wall width, and the walkway clearance you’ll have left. Your future shins will thank you.

Mistake #2: Treating Lighting Like an Afterthought (One Overhead Light Isn’t a “Lighting Plan”)

Many apartments come with a single ceiling fixture that’s doing its best… but it’s still giving “interrogation room chic.” Designers consistently warn that relying on overhead lighting alone makes a space feel flat and sterile. It also creates harsh shadowsso your cute gallery wall looks moody in a bad way.

How the pros fix it: layer your lighting

Aim for three layers that work together:

• Ambient: the general glow (ceiling fixture, soft floor lamp, or a pair of lamps).
• Task: focused light for reading, cooking, working (desk lamp, under-cabinet lights, directional lamp).
• Accent: “vibe lighting” that adds depth (picture lights, LED strips behind a headboard, a small lamp on a shelf).

Renter-friendly upgrades that look high-end

• Plug-in sconces near the bed or sofa to free up surface space.
• Warm bulbs (not icy blue) for a cozier feel in living spaces.
• Dimmer solutions like smart bulbs or plug-in dimmer cords where permitted.
• Under-cabinet LED strips in kitchens for instant “this is a real grown-up home” energy.

Pro tip: In a small apartment, two smaller light sources often look better than one mega-lamp. The goal is even, welcoming lightnot a single beacon from the corner.

Mistake #3: Choosing the Wrong Rug Size (Especially the “Tiny Rug Island”)

If there’s one decorating mistake that makes designers collectively sigh, it’s rugs that are too small. A tiny rug visually shrinks the room and makes furniture look like it’s awkwardly hovering around it, unsure if it should commit.

The rug is not just a soft rectangleit’s a zoning tool. In an apartment, a rug can define your living area, separate a work corner, and make an open-plan space feel organized instead of random.

Easy rug rules that work in most apartments

• Living room: aim for at least the front legs of your sofa and chairs to sit on the rug.
• Dining area: choose a rug large enough that dining chairs stay on it even when pulled out.
• Bedroom: either go large under the bed or use runners on the sides so your feet hit something soft in the morning.

Material matters (yes, even in rentals)

Pros also think about how a rug will behave in real life. Flatweaves and low-pile rugs are easier to clean and won’t fight your chair legs. High-pile rugs can be cozy in bedrooms but may be annoying under rolling desk chairs and dining chairs. Pick the rug that matches your daily routine, not the one that looks best in a staged photo.

Apartment-friendly shortcut: When in doubt, size up. A larger rug often makes a small space feel bigger and more “finished,” even if that seems backwards at first.

Mistake #4: Forcing All the Furniture Against the Walls (It Doesn’t Create SpaceIt Removes It)

This one is extremely common in apartments: everything gets shoved to the perimeter like it’s afraid of the center of the room. It feels logical (“More open floor!”), but designers often point out that it can make the space feel smaller, create awkward gaps, and make conversation areas feel disconnected.

How the pros create a better layout

• Float pieceseven just a few inches. Pull the sofa slightly off the wall if you can. That tiny shadow line adds depth and looks more intentional.
• Build a conversation zone. Position seating so people can actually talk without yelling across a coffee table the size of a postage stamp.
• Use the rug as the “stage.” Place key furniture partly on the rug to define the living area.
• Create clear pathways. Your layout should let you walk through the room without performing parkour.

Specific example

In a studio, try using your sofa (or a low console) as a soft divider between sleeping and living zones. Pair it with a rug and a floor lamp to visually “claim” the living space. Suddenly, your apartment feels like it has rooms, not just one long multi-purpose rectangle.

Pro tip: If you truly must keep the sofa against the wall, balance it by pulling other pieces inwardlike a chair angled toward the sofa, or a small table that breaks up the wall-hugging lineup.

Mistake #5: Blocking Natural Light (Or Dressing Windows in a Way That Shrinks the Room)

Natural light is basically free décor. When apartments feel gloomy, it’s often because windows are blocked by bulky furniture, heavy curtains, or a “collection” of random items living on the sill like it’s a storage unit with a view.

Window tricks designers love (and renters can do)

• Hang curtains high and wide. Mount the rod above the frame (or close to the ceiling if possible) and extend it beyond the window edges so the fabric can stack off the glass.
• Choose the right length. Curtains that end awkwardly above the floor can look accidental. Floor-grazing panels usually read cleaner and more polished.
• Keep the bulky stuff away from windows. Move tall bookcases or large plants to the side so light can travel deeper into the room.
• Use mirrors strategically. A mirror opposite or adjacent to a window can bounce light and make the room feel more open.

Specific example

If your living room window is small, don’t “frame” it with tiny curtains that sit exactly on the trim. Instead, hang the rod wider than the window so the curtains can rest mostly on the wall. That visually enlarges the window and makes the ceiling feel tallerlike you upgraded the architecture with nothing but a drill-free rod and good choices.

Apartment-friendly shortcut: If drilling isn’t allowed, look for tension rods (for inside the frame) or adhesive curtain rod brackets designed for rentalsalways follow weight limits and test gently.

Mistake #6: Overdecorating Without Editing (Clutter + Too Many Styles = Visual Noise)

Apartments collect stuff fast. A candle here, a throw pillow there, a souvenir mug that somehow becomes “counter décor.” Without editing, even a clean apartment can look busy. Pros often mention that too much clutter, too many competing styles, or no cohesive palette makes a small space feel smaller and messier.

How the pros keep apartments looking calm (not chaotic)

• Pick a simple color story. Start with a base (neutrals work well), then add 1–2 accent colors you repeat across the room.
• Limit trends to “swap-able” items. Trendy colors and patterns are safer in pillows, art prints, and small décornot in a giant sofa you’ll resent by next Tuesday.
• Use closed storage to hide the mess. Baskets, storage ottomans, and cabinets keep visual clutter from taking over.
• Style surfaces like a designer. Group items on a tray, vary heights, and leave breathing room. Empty space is not a failureit’s a design tool.

A quick note on wall art (because apartments love a crooked gallery wall)

Another common pro complaint: art hung too high. A simple guideline is to place the center of the artwork around eye level (often cited in the 57–60 inch range from the floor), then adjust when hanging above furniture so it feels connected rather than floating in space.

Apartment-friendly shortcut: Before you hang anything, make a paper template (or use painter’s tape) to preview placement. It saves your walls from looking like Swiss cheese.

Quick Pro Checklist: Run This Before You Click “Add to Cart”

• Did you measure the room, the wall, and the walkway clearance?
• Does the piece have visual “lightness” (legs, open base) if your space is small?
• Will it block a window, vent, or door swing?
• Do you have at least two light sources in the room (minimum)?
• Will your rug fit the furniture zones, not just the empty floor?
• Is this item a forever pieceor a trend you’ll want to replace soon?

Real-Life Apartment Decorating Experiences (Extra Lessons That Pros Don’t Always Say Out Loud)

Here’s the part that feels like a group chat confession: most apartment decorating mistakes happen because we’re trying to solve an emotional problem with a shopping cart. The apartment feels temporary, so we buy temporary things. The apartment feels small, so we try to “shrink” everything. The apartment feels plain, so we add a hundred little objects instead of a few meaningful ones. I’ve seen these patterns (and lived a few of them) enough times to know the real fix is usually a mindset shift.

Experience #1: The “I’ll upgrade later” trap. A lot of people start with hand-me-down furniture that’s the wrong size, the wrong color, and the wrong vibethen keep it for years because replacing it feels expensive. The workaround is not replacing everything at once. It’s choosing one anchor upgrade that changes the whole room: a properly sized rug, a sofa that fits, or curtains hung high and wide. One big “right” choice makes the rest of the room easier to decorate because it sets a standard.

Experience #2: The lighting glow-up is the fastest confidence boost. I’ve watched people spend weeks debating paint colors when the real villain was lighting. The minute you add two warm lamps and a soft accent light, the apartment stops feeling like a rental listing photo and starts feeling like a home. The best part? Lighting is portable. When you move, your lamps move with youunlike that “fun” peel-and-stick tile experiment you may or may not regret.

Experience #3: Small furniture doesn’t equal a bigger room. This is a classic misunderstanding. People buy tiny side tables and miniature rugs thinking it will “leave space,” but it often does the opposite because the room looks ungrounded. A bigger rug and properly scaled furniture can make the space feel more expansive by creating a clear zone. It’s the same reason a well-fitting outfit looks better than one that’s two sizes too small.

Experience #4: “Clutter décor” sneaks up on you. The first candle is cute. The fifth candle is a theme. By the tenth candle, your coffee table has joined a wax museum. The simplest fix I’ve seen work is a weekly two-minute reset: clear one surface completely, then put back only what you actually want to see. The rest goes into closed storage. If you don’t have closed storage, that’s your next purchasenot another decorative object.

Experience #5: Layout experiments feel scary until you try them. People assume the sofa has to go on the longest wall or that everything must be pushed back. But the best apartment layouts usually come from one brave afternoon of moving furniture and testing. Slide the sofa forward. Angle the chair. Try the table where you swore it wouldn’t fit. Take photos. The camera shows you problems your brain edits out (“Why does that corner look sad?”). The goal isn’t perfectionit’s function plus flow.

Experience #6: Your apartment should look like you live therebecause you do. One of the biggest “invisible” mistakes is decorating for an imagined life. If you never host dinner parties, you don’t need a dining set that seats eight. If you work from home, your desk area deserves real lighting and a chair that doesn’t hurt your back. Pros design around how you actually live, not how you want your apartment to look on a perfect day when you’re suddenly the kind of person who drinks green juice and folds laundry immediately.

Bottom line: your best apartment is the one that supports your routines, feels comfortable, and looks pulled together without being precious. Avoid the big six mistakes above, and you’ll get that “designer” feeling fasterwithout needing a designer budget.