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50 Times Common Sense Went Over The Heads Of These Interior Designers
Good design is about finding the delicate yet pleasing balance between form and function. Though a lot depends on what you want to get done, a good rule of thumb is to keep your designs simple, so that they’re easily understood, practical, and aesthetic. But some people throw the rulebook out the window into the dumpster. And then they wing it.
Even though bad home interior designs are something you should practice social distancing from, you can’t deny that they can be hilarious… as long as it’s not your home we’re talking about! Bored Panda wanted to make you laugh and feel better about having to stay in your lovely home during the lockdown, so we’re bringing you the funniest, most facepalm-worthy interior design fails that prove common sense is actually quite rare.
Are you in the mood for some more horrendous examples of design? Well, once you’re done scrolling through this list and upvoting your fave horrible design pics, we invite you to check out earlier posts about design fails here, here, and here.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Steps That You Can't See
#2
Up The Drain It Goes
#3
My Uncle's House Got A Bathroom Without A Door, Literally The First Thing You See When You Enter The House
Designer Dieter Rams is one of the world’s brightest experts when it comes to design that’s done well. Back in the 1970s, he said that the world was full of “an impenetrable confusion of forms, colors, and noises” and then went on to create his 10 principles for good design. In our opinion, he expressed timeless rules that are as important now as they were back then.
For Rams, good design has to be innovative but also useful. It can’t sacrifice form or function for one or the other: it has to be a blend of both. If a product is self-explanatory, even better! That goes for designs everywhere—if something is over-designed, it can create confusion.
#4
My Friend's Under-The-Stairs "Bathroom" Where The Toilet Is Diagonal And Partially Installed Into The Carpeted Wall
#5
Can't Stop Thinking About This Sink
#6
Kitchen Made By A Sofa Maker
Similarly, Rams argues that good design is honest, long-lasting, friendly to the environment, has a shelf life longer than current trends, and does away with non-essentials. In short, aim for purity. Show the essence of the design. Do away with what’s unnecessary. More is less.
However, we’re not the only ones who think that bad designs can be a lot of fun (and not just a warning about what to avoid doing). The founders of the Ugly Design Instagram page, Jonas Nyffenegger and Sébastien Mathys, told Bored Panda in an earlier interview that bad designs jump out at people from the screen and grab their attention.
#7
At Least You Don't Have To Reach For It
#8
The Almighty Toilet Throne
#9
All It Needs Is A Jukebox And A Soda Fountain
What’s more, atrocious designs also keep on surprising people. Just when you think you’ve reached the bottom of the (Un)Aesthetic Abyss, you realize that it was just the tip of the Iceberg of Bad Taste. What’s more, the founders pointed out that the world would be a very boring place if everything looked tasteful and nice.
#10
Imagine Having To Scrub Or Clean It
Truth Monster 3 years ago
so if you filled in the gaps with an epoxy resin, it might be cool, but this looks impossible to keep clean as it is.
#11
I Almost Fell Down And Rolled My Ankle On This
#12
New Kitchen Style
#13
Why Is There Wood Separating The Hallway In Half
Slinkman 3 years ago (edited)
Something was not thought through here. Guess they thought they could ditch the bearing beam.
Alex Bailey 3 years ago
We can't see enough of the room really. They might have access to the other side via another route - we can see a door on the left of the hall that may give access. People might not need to pass this beam along this bit of hall way at all. This may or may not be a load bearing beam. If this is the only route to the rest of upper floor this would not meet building regulations. I know a few people who have done loft extensions where they haven't notified building control - they'll run into problems when they come to sell the property.
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JennyLaRue 3 years ago
This isn't that uncommon in the UK with buildings that are 100's of years old where people have built into the loft space around the existing timber frame. Where buildings are listed, they're often not able to change the structure, so it's just a quirky workaround, and you can't fault a structure that's remained standing for several hundreds of years, it's clearly holding out well. Facing these quirks when you're drunk and/or in a hurry is a different matter though
May Day 3 years ago
That's why the upper floor in "Fawlty Towers" looks like it does!
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Koala Kitty 3 years ago
Originally built with single floor in mind, and those are support beams. Someone came along and decided to add an addtl level. ?? Maaaaybe??
Steve Cruz 3 years ago
Looks like the second story was added and the major support beam could not be compromised. There's enough room for the types of stairs one sees that go over waist-hight stone walls in divided pastures throughout England and Ireland.
SirPatTheCat 3 years ago
Oh that's intentional, it's just for when you want to jump your horse for a bit of extra exercise when running him through the upstairs of the house.
Mark Serbian, PK&RG,W 3 years ago
It's a room built in the attic. The beam is structural and they can't remove it. Either that or they're idiots...
2WheelTravlr 3 years ago
"Either that or they're idiots..." Why not both?
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Pelleh Din 3 years ago
there was a situation in New York about twenty years ago where the judge awarded one-half of the house to each erstwhile spouse, and they both refused to move and/or sell. Instead they drew a line down the middle and erected barricades.
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Thenatural 3 years ago
This is from a listed building....the beams has to stay there until heritage sign it off then the owners would remove it....happens quite often but this is the most extreme one I've seen.
Waco Bayless 2 years ago
The first thing I thought of was a kid running through here and knocking themselves out.
Tina Harnish 2 years ago
Maybe it was a post-construction earthquake upgrade? Pun not intended.
Cynthia Wallace 2 years ago
Obstacle course run down the stairs leap over the beam and out the door...?
Emerald Fallow 2 years ago
Imagine if you were really tall. And your back hurts. HOW DO YOU GET TO THE BATHROOM? (assuming there's a bathroom in the other half of the hallway.) Advice: GET IT FIXED!!!!!!
Dino Nuggies 🦕🦖 2 years ago
Built in *non-adjustable* limbo! and (if kids were running) free concussions!!
Ramiro ERTH Serrano 2 years ago
They found out the same Tree was used for this beam was also used to make the cross for ............................ .......... Jesus Christ .
Dana Jackson 3 years ago
So that everyone can practice playing limbo as they move about the house.
Kabuki Kitsune 3 years ago
Load bearing beam that they ran into when converting the attic to a loft area.
Greenbunnie K-drama rocks 3 years ago
Photoshop. No break in shadows on floor. Or…, it could be a ninja house, built to keep up the mojo: run down the hallway full tilt on a dark moonless night, sense the beam with your ninja radar, jump over, slide under, or run across the beam to the other side.
Micaela Morrigan 3 years ago
Do the limbo! How low can you go? Or hurdles! You pick. On any given day. Or moment.
absolute zero 3 years ago
It was a single floor house with an added second floor. The beam would be nearly impossible to alter.
Gail Nicholson 3 years ago
Are you supposed to limbo under that or use a pair of (missing) stepladders?
Buzz Anderson 3 years ago
This makes such little sense my brain cannot even comprehend how bad it is.
Jill Bussey 3 years ago
I think this is the remainder of a barn conversion, where they have put rooms into what was originally the loft space. So this is upstairs and the downstairs is off to the right of the picture.
Nancy Romans 3 years ago
I'll give it a shot ...It's a duplex and they couldn't afford to have a wall put in to separate ? LOL
Karen Van Scoyk 3 years ago
It's a divorce situation...this divides the house...yours/mine!!!!
Celtic Pirate Queen 3 years ago
WTF is going to be my go to throughout this entire article, I can just tell.
Shirley Heyn 3 years ago
Okay, let me guess. . . really ugly divorce and they each got half of the house????
Rikki Gentry 3 years ago
This reminds me of siblings draw a line down the middle of a bedroom they share..
Sue Sanders 3 years ago
Excuse me - this is going to take more investigation, with a huge question of logic.
Denise Mclean 3 years ago
Likely because of the Fan he wants to hang to project on the other side of the rail ???
Bacony Cakes 3 years ago
That wasn't part of the original floorplan. It just flew into there during a tornado and nobody's bothered to get it out yet.
Colin Mochrie At Its Finest 3 years ago
The background tells me they are the house with the stone bathroom. Do they play limbo every time? Go another route?
Benjamin Lensgraf 3 years ago
this is my side of the house and you're not allowed to touch it!
John Augsburger 3 years ago
Structural, plobly put the gallery in before someone told them the roof would fall off.
Mary Peace 3 years ago
Plobly put the gallery in? Plobly does things like that.
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The 5-star rated 5-star rating system 3 years ago
Someone should probably just saw this off if it doesn't affect anything else.
#14
Yup, The Fridge Fit Boss
#15
My Parents Have A Bathroom With Carpet That Goes Up The Bathtub Walls. Bonus Points For The Terrible Wallpaper
#16
Who Says Crown Molding Is Overdone?
#17
I Think My Stairs Fit Here
#18
Middle Class Fridge. Lower Class Aesthetic
#19
It's Not A Mirror, It's A Doorway
#20
A Shower Designed To Be As Hard To Stand In As Possible
Kisses4Katie 3 years ago
Lemme just cling to this rock like a derpmaid while water runs over my body
#21
This Bathroom Covered In Carpet
#22
This Single Square Inch Of Raised Carpet Complete With Lining
#23
I Can Just Imagine The Whole House Shaking Like Crazy
#24
Wash Your Hands You Animals
#25
Imagine Trying To Piss While Drunk
#26
These Stairs Leading To A Bedroom Loft
#27
My Friend Just Finished A Kitchen Remodel
#28
Prayers For The Contractor Who Had To Call These Homeowners And Explain They Needed A Second Set Of Front Doors Because. Math
#29
Today My Mom Hit Her Toe With This And Was Bleeding. I Hate This Kitchen So Much
#30
Why Is The Big Face Bleeding, Why The Monkey, Just Why
#31
This Shower Has Blinds Instead Of Curtains
#32
This "Form Over Function" Kitchen In My Apartment
#33
Social Distancing Looking A Lot Like Being Married For 10+ Years
#34
Toilet Room Design
#35
8000 Magic Cards Covering 39m²
#36
This Staircase Bathroom
#37
Why: 1. They Put In A Sliding Door To A Bedroom. 2. They Placed Curtains On The Outside Of It. 3. They Also Placed The Lock On The Outside
#38
This Entire Kitchen’s Counters And Backsplash Are Covered With This “Faux Mold” Tile
#39
Imagine Being A Firefighter And Entering A Dark Smoke-Filled House From The Outside Through This Window
#40
Is It Possible To Change This?
#41
This Throne Room
#42
Neck Pain And A Head Injury Anyone?
#43
My Grandma’s Bathroom
Stephanie Did It 3 years ago
I bought a used mobile home with the garden tub carpeted exactly like this. They attached the carpet with a staple gun and 49,000 staples. Took me forever to get them all out and toss the nasty carpet.
#44
The Bathroom Door Of The New Place My Girlfriend And I Just Moved Into. I Was Sat At The Dining Table When I Took This
Stephanie Did It 3 years ago
That's clearly an exterior door on that bathroom, it even has a deadbolt lock!
#45
The Queen’s Seat
#46
Clean Entrance
Helen Haley 3 years ago
This looks practical for farmhouses and the like for a back door, walk in, wash off all the mud, keep moving. It is like next level mud room.
#47
The Raised Cutout Of This Ceiling Doesn’t Allow The Fan To Suck In Any Air
#48
These Tiles That Are Designed Pre-Worn And Dirty
#49
How Would Any Of This Work
wandile dludlu 3 years ago
It's a horrible design, but it will work. steam doesn't care if something is perpendicular or what
Add New Image
What do you think ?
nanashi 3 years ago
I'm having a Fight-or-Flight instinct just looking at these terrible designs from Hell.
Gin. No tonic 3 years ago
Please do not confuse the work of professional designers with anything on this list.
BlahBlahBlackSheepah 3 years ago
The best part of this article may have been the comments. Pandas on fire today
BananaAnna 3 years ago
After looking at all these tiny little mistakes that others have in their homes I will no longer look at my few lop-sided light switches with the same dislike.
Meeow 3 years ago
I can tell that many of these homes are haunted with a crappy design like that.
Freya the Wanderer 3 years ago
A lot of these fit under the rubric "Why you should never decorate your home while on LSD."
Mal 3 years ago
I want to know what's up with all the stairs in the bathrooms. Like, what's under them that they had to make the toilet up on stairs? How crazy is that plumbing....
WhoAreYouToSayPandasAreBored 3 years ago
Drains need to drop 1/4 per foot slope to drain properly. They may be on ground floor or concrete and would be pretty hard to be able to achieve the proper drain slope and be able to get the water supply to it. May not be crazy plumbing but can get VERY expensive and complex depending on what's existing. Someone decided this was the best option.. somehow lol
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Koala Kitty 3 years ago
Upvoted. Why would someone down vote your comment?
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ĐẸP PHÒNG PHÁCH 2 years ago
Professional Interior Design Company Phòng Khách Đẹp https://phongkhachdep.org/thiet-ke-noi-that/ with you to come up with ideas to create a beautiful, comfortable and convenient living space for your family. We accept interior design Villa, Resrot, Hotel, Restaurant, Apartment… #interior #phongkhachdep #interiordesign
Ole Peder Amrud Hagen 2 years ago
None of these are designed by anyone with a degree. These are, horrible, granted, examples of what happens when people make over their own homes.
Mshauri Mazuri 3 years ago
I've seen some of this in real life especially the carpeted bathroom. Most of those I've seen belong in elderly people. They just love carpets.
Kyleigh Beavers 3 years ago
A lot of these were sensory disorder triggers for me, so I just want to apologize if anyone else that has seen this post if they got a sensory disorder episode from some of the images
Eagle Girl 3 years ago
I wish there was a way to save Panda Posts. I have tears streaming down my face from first the pix then the comments. GOOD SHOW PANDAS!!!!
Eleni Aggeliki 3 years ago
I'm redesigning my kitchen and this has given me nightmares. All the things that can go wrong...
Jill Bussey 3 years ago
So many of these all I can think is "how do you keep this clean?" Carpet in the toilet? On the walls?
Irene Carlyle 3 years ago
I found this so depressing i could look past #27--yes, some were fuinny, but most were evidence of truly thoughtless, stupid design. God help whoever has to live with these things. Awful!!!
23AClark 3 years ago
Why type of minds could make these designs! Half of them will injure or kill you!
Jeff Diamond 3 years ago
My grandpa was a general contractor back in the 50sthrough the 80s, and he built a ton of homes with carpeted bathrooms. I'll never understand why.
Nubmaeme 3 years ago
What's the idea of having all the steps in bathrooms? Steps have always been my nemesis so those "designs" really stand out to me. It's obvious no one has even considered the possibility of not being able to climb or descend those steps due to an infirmity sometime in their future. Having spent months wearing an immobilizer cast while confined to a wheelchair and later on a walker, those bathrooms give me nightmares.
Koala Kitty 3 years ago
Upvoted. Why would someone down vote your comment?
Load More Replies...
Aragorn II Elessar 3 years ago
I better be f*****g high, because Trump supporters did not just storm the f*****g Capitol building and disrupt the vote count.
Octavia Hansen 3 years ago
Looks like a lot of these were made after the fact. Making a separate suite so another bathroom was added, or altering a older kitchen. Still, a good designer would have been money well spent to avoid these eye sores. But they will always be a conversation starter!
Chich 3 years ago
Years ago I worked for a moving company. We moved the first family into a new Townhouse development. The homes were designed so that nothing larger than a double bed could be moved upstairs to the bedrooms. Twisty stairs with enclosed overhangs and windows too small to get anything in from the outside. We tried everything we could think of. They were not happy.
nanashi 3 years ago
I'm having a Fight-or-Flight instinct just looking at these terrible designs from Hell.
Gin. No tonic 3 years ago
Please do not confuse the work of professional designers with anything on this list.
BlahBlahBlackSheepah 3 years ago
The best part of this article may have been the comments. Pandas on fire today
BananaAnna 3 years ago
After looking at all these tiny little mistakes that others have in their homes I will no longer look at my few lop-sided light switches with the same dislike.
Meeow 3 years ago
I can tell that many of these homes are haunted with a crappy design like that.
Freya the Wanderer 3 years ago
A lot of these fit under the rubric "Why you should never decorate your home while on LSD."
Mal 3 years ago
I want to know what's up with all the stairs in the bathrooms. Like, what's under them that they had to make the toilet up on stairs? How crazy is that plumbing....
WhoAreYouToSayPandasAreBored 3 years ago
Drains need to drop 1/4 per foot slope to drain properly. They may be on ground floor or concrete and would be pretty hard to be able to achieve the proper drain slope and be able to get the water supply to it. May not be crazy plumbing but can get VERY expensive and complex depending on what's existing. Someone decided this was the best option.. somehow lol
Load More Replies... Koala Kitty 3 years ago
Upvoted. Why would someone down vote your comment?
Load More Replies... ĐẸP PHÒNG PHÁCH 2 years ago
Professional Interior Design Company Phòng Khách Đẹp https://phongkhachdep.org/thiet-ke-noi-that/ with you to come up with ideas to create a beautiful, comfortable and convenient living space for your family. We accept interior design Villa, Resrot, Hotel, Restaurant, Apartment… #interior #phongkhachdep #interiordesign
Ole Peder Amrud Hagen 2 years ago
None of these are designed by anyone with a degree. These are, horrible, granted, examples of what happens when people make over their own homes.
Mshauri Mazuri 3 years ago
I've seen some of this in real life especially the carpeted bathroom. Most of those I've seen belong in elderly people. They just love carpets.
Kyleigh Beavers 3 years ago
A lot of these were sensory disorder triggers for me, so I just want to apologize if anyone else that has seen this post if they got a sensory disorder episode from some of the images
Eagle Girl 3 years ago
I wish there was a way to save Panda Posts. I have tears streaming down my face from first the pix then the comments. GOOD SHOW PANDAS!!!!
Eleni Aggeliki 3 years ago
I'm redesigning my kitchen and this has given me nightmares. All the things that can go wrong...
Jill Bussey 3 years ago
So many of these all I can think is "how do you keep this clean?" Carpet in the toilet? On the walls?
Irene Carlyle 3 years ago
I found this so depressing i could look past #27--yes, some were fuinny, but most were evidence of truly thoughtless, stupid design. God help whoever has to live with these things. Awful!!!
23AClark 3 years ago
Why type of minds could make these designs! Half of them will injure or kill you!
Jeff Diamond 3 years ago
My grandpa was a general contractor back in the 50sthrough the 80s, and he built a ton of homes with carpeted bathrooms. I'll never understand why.
Nubmaeme 3 years ago
What's the idea of having all the steps in bathrooms? Steps have always been my nemesis so those "designs" really stand out to me. It's obvious no one has even considered the possibility of not being able to climb or descend those steps due to an infirmity sometime in their future. Having spent months wearing an immobilizer cast while confined to a wheelchair and later on a walker, those bathrooms give me nightmares.
Koala Kitty 3 years ago
Upvoted. Why would someone down vote your comment?
Load More Replies... Aragorn II Elessar 3 years ago
I better be f*****g high, because Trump supporters did not just storm the f*****g Capitol building and disrupt the vote count.
Octavia Hansen 3 years ago
Looks like a lot of these were made after the fact. Making a separate suite so another bathroom was added, or altering a older kitchen. Still, a good designer would have been money well spent to avoid these eye sores. But they will always be a conversation starter!
Chich 3 years ago
Years ago I worked for a moving company. We moved the first family into a new Townhouse development. The homes were designed so that nothing larger than a double bed could be moved upstairs to the bedrooms. Twisty stairs with enclosed overhangs and windows too small to get anything in from the outside. We tried everything we could think of. They were not happy.
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