Shopping Regrets of 2025: Designers Warn Against These 20 Mistakes to Avoid This Year
Designing a home that reflects your personal style can be an exciting journey, but making the wrong choices can lead to regret. To help you steer clear of common pitfalls, we've gathered insights from industry experts on pieces they wish they hadn't bought, along with their suggested alternatives.
Pale, Precious Ottomans
Designers often warn against linen slipcovered ottomans, particularly those in pale colours like oatmeal. These delicate pieces show every footprint, crumb, and pet mark, making them impractical for real life. A better choice would be ottomans in darker performance fabrics or opting for vintage pieces with some patina to hide wear better.
Jade Joyner, principal designer at Metal + Petal, regrets purchasing a pale, linen slipcovered ottoman due to its poor durability and high visibility of dirt.
Futons That Double as Beds
Futons, while versatile, tend to be uncomfortable both as sofas and beds due to thin mattresses and creaky frames. They often fail to provide adequate support for guests or daily use. Designers advise investing in proper sofas and beds rather than futons.
Glass-Top Coffee Tables
While sleek, glass coffee tables show fingerprints and smudges easily and require constant cleaning. They also pose safety risks for children and pets due to sharp edges and breakability. A practical alternative is a wood coffee table or an upholstered ottoman, which combine style with durability and ease of maintenance.
Particle Board Furniture
Affordable as it may be, particle board furniture degrades quickly, especially when exposed to moisture or weight, and often doesn’t survive moves. Designers recommend saving for solid wood furniture, which offers greater longevity and sturdiness.
Impractical Upholstery
Custom upholstery in delicate materials like suede looks beautiful but tends to be unsuitable for homes with pets or heavy use, as it wears out quickly. Designers now prefer performance fabrics or leather for their durability and pet-friendliness.
Custom-Made Rugs and Sterile Garden Furniture
According to one source, custom rugs and very sterile, minimal garden furniture can be regretful purchases. Though no direct alternatives were detailed, the implication is to consider more durable, characterful, or practical outdoor pieces.
Durable and Functional Choices
These insights highlight that durable, stain-resistant, and functional choices often outperform trendy but delicate items. Opting for furniture and decor that combine aesthetic appeal with practicality, such as performance fabric upholstery, vintage or dark-tone ottomans, solid wood furnishings, and wood or upholstered coffee tables, help avoid common regrets among designers.
Quality Over Quantity
Investing in higher quality items, such as solid wood furniture and performance fabrics, may cost more upfront, but they offer greater longevity and sturdiness, saving you money in the long run. For example, Jennifer Jones recommends investing in higher quality teak from products manufactured in the United States.
Sources
- Interior Designers Share the Home Decor Pieces They Regret Buying
- The Home Decor Pieces Designers Regret Buying (and What They’d Buy Instead)
- 10 Home Decor Pieces Designers Regret Buying and What They'd Buy Instead
- For persons looking to invest in garden furniture, it might be wiser to avoid custom-made, very sterile pieces in favor of more durable, characterful, or practical outdoor choices.
- When shopping for home-and-garden items, designers recommend considering the longevity and sturdiness of solid wood furniture over cheaper particle board alternatives.
- Expensive custom upholstery in delicate materials like suede may not be the best choice for homes with pets or heavy use; better alternatives include performance fabrics or leather that offer both durability and a pet-friendly lifestyle.
