Are you guilty of 'hard decorating'? This is the easy-to-make design mistake interior designers want you to avoid at all costs

Wallpapered snug room set in a loft or attic space with a pitched panelled ceiling and green wallpaper with a large pink velvet couch .

As an interior designer, I have developed a bit of a thing about what I've come to call 'hard decorating' – a term I use to describe a particular kind of overly rigid, formulaic approach to decorating.

This essentially is when there's a forced approach to making interior design decisions, which then creates some type of 'decorating by numbers' awkwardness. It’s what happens when people try too hard to follow interior design trends, replicate looks, or tick all the right boxes, and in doing so, end up with rooms that feel forced or totally soulless.