The “sins” of home design are many, ranging from boring and uninspired taste to some of the absolutely unhinged ideas seen here. Setting aside questions of taste, as everyone is free to do what they want with their own space, it’s always important to have a solid idea of what you are trying to accomplish.

If you want a room that is a strange shrine to whatever you are into, that is fine (within reason) but it’s very easy to make a useless shrine, surrounded by clashing decorations. Similarly, if you want a bedroom that is reminiscent of batman’s dreams, go for it, but you then really have to think about the light sources.

Having a clear vision is more than just an idea, it’s understanding your limitations and budget. What furniture will you need and can you even find something that matches your vision? How much can you alter the space, i.e. install light fixtures or new wallpaper. One reason many apartments take that sterile, white “Airbnb” look is that it makes shopping for decorations easier.

After all, if the room’s aesthetic is more uncommon, fixing, upgrading and changing things will simply take longer. A room centered around a bunch of stuffed animals is interesting, at least to some, but cleaning it will be a nightmare and “adding” to this aesthetic is not particularly easy as well.

As with so many other things, people also tend to overestimate their ability. Sort of like accidentally cooking enough pasta for a family of six because you didn’t want to measure it out, it’s just as easy to get items that, in a vacuum, are lovely, but in your room are just way too big.

Remember, a thing’s size doesn’t just determine how it looks, it will affect how the things around it look. If you get a massive, imposing shelf, you best be ready to fill it up with stuff, otherwise it will look simply ridiculous. A giant bed might be comfortable, but you have to then be ok having almost no extra space if your room is small.

It’s also vital to think about light. After all, everything you’ve seen with your eyes has been transmitted as light. Many people fall into the trap of designing this lovely room and then thinking about the light as a sort of afterthought. In general, the directions, the type of light and the intensity of light needs to be something you think about immediately, if only to know where to put light fixtures and power outlets.

Another trap one can see in places where folks have lived for a while is the refusal to get rid of old items. Vintage antiques can be cool, but more often than not, old furniture wasn’t that great to begin with. It’s possible to have too much, so one “easy” improvement would be to finally get rid of the things you just don’t need anymore.

On the other end of the spectrum are the people who love a minimalist look. This is by no means bad, it’s bright, it's clean, it really helps reduce clutter. But, as can be seen in some of the examples here, if everything is a brilliant bright white, you might end up with major eyestrain, like staring at sand on a beach when the sun is blazing down.

Last, but not least, it’s also quite easy to forget that a room, hallway or really anything else is meant to be used, not just looked at. Perhaps banisters on your stairs mess up the look, but they also stop you from breaking a leg, or worse. If you are going to be interacting with something every day, while tired, hungover, with a lightbulb missing or really anything else, it’s best to make it pretty accessible. Sometimes issues that seem small at first can really become major irritations later.

A classic example of this is the “Norman door,” which is, simply put, a door that is unintuitive to use. You slam into it, thinking that it’s a push door, or perhaps it looks automatic, but isn’t. Without thinking about it, we often make similar choices in our homes because something looks cool or we don’t really plot out how it will change our day to day. So if you want to see more “questionable” designs, check out our other article on them.