Architect's TOP 10 Living Room Design Mistakes

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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.

[@ShannaTrenholm]

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

[@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!

[@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.

[@fwb777]

True that! Best decision ever was to purchase a Japanese stand. Durable and the flexibility to move around my furniture or watch it anywhere! Yeahhh

[@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.

[@MaraMara89]

It is great idea if you don't have much stuff and doesn't end up with not enough storage... I was searching for perfect bookcases a long time, until I was too pissed having my books in cardboard boxes :/ So I have bought cheapest ones I could find - I have them for 2 years now and love them. No boxes anymore ;)

[@Giuseppe_est.2008]

I’ve been slow designing our house for 14yrs now and still haven’t achieve what we like in our space… 😂 slow but sure.

[@carolhathaway5168]

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

[@suzannecarter445]

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.

[@pearlvongpusanachai5942]

Very useful tips. Thank you so much! Love Bellroy too, thanks for introducing the brand.

[@elenavasilieva1400]

That was very useful. Thank you.

[@deidreb5051]

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

[@dkirk5814]

Great ideas, thanks.

[@suedyer1428]

Another great video as always great advice .

[@bill14]

Daniel hit it out of the park with this one 👏

[@drlessismore]

He’s so handsome.

[@steelcrown7130]

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.

[@ingridbirchellhughes2632]

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?

[@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.

[@kristinnelson-patel442]

I used painters’ tape to block out where my new desk would go and whether it would feel too big in our spare bedroom when I converted it into an office a few years ago. It was the first time I had tried that and I’m not looking back. It also let me try different layout options.

[@Jules_Pew]

Ha! I'm moving into a new (old) house soon and am taking all my furniture from my old place with me. I wish I had measured all the items before, but I'm using a programme to sort of figure out where everything goes. Have more square footage, but a couple of rooms are smaller and doors in the wrong place. The doors can be sorted. Making the place cohesive is a bigger challenge with fitting my antique stuff along side more modern stuff and not looking like a second hand furniture shop.

[@tez124]

hey daniel! love the videos. Really like your couch. just wondering where you got it from?

[@sarahrosen4985]

An earlier commenter said it is from Article. Good luck.

[@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.

[@MaraMara89]

IKEA broke my heart (and destroyed my plan for perfect bookcase) when they discontinued Billies in gray-blue ... I ordered 3 of them with glass doors, they came without doors and IKEA couldn't find them in their warehouse. And then they informed me they wont be having them in the future... so I returned those 3 as they were too expensive to use as normal bookcase and I have bought different ones - 4 bookcases with half of it hidden behind sliding door. I bought them from outlet place (that sells the ends of the series of different manufacturers) and payed for 4 of them as much as 1 Billy with glass door costed o.O

[@16demolka]

Thanks for the definition of the rug 😂

[@macm3924]

I'm surprised he didn't go into the history of rugs

[@steffi28x]

Also the way he’s literally like “when the sun goes down we can’t get light from our windows”. Was bro fully scripted by AI? This is such nonsense lmao

[@16demolka]

@@steffi28x yes, I commented before the 30 second explanation of what lamps are for...

[@Dinki-Di]

Daniel was not “defining” a rug, he was explaining the design role that a rug can play in a layout. The purpose of the video is to explain how various designs elements contribute to and interact with a space. Maybe tune your listening and comprehension skills.

[@16demolka]

I like Daniel’a videos but this one in particular felt like he tried to sound very intelligent or sophisticated. And yes, maybe I was harsh when it come to the lights but with the rug I can’t see how it being not fixed is then explained as a specific role in space. Maybe if he talked about trip hazard.

[@mariastathopoulos744]

Your living room furniture and rug were gifted by Article. I remember the video. I criticised how you relied on one retailer to furnish the space. However, the principles presented are a solid foundation for interior design - function and form.

[@7yrbs4pm3fsD6Nseoqe_Dw]

Hi Daniel, where would you recommend shopping for furniture in Vancouver for a small apartment? I like Article, but not everything they sell on the US site is available on their Canadian site... Also it's impossible to find a similar to Article's Solna Atelier Ivory Sofa Bed anywhere (most sofabeds are pull our spring beds...), but i like the design and simplicity of this kind of sofa bed. Thank you!

[@thevahandbook]

A rug really ties the room together. 😉

[@marcguirguis]

Does it matter window size in Vancouver ?!! It's always dark and rainy!!

[@Giuseppe_est.2008]

Hi @DanielTitchener what are those 2x scone lights on living room walls? where did you buy them online (link pls) or store in Vancouver? Is it DIY, if so you have a video of doing it? Thanks!

[@ifell3]

What colour are your walls? Slight off grey?

[@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".

[@exp2745]

Just noticed that your videos aren't on Nebula anymore, so I missed a tonne... Will have to catch up on those, but have to say, I prefer the Nebula experience (your videos fit well with the other content on the platform, plus it just feels better knowing the compensation per view is higher) but can understand that there are likely reasons for leaving.

[@jmi5969]

Ah, sofas, designer's darling and my worst nemesis. I don't watch TV, for almost 30 years. And I can't and won't sit on sofas (OAP health issues). And I could not explain it to the interior designer. That Great Artiste always shoved in a huge corner sofa and an even larger TV (not the good old tube TV, but this novelty flat-screen nonsense) and always forgot to place my ancient Tannoys (each about the size of a refrigerator), anywhere... It was all specced in writing from day one, and he had forgot it all, in each iteration of his masterpiece. There were three or four...

[@amychen2504]

YES on the couch color. I kinda forgot that I have a small boy...

[@CryoCare]

We did this with toilet paper: laid out the sofa area to check we liked it.

[@laurentlegrigeois7959]

Hi Daniel, do you remember where these wall lights are from ?

[@MissBlaubaer]

Hey, pretty sure they are from the Nymane-series from IKEA

[@reignxcv2960]

ngl 13:44 and 13:47 gave me childhood nostalgia

[@KevLaswiss-ek6zt]

You can us AR to see everything in your rooms how it look as its make it look real full size too you can place out everything in a emty room

[@margheritap.1187]

How do you keep your living room toy-free in a small apartment? In my kid's bedroom I can only fit an ikea kura bed.

[@ilikeboringthings9]

Are you sitting comfortably?

[@hereforit2347]

Unfortunately, ceiling lights in sitting rooms are trending. ☹️ I too prefer table and floor lamps and sconces.

[@Jennifer-nz2ss]

How come there's no artwork anywhere!?😊 ok paint something and put it up!

[@aleksandarbrzic8351]

Daniel, you really need to remove yourself from that space, you are cluttering it 😂

[@drlessismore]

But he’s so handsome.

[@aleksandarbrzic8351]

@@drlessismore I agree, so we will have to allow for this one exception 😇

[@qwaqwa1960]

You need to pay Ikea royalties ;-) Or...vice versa?!

[@nym49]

Those misaligned conduits attempting to hide the wall light cables, tho 😅

[@steelcrown7130]

He did say "rent" - makes things difficult to embed into a wall, no?

[@deersakamoto2167]

Look into "furniture free living" - just like other modern "comfort maximizers" like fast food and shoes with heavily cushioned soles, our furniture often makes us stay in one place, without any movements, for a prolonged period of time and it may be harming our health

[@Silvio67]

i wish the Applaryd came in beige

[@bmmb1414]

In Germany we have.

[@shmoolicious]

Nice video, some great shots, but the stock footage of people watching Netflix... nah.

[@brentm7278]

This guy is so handsome I find it hard to concentrate. :-)

[@steelcrown7130]

He is indeed very handsome but not enough to break my concentration! I find the fun parts are comparing his general rules with my situation and my geography. The comments about sheer curtains and awnings are very amusing in the context of Australia, where (not all in the one house of course) we need deep eaves, awnings, sheers, blockout curtains or plantation shutters to keep the incredibly bright daylight OUT 🙂

[@marylut6077]

@brentm7278 I believe he is married and has a toddler

[@manug1442]

@@marylut6077 Oh dang, guess he can't be handsome anymore 😔

[@adriaba790]

😂😂😂

[@agatajabonska8560]

​@@manug1442😂😂😂

[@hereforit2347]

It’s not a “mistake” per se, but I’m sick of seeing twin (matching) chairs in living and sitting rooms. I don’t know why it’s essentially become de rigueur. Maybe if people broke them up instead of putting them side-by-side. I don’t like them with a table between them even. There’s something about it that’s just too symmetrical; it makes me think of an office. Even professional designers do it. All the time. It doesn’t feel relaxed or homey and even the most formal living room should be.

[@jmk1962]

What a sterile environment he lives in, and I'm an architect as well.

[@Greg.Mika.]

Emphasises wabi-sabi, buys IKEA stuff... 🤔

[@kathyorourke9273]

Where is your art?

[@fwb777]

Art is subjective

[@kathyorourke9273]

@@fwb777 I didn’t ask what it was but where it is.

[@salomeprudhoe5471]

Yeah Daniel try to be less handsome ;-)

[@chickolat]

sorry but those chairs dont fit your apartment...they should have stayed at the side of the road where you found them.

[@sara_387]

They look great. Don't be so rude.

[@dreamchaser4765]

I can never pay attention to what he says as I am totally mesmerised by his looks. He is such an "ideal husband material". Sadly he is married and not Gay. Sigh!!! Uffff!!!

[@bmmb1414]

I like your content, but the videos are way too long.

[@elainebradley8213]

21 min?

[@tomhejda6450]

Sorry, but talking about comfort and not showing any nice sofas with headrests seems incredibly dumb. Excusing that by saying that any comfortable sofa is bulky is particularly unsound. For example, IKEA STRANDMON is a great and comfy chair that isn't bulky _at all_. And if the right size for you is their sofa from the same series, you hit a jackpot. You are able to deliver more. This is disappointing.