Wholeheartedly agree...
...particularly "Resorting to Cliche" - which includes what I call "Greatest Decorating Hits of MCM" and "Decorating with Sets" (Sofa, Loveseat & Chair or Bed, Nightstands & Dresser) - "Fear of Color" and "Inability to Edit (the one I struggle with most)

I could use a little editing myself but I don't consider myself bad, the biggest thing is PUTTING stuff away. :-)

That said, I largely agree with the article and while I sometimes become too much a slave to the MCM style, I love it for it just WORKS if done right and that largely means mixing modern furniture designs from different manufacturers and/or designers, both the low and the high together that is from the era CAN reveal a wonderful, multi layered room in and of itself.

And while are often broken, it HELPS to KNOW them to begin with in order to know WHEN to break them as they are general rules of thumb and there is a reason things like chandeliers are often hung at a certain height, it's found that it's neither too high, nor too low when at a dining table and I find that chandeliers and pendents bring the light down and add layers to the space from a lighting POV. and I'll agree the most on things like the fear of color rule, being a cliche and being a slave to fads and trends, even if it's not you and learning to edit (and it's coralary, placement of objects and collections) in a room as to not invoke clutter.

this probably falls under a few categories but it's so important that I think it deserves its own: Comfort. about 70% of what I see (while beautiful) looks so contrived, staged, & over decorated to a fault. Hard to live in such rooms where the objects themselves become the showcase & the inhabits and the space itself is given short shrift. I mean I love beautiful objects but they shouldn't dominate a space.

hey! I follow them all! (Lately) I never knew. Lack of money has always been my saving grace, otherwise I would live in a modernica DWR store that had been invaded by tchotchkes from Brooklyn at a hipster address. Seriously. I have sinned in my heart. Humor, yes. And a taste for wabe-sabe (important score: a ding-ed up Ikea Lack table FLOOR SAMPLE in a discontinued color, do you know how impossible it IS to talk an Ikea store into DOING THAT?) has been KEY. It is so great to be saved from oneself by economics. Moving is great, a yard sale will tell exactly how not great a bargain hunter you are sometimes. But I did just score a repaired plywood eames chair for 60 smackeroos.

I say keep your place current. the way we have to update our "story" when it actually changes. like the world.

Amazing. Though those are perfectly valid points I do not like any of the rooms associated with them in the articles.

I am currently living in sin (Sin #1 to be exact)! We have been given so many vases, bowls, books, and other stuff since we got married, and my husband feels that it's very rude to just stick a gift in a closet or (gasp) get rid it. I know where he's coming from - but I'm itching to edit. I think it's a must in the next few months!

I wasn't too keen on most of the rooms either. Many of them were perfect examples of fear of color. I did really like the blue epoxy floor and the wonderful flowery hall runner.

I am with timmyjr. I do agree with these points but I feel one should not care so much and live with what you love who cares about rules.
Even though I have a design degree but not a practicing designer I have struggled with making it cozy or looking decorated because I always strived for minimal and pristine.

I have let all that go and finally I my space has come into its own, I guess you do like more comfort as you get older.

I think most all of those photos are contrived and nor interesting. Could not see all of the Safari hates Point and Click.

Emily the Cat don't feel you have to put everything out, store them away and bring out one or two at a time rotate the pieces mixed with the pieces you love..you will be surprised how they might work. If anyone ask just say I am rotating so all the lovely gifts I received will have a chance..no feels will get hurt.

i was sure one of the deadly sins was going to be cow print Ultrasuede..... god those chairs are awful.

hahaha....

I am with Philip, "Lack of money has always been my saving grace, otherwise I would live in a modernica DWR store that had been invaded by tchotchkes from Brooklyn at a hipster address."

Same here...though I wish I didn't have quite so many Ikea pieces....

My "sin" is lack of color. I like the neutral palette. My house has beautiful mahogany paneling (think Eichler) so I am not about to paint the walls. My oriental rug is beige and my sofa is mushroom colored. It works for me - a quiet, serene environment.

What I see as my real sin is actually the reversal of #1. Most of my collections and even paintings are still in storage because I cannot figure out how to felicitously arrange them. I like the negative spaces too much.

"Could not see all of the Safari hates Point and Click."

LoriSF--

Have you downloaded the new Safari update that came out this week?
I had no problem with the MH site on my old iBook today...

Are you usually weary of such lists, or wary of them?

Comfort, practicality, and whatever makes you happy...

Editing (based on this list) would be my weakest point, BUT who but me is to say what or whether I schould edit? I'm happy and comfortable with the level of stuff I have on view, and basically, that comes before whatever "pure and perfect design" might be.

As for unwanted gifts, sell them. If they are useful, but you don't want to have them out all the time, stash them for entertaining or something. If somebody is so sensitive that they are going to be miffed that their taste is not your taste, they aren't such good friends after all... tell them it was stolen when you had your last party!! I would never trust that my choice of (decorative) gift was just what someone wanted, so that I'd be crushed if I never saw it agian, and that's just a practical view.

unwanted gifts... pretend they are part of a travelling show at a museum... have em up for a while, then send them back to the "Louvre" (however you define that, it'll be your secret)

While I prefer casual comfort, I have a hard time calling formality a decorating sin. Some people are simply more formal--in their entertaining and in their aesthetics. As long as it works with the space, I think formal decor can be very appealing.

And I just have to ask: When you say "...usually weary of such lists" do you really mean you're usually tired of rule lists? Because that could make sense here, to a degree. But I get the impression that you maybe mean wary or leary--as in cautious of or on guard against. I'm sorry--I've just been hearing and seeing a lot of people combining wary and leary into a weary.

the biggest SIN of them all?
"Themed rooms" (for adults, that is)
not that there is anything wrong with MY Tuscan family room, my Moroccan den, my spa-like bath room or my gothic chambre del'amour....

Trying to be to Contemporary and Modern. A room that is all white with couches that are so contemporary they look painful to sit in.

" I have a hard time calling formality a decorating sin. Some people are simply more formal--in their entertaining and in their aesthetics. As long as it works with the space, I think formal decor can be very appealing."

I wonder if you might be confusing "Formality" with "Traditionalism"?

I think MH are referring to rarely-used rooms which are decorated for appearance rather than comfort, sets of dishes squirreled away in a china cabinet for "special occasions" that might happen once a year, "Guest Towels", etc...

I can't think of anyone who really likes living like this - or guests who really appreciate it.
(Images of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" come to mind)

Agreed re: decorating with "sets." I hate hate hate going into someone's living room and being able to tell that the tables, lamps, couch, and the pillar candleholders (whyyy are these included in living room sets?) were all intended to coordinate.

I know a lot of people who will go with an empty living room for months until they can save enough (or finish paying off a layaway purchase) to get a "living room set." Really? An empty living room and monthly payments to a crappy furniture store is better than a thrift store couch with a blanket thrown over it while gradually adding and upgrading things?

It's disturbing how many people have gotten so stuck on the idea that a home is required to have a living room set and a bedroom set, like to the point that they only talk about furniture in terms of sets. The other day someone I know told her son "you get your feet off my living room set." I sat there thinking that the kid's feet were on a table, not a set.

None of the examples they've used for "good design" are particularly appealing to me though...

I'm with firebird. I enjoy a lack of color and negative space.

I think I hypothetically agree with all the rules - and I also think I agree that those sterile, angular, white, modern examples violate some of those same rules. No color. Lack of humor. Too formal. Slavishly following a trend. They're just so... well... sterile. Cold. Uninviting. Staged. They look like Hollywood sets, not homes. I don't look around the rooms and think, "Oh, isn't that interesting!"

When I first rented, my only shelter magazine was "Better Homes and Gardens." (Yup. It's the only one I'd ever heard of, growing up!) Eventually, after visiting enough laundromats with special guest magazines, I figured out that I loved a particular style: call it modern industrial urban country, with lots of found objects and lots of color. The thing I love about the look is that you can bring in just about anything you find that you love - even if it violates some rule of hipster design.

I lived through MCM the first time through, and then I lved through the 80s rebellion against MCM. Whatever is in style at the moment will be rejected by the young hipsters of 15 to 20 years hence. ::Shrug:: That's the way of fashion.

So... you've gotta buy things that speak to you - drill into your heart. After 20 years of living on my own, I buy, use, and sell design elements constantly. Most of my stuff comes from yard sales, pseudo-antique stores, and the flea market. (New floor model couch, new mattress: those are inviolable rules.) If I spend $20 on a chair that I love for two years, then find one I love more, I just resell the original on Craigslist.

I think you've gotta leave yourself over to shed old things like you shed skin cells. Spending $5,000 for the latest hip look couch and coffee table sets you up to require yourself to keep them for a long time - when they'll probably be dated within a couple years.

My biggest pet peeves are overly matched furniture (matchy-matchy!) and people who have no sense of scale where the room is either too empty or (more commonly) a small room with furniture that is either too big or has too many pieces with not enough spacing.

Oh yeah, I hate oversized furniture made to fit my fellow avg fat Americans.

I agree with the commenters who are appalled by faux-cow hide fabric and oversized furniture.

I don't personally commit any of those 7 sins, except maybe falling behind on editing. No cheers for me though, mine just wasn't on the list - procrastination (and to a lesser degree, indecision). Dosen't anyone else just procrastinate decorating?

BTW, while I wholeheartedly embrace color, I think painting is oversimplified in its benefits. I love haveing the right color but can't stand the painting of 5 samples, or the painting for that matter. What a pain.

Not listening to a room is probably the most sage advice listed here.

A room will tell you what it needs...which is why the biggest mistake when moving into a new home is to go wild decorating before hearing what your house has to say.

It takes time to get used to your home's features and faults. It takes time to comprehend how the light travels across the room during the day and in different seasons. This makes a huge difference in how color is perceived.

It takes time to get used to new routines in a new home and how each room is used: that has an important effect on designing or decorating for functionality.

So, if I had to list another "deadly sin" it would be: Not taking the time to figure out what you and your room need.

new link http://www.elledecor.com/design-decorate/seven-deadly-sins-of-decorating-a-58102?click=main_sr