10 Design Mistakes That Make Your Home More Stressful
Interior designers reveal what’s working against you and what to do instead.
Do you ever feel tense in your own space, but can’t quite pinpoint why? Your home might look put together, yet still be working against you. According to interior designers, that tension often has little to do with bad taste. Instead, it comes down to small, fixable choices, like where your keys land or whether you have to turn sideways to walk through the living room. Below, designers explain what to change and why it can make such a difference.
Skipping an entryway landing zone
The Mistake: Not having a designated spot for the things you carry in and out of the house every day.
The Fix: Add a small console or bench with a spot for shoes, plus a tray or hooks for keys and mail.
Why It Works: “A cluttered or nonexistent entry sets the tone for the whole house, since it’s the first thing you see when you walk in and the last thing before you leave,” says Michelle Squire, principal at Studio SQUIRE. Without a spot for keys, mail, and shoes, she says, the clutter migrates to the kitchen and stays there.
Blocking the flow of a room
The Mistake: Placing furniture without considering how you move through the space.
The Fix: Before settling on a layout, walk the natural path from one side of the room to the other.
Why It Works: “People underestimate how much the way you physically move through a room affects the way you feel in it,” says John O’Hanley, senior interior designer at Vesta Home. “You walk into a room, and where your eye goes, where you want to sit, how you get from one side to the other: all of that should just feel really intuitive.”
Designing for a life you don’t live
The Mistake: Planning a room around an idealized version of your life instead of how you use the space.
The Fix: Consider how you really use the room, including kids, pets, and dinner on the couch, before finalizing the design.
Why It Works: “I can design something beautiful, but if it makes your everyday life harder, then I didn’t do my job,” says Carol Alda, interior designer at Z Gallerie. “It’s better to design around your real life than around some imaginary version of you who never spills anything.”
Choosing storage that doesn’t fit your habits
The Mistake: Assuming clutter means you own too much, when the real problem may be a lack of practical storage.
The Fix: Choose furniture with built-in storage, rather than piling on extra bins to manage the mess.
Why It Works: “Sometimes the problem isn’t that you own too much. The room just isn’t giving those things anywhere to go,” Alda says. A cabinet or a bed frame with hidden storage, she notes, can be part of the design and still keep everyday clutter out of sight.
Relying on one overhead light
The Mistake: Lighting an entire room with one central overhead fixture.
The Fix: Layer in table lamps, floor lamps, and sconces at different heights.
Why It Works: “Relying on one central light fixture fills your space with shadows and a stark, bright light. It makes it harder to de-stress,” says Alina Enache, co-founder of Lamp Genius. A layered approach, she says, lets you set the lighting level that feels comfortable.
Sizing furniture to the wall
The Mistake: Buying a sofa or other large piece to fill a wall instead of fitting the room.
The Fix: Measure your actual walking path before you buy, and aim for 30 to 36 inches of clearance around seating.
Why It Works: “People measure the wall, buy the sofa that fills it, then squeeze past it every day, and the room feels tense because you cannot move through it cleanly,” says Ian Ratner, founder of Alcovio, a furniture search tool built around exact dimensions.
Decorating every surface
The Mistake: Covering every table, shelf, and console with decor.
The Fix: Edit down to fewer, more meaningful pieces, and leave some breathing room between them.
Why It Works: “When furniture, accessories, and smaller decorative objects are packed too closely together, even beautiful pieces can start to feel visually chaotic,” says Andrea DeRosa, co-founder of Avenue Interior Design. “We prefer to edit with intention, so the eye has a place to rest.”
Choosing high-maintenance finishes
The Mistake: Choosing materials that make you nervous to actually live with them.
The Fix: Pick finishes that can handle everyday spills, scratches, and wear, especially if you have children or pets.
Why It Works: “Silk or viscose rugs, white fabric sofas, or easily scratched wood surfaces that make you constantly worry about damage can make everyday living a source of anxiety,” says Lisa Quinn, founder of Lisa Quinn Home. Those finishes, she says, can turn you into the fun police at every gathering, and it stresses everyone out.
Making one room do too much
The Mistake: Letting one room, often the dining room, take on every extra job in the house: office, package station, homework spot.
The Fix: Decide what the room is primarily for, then relocate anything that doesn’t support that purpose.
Why It Works: “When the dining room is also the office, package station, homework area, and storage room, it’s very easy for the dining table to become the Amazon return station,” says Alexandra Bucklin, founder of Bucklin Design Co. “Give each room a primary job, and create designated places elsewhere for the things that tend to migrate there.”
Leaving tech clutter in plain sight
The Mistake: Leaving cords, chargers, routers, and countertop appliances out simply because they’re in regular use.
The Fix: Hide what you can in cabinetry, an appliance garage, or a dedicated charging drawer.
Why It Works: “Cords, chargers, routers, countertop appliances, and other technology may be functional, but seeing all of it at once adds visual noise,” says Bucklin. Cord management and a charging drawer, she says, can make a room feel calmer without sacrificing functionality.
Brianna Lapolla is freelance writer. She started her career in e-commerce before moving into editorial for Editorialist and PureWow, and now covers everything from product reviews to roundups to lifestyle content. When she’s not writing, she’s on the hunt for New York’s best dirty martini, doing Pilates, or getting bossed around by her French Bulldog, King Louis.
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