Designer Insight: Celebrity Designer Vern Yip Sheds Light on Avoiding Common Home Décor Pitfalls and Creating a Look You Love

Home décor publications and the media, through forums such as movies and television, can rouse creativity and inspiration for you as you embark on your home décor projects. However, once you have selected the perfect carpet, furniture and accent pieces, you have to pull it together in a coherent and attractive fashion. This is the part that will stump you - once you have what you love, how can you recreate the beautiful rooms you see in magazines and on HGTV without hiring an interior design professional to assist you?

Celebrity designer Vern Yip shares with you some DOs and DON'Ts as you pull your room's look together.

DO bring home samples of carpet, fabrics or pictures of accessories you love and review them in the room you plan to revamp, says Vern. You will see the items in natural daylight, in the dusk and evening and with the lighting you have in the room. This will provide you with a better idea of how each item will work with your existing décor and guide you toward the look you want. Products, styles and colors will always look different in magazines and showrooms than they will in your home. Bringing samples home will help you identify what works and what doesn't, save time and money and possibly point you to carpet, furniture pieces or other accessories that will integrate with your existing home décor.

DON'T feel like you have to stick to one particular style or rigidly replicate a look you've come across in a magazine or through the media. Designing is about identifying your own personal style and incorporating that into your home. You must feel comfortable in your home, and it should reflect your personality. Feel free to mix and match different styles.

DON'T enter a furniture showroom, identify a sofa, chair or table you love and proceed to purchase the entire display. Homeowners do this out of fear of making a mistake in their home décor, but it is the most expensive way to create a cheap look in your home, says Vern. Shop around. Buy a sofa from one retailer; mix it with tables and accessories from another. It will reflect who you are and not the retailer who put the pieces together.

DO challenge yourself to try new concepts and ideas that can add a new dimension to your home décor. Be bold, and step outside of the box.

DO fill your home with the best quality furniture, carpet and accessories you can afford. Take the time and do your research on any potential purchases. Do not sacrifice quality for price. The more educated you are about your choices, the happier you will be down the road, says Vern.

For more design advice from Vern, click here.