Everyone Should Avoid These Decor Mistakes That Will Instantly Date Your Home

Published on May 24, 2022
When it comes to interior design, staying very on trend is difficult to keep up with. Often a trend comes along so fast that by the time you’ve caught on to it, it’s already out of style. The best method when it comes to decor and design is to find classic styles that you love, that way your home will never look dated. Here are some of the worst offenders that will guarantee that your home will not look classic and timeless, so best to stay away from these decor no-no’s.

Overly Beach Themed

While beach decor can adda nice touch to a room, it’s best not to go too crazy with the beach decor, since you’ll end up with a tacky room that looks more like a themed bed and breakfast than you home. Keep the beach touches simple and minimal for best results.

Overly Beach Themed

Overly Beach Themed

Patterned Sofas

Getting a patterned couch might seem like a fun way to get things to look exciting in your home, but it’s actually setting yourself up for failure. Styling patterned couches is always going to be tricky, and will also severely limit your options with any other decor in the room. Opt for a neutral color instead.

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Patterned Sofas

Patterned Sofas

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Too Many Framed Photos

Framed photos are a beautiful way to personalize your home and add special memories to surround you in the house. However, it’s important to make sure that you don’t overdo it with the frames and make the room feel completely overcrowded. Besides, too many frames take away focus from the actual photos themselves.

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Too Many Framed Photos

Too Many Framed Photos

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Floral Prints Everywhere

Floral prints are a fantastic pattern to add into your home, but you just really need to be careful not to go overboard with the floral print, since that is an easy way to make your home feel like an antique shop, which will definitely make it feel dated.

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Floral Prints Everywhere

Floral Prints Everywhere

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An Unorganized Mess

Of course, having a messy home is rarely an intentional design choice, but nevertheless, it is not a good look. If you’re having a hard time keeping things organized, then you might have too many things that you don’t actually use. Try to declutter by getting rid of things that you rarely use, and that will help keep your place organized.

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An Unorganized Mess

An Unorganized Mess

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Outdated Gadgets

This tip might help you with decluttering. We all have that drawer of old and outdated gadgets that are just sitting there, taking up space and doing nothing. Even if they do work, you’re unlikely to use them, so it’s best to donate them or give them away instead of them taking up space in your house.

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Outdated Gadgets

Outdated Gadgets

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Rug Covers

It’s super unclear why these rug toilet covers were ever a thing, and having one right now is absolutely unacceptable. These are like a petri dish waiting to collect bacteria. On top of all that, they look absolutely terrible, so please, if you have one of these in your bathroom, it’s time to get rid of it.

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Rug Covers

Rug Covers

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Honey Oak Cabinets

Honey oak cabinets were once considered to be the most fashionable in kitchen design, but the fact is, they are just outdated at this point. The positive thing is that in order to give your kitchen a new look, you can simply replace the cabinets with a simple facelift or even paint them, giving you an instant update.

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Honey Oak Cabinets

Honey Oak Cabinets

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Hanging Teacups

Hanging teacups does look very cute, but the fact remains that this is not the most practical way to store mugs, especially if you have a lot of them. If your teacups are delicate, then this is also a risky way to store them. It’s better to keep them on a solid shelf as opposed to hanging on a wall.

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Hanging Teacups

Hanging Teacups

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Doilies On The Table

Doilies are really the most outdated if all home decor staples. Nothing says “grandma” more than a doily, and it is quite difficult to make them look modern. You can use plenty of other decor items to keep your table covered and looking nice. These include runners, which you can get in a lacy variety that mimic the same concept as a doily would.

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Doilies On The Table

Doilies On The Table

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Overly Ornate Living Room

While we would all like to live like royals, most of us simply can’t maintain an overly ornate house, let alone just a living room. These rooms are usually maintained by a whole staff of people, so they’re not really realistic for most of us. You can use a chandelier or other ornate items as an accent, but no need to do the whole room in this style.

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Overly Ornate Living Room

Overly Ornate Living Room

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Vertical Blinds

Vertical blinds certainly do a good job blocking out sunlight, but the unfortunate downside to them is that they look terrible and move around like clunky wind chimes. These bulky blinds can easily be replaced with daintier and more elegant blinds that will do as good of a job with blocking out the sun.

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Vertical Blinds

Vertical Blinds

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La-Z-Boy Chairs

There was a time when La-Z-Boy chairs were a must when it came to living room furniture. However, while these are very comfortable, they are quite an eyesore. They are super bulky and can’t really be made more chic no matter what you try. There are a lot of other options that are just as comfy and look much better.

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La Z Boy Chairs

La Z Boy Chairs

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Overly Antique

You can add a few antique pieces to your home for a lovely accent, you should be careful not to go overboard with antique items, as you could easily head into looking like your home is an antique shop instead of a residence.

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Overly Antique

Overly Antique

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Plastic Covers

While we know that people started covering their furniture with clear plastic covers in order to keep them looking clean and new, there’s just no way around the fact that it ends up making the furniture totally uncomfortable. If you have a plastic cover on your couch, it’s time to get rid of it.

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Plastic Covers

Plastic Covers

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Pickle Jars On Display

We truly admire anyone who makes their own pickles, but the one drawback is having jars and jars of pickled goods on display all over the kitchen. Having a few jars out does add some charm to the kitchen, but having too many just looks cluttered.

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Pickle Jars On Display

Pickle Jars On Display

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Old Fashioned Fixtures

Old fashioned fixtures quickly date your home, but the nice part of this is that it’s quite a quick and simple fix. Simply buy new fixtures and replace the old ones, and voila, your home is already looking less dated.

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Old Fashioned Fixtures

Old Fashioned Fixtures

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Farmhouse Decor

While farmhouse decor can make a home look cozy and rustic, this trend is starting to get a little overdone. Like many other trends, it is crucial to not overdo it unless you want your home to end up looking like a museum display. Let’s keep the roosters to a minimum, okay?

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Farmhouse Decor

Farmhouse Decor

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Fake Plants

Fake plants could be a good idea, especially if you live in a dark apartment or have the opposite of a green thumb. However, they can quickly end up looking very cheap and tacky, so it’s important to make sure to get high quality fake plants. These days you can actually find ones that look real, so if you do want fake plants, make sure you invest.

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Fake Plants

Fake Plants

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Matchy Matchy Everything

While it’s easy to think that getting everything in the same exact color and pattern will make everything easy to match, overly matching ends up looking very strange and even intimidating. If you want, you can opt for monochrome decor which is still a striking design choice but still looks great.

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Matchy Matchy Everything

Matchy Matchy Everything

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Heavy Tassel Curtains

While there once was a time when heavy tassel curtains were very fashionable, that is certainly not the case now. While people used to think that these looked upscale, now these curtains just look old fashioned. You can go for light fabrics without the ornate draping that gives these curtains that outdated look.

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Heavy Tassel Curtains

Heavy Tassel Curtains

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Tassels Or Fringes On The Sofa

Speaking of tassels, these also used to decorate sofas as well. While they were once very fashionable, now they just look like too much. Going for classic and understated choices for your soda is a better choice since your couch won’t have to be replaced or updated due to just style alone.

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Tassels Or Fringes On The Sofa

Tassels Or Fringes On The Sofa

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Popcorn Ceilings

We’re not really sure why popcorn ceilings were ever a thing and how anyone ever thought of them as stylish, but the fact remains that these ceilings are simply not acceptable any longer. These really are that bad and should be removed immediately.

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Popcorn Ceilings

Popcorn Ceilings

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Wood Paneling

While wood paneling was the height of style during the 1970’s and was featured in endless homes around the country, this is a great example of a trend that did not age well. These paneled walls end up making your home look like a cabin, not to mention that they’re such a hassle to maintain.

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Wood Paneling

Wood Paneling

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Ruffled Shower Curtains

Ruffled shower curtains always look like they are from another time and are especially tough to modernize, no matter what you do. Even professional interior designers won’t have much to do with them, so replacing them with modern shower curtains is the only way to go.

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Ruffled Shower Curtains

Ruffled Shower Curtains

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Sleigh Bed

In the early 2000’s, sleigh beds were very popular, but ever since, their popularity has significantly declined. We’re not sure why you would want to have a bed that looks like Santa’s sleigh, but this trend still caught on. Unfortunately, if you’ve got one of these, you should know that it looks pretty outdated already.

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Sleigh Bed

Sleigh Bed

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Shag Carpets

Shag carpets are yet another classic trend from the 1960’s and 70’s that should have definitely stayed in those years. There’s really no reason to have shag carpets in this day and age, not to mention that they’re such a nightmare to keep clean.

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Shag Carpets

Shag Carpets

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China Cabinets

China cabinets truly look antiquated because they are. These used to be extremely popular in any upscale home, but there’s no way around the fact that they are very old fashioned. Instead, you can go with floating shelves to display your dish ware.

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China Cabinets

China Cabinets

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Wall To Wall Carpets

Wall to wall carpets are truly outdated at this point, and we really have no explanation as to why this was ever considered to be a trend. If your home still features wall to wall carpets, we suggest a makeover immediately.

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Wall To Wall Carpets

Wall To Wall Carpets

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Gold Framed Mirrors

Gold framed mirrors can quickly look outdated and like they belong in antique shops, but they’re not completely hopeless. You can actually find ways to style them in a modern home, just make sure that the rest of your place doesn’t look outdated either.

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Gold Framed Mirrors

Gold Framed Mirrors

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Outdated Wallpaper

While bold and patterned wallpaper comes in and out of style every few years, that also means that there will be many time periods when they will look outdated. You can compromise by having one statement wall with a bold wallpaper print, but there’s really no reason to wallpaper all four walls of the room.

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Outdated Wallpaper

Outdated Wallpaper

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Baby Pink And Blue

Baby pink and baby blue are certainly acceptable in nurseries, but these colors should stay away from other rooms in the house, unless you want it to look like cotton candy. These should also not be in the same room, otherwise you’ll risk looking like you live in a My Little Pony themed house.

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Baby Pink And Blue

Baby Pink And Blue

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Too Many Patterns And Colors

Incorporating bright colors and bold patterns is a way to shake up a boring room, but you need to make sure you don’t overwhelm your space with too much of it. Otherwise, you run the risk of making your home feel overwhelming and uninviting.

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Too Many Patterns And Colors

Too Many Patterns And Colors

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Tile Countertops

Tile countertops might look nice in some homes, but the fact is that they are difficult to maintain and truly a pain to clean. While they can sometimes look good, other times in addition to the tile backsplash can make the kitchen look overly tiled.

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Tile Countertops

Tile Countertops

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Frames Hung Too Low

Framing artwork, photos, and decor items is a great way to add some personality into your home. The one thing to watch out for is hanging them too long, which will always look so awakrd.

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Frames Hung Too Low

Frames Hung Too Low

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Too Many Pillows

Throw pillows are a great way to add some color and design into your bedroom or living room, but sometimes people get carried away. There’s no need to overdo it with the pillows, otherwise you’ll end up drowning out the rest of the room. They can also be burdensome to keep straight all the time.

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Too Many Pillows

Too Many Pillows

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Cat Clocks

Cat clocks were the height of quirky design, but at this point they kind of feel overdone and their charm has already faded. Maybe it’s time, sorry about the pun, to get a new and perhaps more sophisticated timekeeper for your home.

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Cat Clocks

Cat Clocks

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Linoleum Floors

While linoleum floors were a great solution for cheap flooring, the major downside to these is the fact that they rarely look good and often end up looking terrible. They’re inexpensive and they look it. They are also quite outdated.

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Linoleum Floors

Linoleum Floors

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Floor To Ceiling Mirrors

We’re not really sure why you’d want floor to ceiling mirrors, and why so many celebrities were into this trend as well, but this is certainly a trend that is no longer in style.

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Floor To Ceiling Mirrors

Floor To Ceiling Mirrors

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Textured Walls

There’s really no other way to say this but textured walls are really quite unsightly and there is not really a reason to have in your home. You can easily smooth out your wall to instantly make it look much more sophisticated.

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Textured Walls

Textured Walls

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