Architect's TOP 10 Living Room Design Mistakes

@bellroy_official

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⏱️ Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
0:20 1. Impatience
2:45 2. Myopia
5:10 3. Open Plan
7:14 4. Rugs
9:19 5. Lights
11:04 6. Windows
13:08 7. Shelves
14:27 8. Fabrics
16:00 9. Comfort
18:44 10. Hard Surfaces
20:35 EDC

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Disclaimer:
This is not design advice, nor can I give you design advice. Everything in this video is conceptual and is for entertainment purposes only and not for the purpose of providing design advice. Nothing in this video should be construed to form an architect client relationship. You should contact your own architect to obtain advice regarding any particular project. When hacking furniture, you do so at your own risk. Some of links shown are affiliate links that provide me a small commission to help support the channel. This video was sponsored by Bellroy.

[AlphaGeekgirl]

Two complete renovations and both times I have done "Slow Design" and am SOOOO HAPPY that I did.
I spent many a night just looking around my almost empty room trying to imagine what would be perfect where.
I have masking tape on my walls to mark out kitchen cabinets, side tables etc. And to build bulk I use empty cardboard boxes. (I currently have a mockup of a bookcase / room divider just to see whether it will fit properly and whether I will run into it by accident.
Once I make up my mind, I then use my 3D skills to model and render out my room and then I just sit on it and let it seep in.
(Despite looking at hundreds of pieces of furniture over the past year, I couldn't find a sideboard that perfectly fitted my awkward space, so I sent my 3-D render to a cabinet maker and he made one for me, and it looks exactly like my render)
My friends feel sorry for me that I haven't yet completed everything in a few days like they do on those makeover TV shows. But I am very patient.
Thoughtful design will make you incredibly happy with the end result. I highly recommend it.

[tokyodrifttt]

Hey Daniel! Long term fan here. Just a little bit of feedback: a while ago, you started adding different effects and humor and talked more like yourself. It was a really great direction and made the videos more interesting. This type of video is reverting back to your old style and although it’s professional, becomes quite monotonous and sounds like a lecture. Each sentence has the same intonation and sounds like reading off a script. These tips have been done to death and videos focusing on new ideas, styles, critiquing/admiring a room, redesigning other peoples rooms were much more interesting concepts imo. Thank you and looking forward to future uploads!

[cosmosnomad]

Slow design: Literally what I've been planning to do. I feel like my design sense has difficulty putting pieces together that I don't have some familiarity with so I was planning to start with the bare basics where I can and build from there. So, in a living room from a sofa and probably a TV.

[suzannecarter]

I wanted a midcentury modern vibe but didn't have a ton of money for Design Within Reach. I was super surprised to find that I could get knockoffs of absolutely everything I wanted from Amazon (sure, I would have preferred Herman Miller) with free delivery. The results were stunning and people's jaws drop when they see my living room (in a good way). I like the painter's tape low-tech trick. The hard part is forcing yourself to give away the stuff you already have that doesn't work.

[coral_pine]

I don’t know if this is applicable to other countries, but my mother gave me a great tip for buying carpets: go away from the decorating section where finished decorative carpets are displayed and go to rolls of carpeting in building and renovation shop - massive rolls that are cut for your needs and that are usually bought for offices and such. It will be an extremely cheaper option (especially if you need like 3x4 meters or so) and:
1) you can buy several of different dimensions for different zones in the room
2) they are made to be in heavy use so they will serve you for a time
3) if something happens to them or if you are renovating and they don’t go well in the room anymore - you can just replace them on account of how cheap they are!

[wanaan]

Movable TV stand is underrated. Most people like to wall-mount things because it looks neat. I put everything on wheels so I only need 1 TV and 1 desktop PC for the entire house. It's way cheaper and you have much greater freedom to move things at a later date.

[frozenwintershitty]

Nr 11 Design Mistake for People who like Color: Don't be afraid to add them. If you feel like you're conforming to the beige / gray / wood / white Spa-aesthetic take a step back and let some colors into your home. Daniels Livingroom looks nice, but also interchangeable because (IMO) it lacks color and also personality, it's calming but also boring.
N 12 Design Mistake: Hiding everything that makes a living room feel "lived in" and "alive".

[ingridbirchellhughes]

Love your channel, and you have such an eye for line and space. I'm curious about your relationship with colour as you gravitate to monochrome a lot. Do you think it's possible to preserve a sense of space while playing with deeper colours?

[deebus]

Cutting out a cardboard layout of furniture helps with placement and freely moving it around to see how you would like the layout to be

[solidstate]

I have put ceiling curtain rails in front of my wall shelves.
So I have the advantages of wall shelves (no legs where my long hair gets stuck and create a hassle to clean, any time can be variated in height when other needs occur, cheap to install, easy to adjust to the right dimensions of a wall while still having hidden storage.
And since I don't like rugs due to their lack of sanitary, the curtains absorb noises.
And when I'm sick of my colour scheme, I can pretty inexpensively replace the curtains.
I even have a curtain with one of my favourite pictures printed on making it a focal point without the dusting that is usually involved.

[jonathonsayre]

2:43 that bong on that persons table next to the tv lmfao

[DeadDancers]

I used butchers paper, cut and taped into the shape and size of the furniture so I could move it around and try different configurations. Not perfect (very flat) but good.

[steelcrown]

My take-aways from this are confirming the wabi-sabi idea in my own mind (never had the term explained before; I just always think "what will it look like in three years?), and confirming my utter hatred of sofas with high backs and arms. Seeing you sit with your arm resting on the back of the sofa as you talked to camera reminded me how uncomfortable I get sitting in the middle of a high-backed sofa like a Chesterfield.

[carolhathaway]

Fabulous video, thank you! Wow, a free temporary dining chair solution -- what a find. More please.

[bill]

Daniel hit it out of the park with this one 👏

[solidstate]

I love my static adhesive frostic glass foil. Maximum light, no views from the outside possible, not even at night.

[terrirau]

Just moved and definitely mocked up with painters tape, and then boxes, as my boxes arrived before furniture, to get an accurate sense of bulk, not just measurements.

[Griseldakk]

Just a thought for those who like recliners - an ottoman will never be as good and you will regret going in this direction - just note they are now making amazing and stylish recliners that do not look bulky - and you can have a recliner chair or two without committing to the entire set

[ShannaTrenholm]

Design mistake #1: karate-chopping throw pillows. No pillow deserves that :)

[DeadDancers]

I’m surprised you didn’t mention IKEA billy oxberg glass door bookshelves. You can get them with glass, half glass half wood or all wood doors, for dust-free display with ‘cram the stuff in out of sight’ sections as needed.