On Tuesday, I used the recently listed ‘Nightmare On Elm Street’ property to demonstrate a common design mistake: large, oversized/overscaled furniture weighs down a room’s look and feel. The home’s living room (pictured) is a veritable catalogue of design and decorating flaws, but I only wanted to focus on the biggest offenders (as I saw them); rounding out the top two is misuse/misappropriation/mistake of ‘a pop of color’.

First and foremost, a pop of color should be fun and spontaneous rather than deliberate and predictable, and nothing speaks to deliberation more than matching. Color should also be applied conservatively, in small doses (pillows, candles, cool objects, books, flowers, art) rather than painted on with a big brush. Additionally, consider playing with pattern over solids- bold solids tend to land with a thud. A flat roman shade in a cheeky plaid like this one from Robert Allen would have added a sense of whimsy and style to that room.