We are all flawed, but social media has a way of making you think that some peoplecelebrities and influencers to be specificjust woke up to a perfectly curated life. But everybody makes mistakes along the way, including them! Besides, you cant distinguish a green flag from a red flag without a little trial and error.While I dont have too many design regrets, there are a few impulsive purchases from recent memory that I probably should have thought twice about before swiping my card. For instance, a fake Murano mushroom lamp (ignorance is bliss), a postmodern lacquer laminate waterfall credenza (I was going through a PoMo phase), a vintage Eames shell chair (midcentury modern just isnt my style), miscellaneous pink depression glass (I grew out of this very quickly), and a pair of vintage brass dining chairs (Im a chrome purist). Most of these items have since been rehomed, but some are collecting dust in the garage of my childhood home in New Jersey.Obviously, Im not the only one. So, I spoke with 18 design influencers, tastemakers, and creators about all the mistakes theyve made in the process of finding their groove in the realm of interiors. Unsurprisingly, their most common regret is not buying certain vintage pieces when they had the chance, but there are much bigger lessons to be learned.Theres no substitute for good lightingLighting is everything. According to design researcher Alyse Archer-Coite, there is no shortcut to getting lighting correct. Shannon Maldonado, creative director and founder of Yowie, admits that this is her greatest weakness in terms of execution and logistics. Lighting has to be right whether its natural or whether youre installing lighting [fixtures], she insists. Theres no substitute for good lightingeven an ugly room can be well lit and look good. Lighting has been a crash course for Dani Klari too. The Miami-based interior decorator and content creator does not tread lightly about the fact that the lighting in your space will make or break your decor. Lately, shes been enjoying experimenting with ambient lighting and swears that shell only consider overhead lighting if all the lightbulbs have been changed to 2700K.Curating with no real vision, just vibesFor some, it might be hard to believe that Orion Carloto has ever been influenced by outside forces because her personal aesthetic is so strong. But the Los Angeles-based writer, poet, and curator wont deny the impact that Tumblr had on her as a teenager while living in a small town in Georgia. At the time, I was seeing these beautiful spaces online and wanting to almost replicate them, she says. When the time came to move from her parents house to Atlanta with roommates, Carloto was inspired to paint a black accent wall that would eventually become a gallery wall. Ive looked back at those photos since and I wouldnt necessarily do things the same way, but all of these moments of me that still exist would exist in a different form [today], she says.Shea McGee remembers how she and her husband would spend their weekends thrifting and crafting everything in the small one-bedroom apartment they shared in Southern California. We didnt have a lot of money to spend but I did the best I could by repurposing, refinishing, and getting creative, she says. Looking back, some of the choices I made are comical, but the process of making a house a home with very little budget was one of my first major design lessons. Vivid Wu recalls how she and her husband made a series of mistakes when they first moved into their San Francisco loft because they lacked a clear vision and aesthetic for our homethe most glaring might be how overboard she went with the wiggle trend, not that the content creator regrets buying her Curvy mirror (as seen in the homes of Olivia Rodrigo, Demi Lovato, Maxine Wylde, and more).So what is your POV? Reese Blutstein, a Georgia-based content creator, notes that being very, very specific with your vision is especially important when working with contractors on home renovation projects. Most contractors are just going to assume things because thats how theyve always done it, she explains in an email. You have to be very communicative with exactly what you want.AD100 designer Jake Arnold cant stress this enough, noting that every single thing, you have to make sure that you clarify because youll leave so much up to interpretation but also with time you get the benefit of working with people who understand what your expectations are. Portland-based interior designer Tiffany Thompson also emphasizes the importance of figuring out your why and doing what works best for you. Embrace the value of uniqueness and having a distinct perspectiveit holds more worth than blending in with the crowd, she writes in an email. Lean into your individuality and welcome diversity in design.Not having a sense of scaleIn a world where girl math reigns supreme, the chances of getting your measurements wrong are high. Archer-Coite is guilty of making countless purchases without taking measurements beforehand. For example, she once bought a shovel as an art piece and after driving all the way to the end of the earth in New Jersey to collect her prize, it was almost too big to fit into the car. Now, the wall space in Archer-Coites office is solely dedicated to the shovel because it cannot stand upright in the whole house. (The shed in her yard is now home for all of her failed interior design choices and missed measurements like a dining table and two chairs that were the wrong size and a rug that was too short.)Most PopularCulture + Lifestyle11 Beautiful Island Hotels That Are the Height of LuxuryBy Kathryn RomeynHomes + Decor35 Soulful Rustic Kitchen Ideas Youll Want to CopyBy Kate JerdeCulture + LifestyleThe 29 Most Incredible Overwater Bungalows in the WorldBy Kathryn RomeynKlari agrees that precise measurements are integral to the success of any interior design project. Even one inch can have a significant impact on the overall layout and functionality of a space, she writes in an email. Nothing feels worse than ordering an item that cant be returned and realizing your measurements were off by a few inches after it arrives.When New York-based interior designer Madelynn Hudson was renovating her previous apartment in LA, she bought a chandelier on Etsy that was supposed to be the perfect statement piece for her dining room. I was like, This is going to be so beautiful, she recalls. It arrived, I had an electrician come install it, I hung up all the little glass beads that go on the chandelier, and I was like, Shit, its way too small for this room. And it was just because I didnt take into account proportion and I didnt measure.Arnold points out that scale is a very visual thing, so its easy for anyone to mess up no matter their level of design experience. Theres something about being able to see a measurement, and then in your mind getting a feel for what that is at a human scale, Archer-Coite adds.Opting out of testing paint swatchesWithout a doubt, one of the worst mistakes you can make is getting a bad paint job. There was a monthslong period where Hudson was living with paint swatches on the walls of her house. I want to make sure that I really love the colors Im picking and see them through a season, she says. Arnold cant stress the importance of understanding paint enough. My biggest mistake is Ive painted my whole space white thinking it was a bright white, and it ends up being a pinky peachy tone because the light changed so much during the day, he explains. Ive done that for a whole house before, where you think that you are committing to something thats so neutral and then these white walls end up looking blue or pink or yellow. Paint is one of the hardest things to master. Eny Lee Parker has also fumbled with paint in the past. One time I painted a wall in random brush strokes and that was awful, she adds. I lived with that for so long because I didnt want to paint it black Its not my proudest moment.Beware of bouclRemember the surge of boucl during the pandemic? Or perhaps youre trying to claim temporary amnesia and forget that it ever happened. Arnold claims that white boucl furniture is probably the trendiest thing hes ever done. When that trend started, it was something people felt was that one unique thing they had in the space that did feel a little more customuntil it became so generic, then I was like, I have to get rid of this, he says. Ill still use boucl, but its just the [white] colorwe cant cancel the whole of boucl, theres many variations of it!Most PopularCulture + Lifestyle11 Beautiful Island Hotels That Are the Height of LuxuryBy Kathryn RomeynHomes + Decor35 Soulful Rustic Kitchen Ideas Youll Want to CopyBy Kate JerdeCulture + LifestyleThe 29 Most Incredible Overwater Bungalows in the WorldBy Kathryn RomeynMaldonado is so put off by boucl in general that she vows to never use it again (unless a client absolutely insists). It loves denim, in a bad way, she explains. Anyone with jeans sitting on a boucl piece weve used in the past, it instantly gets stained... It is definitely not my first choice in fabrication. So if you must, do a boucl blanket but maybe skip the boucl couch.Replica overloadYoure often advised to fake it til you make it, but thats never a good principle to live by in the design world. Now that we seemingly feed into a culture that supports the production of dupes, knockoffs, and fast furniture, theres never been a more critical time to take a step back and reassess your why. Sometimes, you want a couch to just be a really good couch, and it doesnt have to be the statement sofa, says Madelynn Hudson. It can just be a really comfortable, really great sofa that stays clean. Bethany Brill of Teddy Studio admits that its still hard for her to spend money on expensive things, but anytime shes tried to make a knockoff work it simply hasnt. Sometimes its just better to wait until you can get the exact thing you want instead of buying two or three cheap things trying to get it to work, she says.Some items look so good when styled in a photo but dont always have the same effect once you see them in person. If theres an opportunity to try something before you buy it, Maldonado highly recommends ordering product samples to avoid spending missteps. Carloto has also fallen victim to being influenced to want what other people have, especially in her early 20s when she moved to LA. For a very long time, a lot of it was just me replicating things until I had to outgrow the want to do that, she explains. Because then youre left with this sterile cookie cutter spacein the online world its like, Okay, you and everyone else has that.Trying to be trendyIn this day and age, trends are seemingly unavoidable. Like anyone who is chronically online, Molly Blutstein finds a lot of inspiration on the internet (along with design books). The Georgia-based content creator deeply regrets buying things that are too trendyfrom her curved sofa in a boucl fabric to the burl wood pieces and a small chrome lamp that felt too cold for what I wanted to achieve, shes got a pretty long list of regrets. Dont try to subscribe to a trend or try to follow just one specific style, Molly writes in an email. Lead with your full heart on each decision. Think about what really makes you happy and what things you deeply love, and more often than not, you wont regret it.Most PopularCulture + Lifestyle11 Beautiful Island Hotels That Are the Height of LuxuryBy Kathryn RomeynHomes + Decor35 Soulful Rustic Kitchen Ideas Youll Want to CopyBy Kate JerdeCulture + LifestyleThe 29 Most Incredible Overwater Bungalows in the WorldBy Kathryn RomeynKellie Brown, host of Home Decor Homies, notes that trends are cyclical so something in your house is bound to become a trend and that doesnt make it badbut if youre looking at a trend and trying to cut and paste that into your home, thats when it kind of goes south. A good rule of thumb for Carloto is waiting to see if a design trend gets picked up by DIYers and is suddenly all over TikTok, which urges her to stay as far away from that. She adds, I dont want to downplay the beauty of a trend, but I also dont want to be a victim of following every trend.McGee admits that there was a time in her career where she used trend-focused pieces, but now she tries to choose more classic pieces that will get better with age. Now that Reese is older, she finds herself more interested in classic design elementsshes particularly intrigued by Shaker style. Overall, I am trying not to source things that I know are just in style right now, because thats how you end up selling all your furniture when youre ready to move. Speaking of reselling things, this is exactly what happened to Vivid Wu when she desperately needed dining chairsthe creative consultant opted for the popular Cesca chair, but once the vintage set that she ordered arrived it just wasnt a match. We really love them, but they just didnt work out in our home, she adds.Focusing on the wrong featuresCarloto currently lives in a midcentury modernstyle home with bones that are very angular so shes been trying to consider shapes that will make more sense in the space. I feel like the space has to do the talking and then you do the listening, she says while reflecting on pieces she previously bought that dont seem to be working now. Arnold sees many people fall into the trap of trying to recreate something that is completely different from what actually works for a space. His advice for solving this design dilemma? Work with what youve got and make it the best you can. When given the option as a renter, he prefers older historic buildings because theyre often easier to furnish. Sometimes when youre stuck with such specific ceiling heights, materials That has definitely informed the direction that I went in [when house/apartment hunting], he adds.Most PopularCulture + Lifestyle11 Beautiful Island Hotels That Are the Height of LuxuryBy Kathryn RomeynHomes + Decor35 Soulful Rustic Kitchen Ideas Youll Want to CopyBy Kate JerdeCulture + LifestyleThe 29 Most Incredible Overwater Bungalows in the WorldBy Kathryn RomeynBrown is also happy to preach the gospel of renter-friendly solutions. You do have to pay attention to the actual space, she explains. There are tricks and tips that you can do to get a space to bend to your will, but you do have to acknowledge what the space is and what its doing, and let it dictate whats going on. Hudson views being influenced by the architecture in a space as a good thing. Its that evolution of trends and your taste, but also where you live, she says. A brick-wall wood-floored loft space in Minneapolis is going to feel very different than a midcentury house in upstate New York. This is something that Parker has also been having fun with now that she lives between an apartment in Brooklyn and an 1870s farmhouse in Connecticut. Its a completely different vibe, she says. I wouldnt have the same stuff in both spaces; its a very different context.Choosing beauty over comfortWhen Kurt Vonnegut came up with the line everything was beautiful and nothing hurt, he was most definitely not thinking about furniture. The idea of living in a space where I have to be precious about everything I touch stresses me out, says Carloto. I want to lay on my couch and be able to eat something on it. And that being said, obviously there are some pieces in here that are precious, but not everything has to be. Archer-Coite admits that shes always struggled with choosing beauty over comfort when it comes to the seating in her home. I tend to go for [furniture where] everything is hard, small, and tightly woven, she explains. I chose things that I found really beautiful and that are not comfortable or practical. They might be nice to sit on for a bit, but you couldnt sleep over on that. I used to say that was because I didnt want people staying so long and getting too comfortable, but honestly, its just because I have bad taste in furniture.Most PopularCulture + Lifestyle11 Beautiful Island Hotels That Are the Height of LuxuryBy Kathryn RomeynHomes + Decor35 Soulful Rustic Kitchen Ideas Youll Want to CopyBy Kate JerdeCulture + LifestyleThe 29 Most Incredible Overwater Bungalows in the WorldBy Kathryn RomeynAlthough her natural instinct is thrift shopping, Camille Nichelini, co-owner of Resident Objects, acknowledges that its not necessarily the best option for certain pieces of furniture. I tried to do vintage couches, but my last one was not comfy, she says. I finally got a modern sofa that Im going to keep for years and years and years. This is why Nichelini now believes in prioritizing functionality over everything. In some of the earlier places I lived, I sacrificed functionality for the design aspect and it was obnoxious, she says. For example, the content creator once placed a floor mirror in front of a light switch that she needed to use daily. I had to prop up the mirror every time to use the light switch, now Im just like, Girl, thats so stupid.Being too fixated on aestheticsOrion Carloto recalls the many iterations of self that she went through while initially getting settled in Los Angeles, a period that saw her experimenting with a number of design styles. As she continues to decorate the home she now shares with her partner, Carloto claims that shes finally broken through the aesthetic change that I was locked in for so long. As she further explains, Im able to have the freedom to hang up silly photos on the wall. Bringing out this teenage version of myself thats finally able to do what I want to do and not follow this sort of guidebook is the new way to look at interiors for me.Kai Avent-deLeon cringes at the memory of leaning way too hard into MCMa design aesthetic she respects and appreciates, but also views as extremely generic and masculinefor her Brooklyn brownstone during the early stages of her design journey. I had the [arc] lamp and the leather [Eames lounge] chair that everyone had at one point. Looking back, I hate it, she confesses. I think its a cheat code because everything goes together and its so readily and easily available I was such a newcomer when it came to really knowing and understanding design. Now that Avent-deLeon is so far from that type of style, her base-line is working with natural elements and neutral colors. (The entrepreneurs upstate house is a prime example with its modern Shaker sensibilities.) Not looking online so much actually helped with my design aesthetic, Avent-deLeon adds. I dont like anything to look too manufactured or too much effort put into it.Most PopularCulture + Lifestyle11 Beautiful Island Hotels That Are the Height of LuxuryBy Kathryn RomeynHomes + Decor35 Soulful Rustic Kitchen Ideas Youll Want to CopyBy Kate JerdeCulture + LifestyleThe 29 Most Incredible Overwater Bungalows in the WorldBy Kathryn RomeynRight now, AD100 designer Jeremiah Brent is most inspired by contrast and landing somewhere in the middle between design styles and periods. This has been a major breakthrough for Arnold as well, who used to have a very all or nothing approach every time he decorated his own place. Now hes trained his eye to know exactly what to look for from vintage and antiques to contemporary. Its so nice to be able to cherry-pick based on context, like what is the space that youre living in, and how do you make it feel good? Arnolds biggest takeaway from working for Estee Stanley early on in his career was learning how to decorate with flow instead of structure and figuring out what you love. Learning the idea behind making decisions versus coming up with a specific design aesthetic was really important, he adds.Not giving yourself space to evolveDuring the decade that Bethany Brill lived in New York City, she was committed to making each apartment her own. Its always felt integral to my identity that my surroundings reflect something that feels like me at the moment in time, she explains in an email. Sometimes it was angsty, sometimes it was feminine and homeywith each little stage of life, its been part of settling in for me. When McGee reflects on the humble beginnings of her design practice, she cant help but notice how it is characterized by spaces dominated by white. While she still appreciates a bright and airy aesthetic, the interior designer now finds herself gravitating toward rich, earthy tones, a deep sense of nostalgia, and maybe even a little bit of whimsy these days. It is this evolution of expression and inspiration that keeps me loving what I do, she adds.Most PopularCulture + Lifestyle11 Beautiful Island Hotels That Are the Height of LuxuryBy Kathryn RomeynHomes + Decor35 Soulful Rustic Kitchen Ideas Youll Want to CopyBy Kate JerdeCulture + LifestyleThe 29 Most Incredible Overwater Bungalows in the WorldBy Kathryn RomeynMichigan-based designer Sarah Sherman Samuel will never ever forget the unfortunate shade of green that she painted on the walls of her first solo apartment in Miami, but without all that color testing over the years she wouldnt have honed in on the warm and modern aesthetic that she prefers now. Every mistake is a chance to learn, she adds. Hudson firmly believes that by allowing herself to have space to play and change, her taste levels have adapted over time. After maybe the first few apartments in my early 20s, I learned pretty quickly, she says. I learned [how to use] tools like Photoshop and started really easily rendering spaces or putting furniture together so I could really understand what I was doing and take my time to make decisions.Not working with the floor planWhen Tiffany Thompson moved into her first apartment in Miami as an undergrad student at Barry University in the mid-2000s, she was working with a very small budget. Stuck in a long and narrow bedroom with a challenging floor plan, Tiffany was still determined to make the space feel like a reflection of her personality. At the time, she had a vibrant vision of Miami on her mind. In hindsight, I did a horrible job with the floor plan, you had to step over the bed to get to the seating area, she admits. I painted it a warm orange color and paired it with my white IKEA furniture, and a cream couch and desk that I thrifted locally. Hudson points out how the basic rules of design always come into play whether or not you want to follow them. How to lay out a room, and things that you need to have in a room, or certain colors for different roomsthose [rules] are all actually really valid and valuable in terms of a living room layout, she explains. I find that those can be really helpful in terms of understanding and creating a home and a space for yourself.Rug feverWhen you find yourself with a garage full of rolled up rugs, you probably have a big problem on your hands. This is the reality for Alyse Archer-Coite, who purchased one too many rugs on a whim that didnt end up working in the way she hoped. I have always had a real and enduring fear of rugs and choosing the wrong one because they are a pain in the ass to return and theyre expensive, she explains. I tend to miscalculate the size of the room to the rug. Almost every time it comes and Im like, Its taller than I thought, or The orientation is different than I thought, or its way too big. I have yet to strike gold when it comes to rug sizing.Most PopularCulture + Lifestyle11 Beautiful Island Hotels That Are the Height of LuxuryBy Kathryn RomeynHomes + Decor35 Soulful Rustic Kitchen Ideas Youll Want to CopyBy Kate JerdeCulture + LifestyleThe 29 Most Incredible Overwater Bungalows in the WorldBy Kathryn RomeynThis is a triggering topic for Camille Nichelini, who only has herself (and her cats) to blame for ruining one too many rugs. I was never a pet owner before, and I was really optimistic about the things I thought my cats could handle, and they absolutely could not, she says. There goes $1,200. That was a big mistake. I have gone through an embarrassing amount of rugs since I got cats for the first time, and Ive only just now figured out the only thing that works for them is a shag rug where if they tear pieces out of it, you cant notice. If you scroll back through my feed, you can count all the rugs and be like, Where did those go? Theyre destroyed, theyre gone, not salvageable.Not believing bad reviewsAt the age of 24, Dani Klari doesnt have too many regrets just yet. Ive come to appreciate every item and trendy style Ive tried or purchased along my design journey, she explains. Each piece has helped me understand different aesthetics, and also played a vital role in shaping and refining my personal style. But if shes being one hundred percent honest, any pangs of buyers remorse have stemmed from items that she didnt do enough research on and probably ignored the few bad reviews. Its a hard lesson to learn, but Klari cant stress this enough: ALWAYS listen to the reviews, these people are not lying!Lack of impulse controlHudson views the value of restraint and taking a pause before making a decision as a huge lesson to learn, especially regarding purchases. I love restraint, she insists. Restraint and patience is a way of life that is reflected in the way you dress, in the way you parent, and in the way you design your home. Archer-Coite points out that we currently live in a world where we have an obsession with purchasing and getting things quickly which often leads to remorse on the road to resell hell. I see something online and Im like, Thats it, thats what I have to have. And then I never do the due diligence, Archer-Coite says. I have a block when it comes to LiveAuctioneers, I get the high off of the platform and I make dumb decisions.Most PopularCulture + Lifestyle11 Beautiful Island Hotels That Are the Height of LuxuryBy Kathryn RomeynHomes + Decor35 Soulful Rustic Kitchen Ideas Youll Want to CopyBy Kate JerdeCulture + LifestyleThe 29 Most Incredible Overwater Bungalows in the WorldBy Kathryn RomeynThis is also a weakness for Brown who is an impulsive shopper. Im a Sagittarrius, so sometimes I have to express a thing, she adds. Molly views herself as the type of buyer who makes a decision with my whole being, meaning she gets an overwhelming urge and almost panic to buy it because I love it so much, but that doesnt necessarily mean that i