Gimme Gummy Mistakes to Avoid So It Doesn't Look Cheap

Gimme Gummy decor looks cheap when everything in the room is shiny plastic, brightly colored and the same weight. Balance translucent pieces with solid natural materials, light them softly, watch the scale, keep the palette tight and plan for scratches.

It's very common to buy a gorgeous resin table and then feel the room has turned into a teenager's bedroom. Don't worry, it's fixable. Here are the five mistakes I'd check first.

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Are you using too many synthetic materials?

Resin, lucite, acrylic and high-gloss plastic all read as light and slick. Fill a room with them and nothing feels grounded. Hard, glossy surfaces also bounce sound around, so the room can feel echoey.

The fix is contrast in weight and texture. Pair a translucent piece with something dense and opaque, such as stone, solid wood, wool or heavy linen. The texture absorbs light while the resin reflects it.

• An acrylic coffee table sits better with a bouclé, velvet or heavy linen sofa than with slick leather.
• Put clear furniture on a textured rug. Translucent pieces disappear on bare floors, and the rug defines their footprint.
• Choose matte wall paint to offset glossy furniture.

As an architect, I'd limit gummy pieces to about two per room and keep a solid wood or stone piece within a few feet of each one. A pink resin table next to a honed travertine side table looks like a decision. Pink resin next to more plastic looks like a toy aisle.

How should you light translucent furniture?

Translucent materials refract light, so harsh overhead lighting creates busy shadows and glare on the surface. You want light to pass through the piece and make it glow softly.

• Use warm white bulbs, about 2700K to 3000K. Cool light makes colored resin look clinical.
• Layer lamps at different heights instead of relying on one ceiling fixture.
• Place a diffuse floor lamp with a linen shade behind a translucent chair to backlight the color without glare.
• Skip LED strips directly under or inside furniture unless you want a nightclub.

Direct sun is a second problem. Resin and acrylic can yellow and fade in strong light, so keep pieces away from the hottest window. If you're also thinking about mirrors, note that concave ones can focus sunlight. RMCAD's guide to mirrors in interior design warns that a concave mirror can act like a magnifying lens and concentrate sunlight on one point. Our blob mirror ideas are worth reading with that in mind. See also the lighting mistakes guide.

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Does the scale of inflatable shapes work in your room?

Rounded, bulbous shapes take up more visual volume than linear furniture of the same dimensions. Clear material helps, but the physical footprint is still there, and rounded bases often stick out further than you expect.

• Leave at least 36 inches around bulbous chairs. The usual walkway is 30 to 36 inches, and rounded bases are easy to trip on.
• A usable coffee table is typically 16 to 18 inches high. Many sculptural gummy tables sit lower, which makes them more decorative than practical.
• Keep a side table within a couple of inches of your sofa arm height.
• Avoid pairing chunky, rounded forms with thin, spindly legs. They compete.

If you rent or have a small living room, I recommend using the style in accessories first: a vase, a lamp, a small side table. A big inflated resin chair can swallow a small room.

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Is your color palette too loud?

Gummy colors are saturated: electric blue, candy pink, lime. Used everywhere, they compete and tire the eye. Bright color needs quiet space around it to be noticed.

A modified 60-30-10 split works well. Use about 60 percent neutral background (walls, major upholstery, floor), 30 percent grounding texture (wood, stone, plants, metal) and 10 percent gummy color. For the gummy part, I prefer analogous colors, like pink with orange or blue with green, because they read as a soft gradient.

Don't match the resin to the wall. A blue translucent chair against blue walls looks muddy. Designers call this the figure-ground relationship: as the University of Minnesota's Gestalt principles chapter puts it, we piece the world visually into figure and ground. Give the piece a contrasting backdrop, such as a clear or smoke finish against a saturated wall, so it stands out.

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Will it survive pets and kids?

Resin, acrylic and lucite are soft plastics, and they scratch easily. Dog claws leave fine marks that build into a cloudy haze. Acrylic can also attract static, which draws pet hair and dust.

• Check weight. Hollow or air-filled pieces tip easily, and a big dog's tail can knock over a light side table.
• Look for products that state they are non-toxic, and ask your vet if your pet likes to chew or lick plastic.
• Clean with warm water and mild dish soap. Ammonia-based glass cleaners can damage acrylic, so follow the maker's care instructions.
• A plastic polish kit can buff out light hairline scratches. Deep gouges stay.

For toddlers, rounded forms are kinder than sharp corners, but thin acrylic can crack. Sturdier pieces such as rotomolded polyethylene are easier to wipe down.

A quick finish check

• Run a hand along the seams. Sharp mold lines are a sign of cheap resin; sand gently or return it.
• Add a large leafy plant nearby to contrast with the smooth surface.
• Extend the rug about 12 to 18 inches past the furniture legs.
• Style translucent tables sparingly, since you can see the underside of everything on them.
• Look through the piece from other seats and tidy any cords you can see.

For more ideas, see the chic version of this list, the entryway ideas and the bathroom refresh ideas.

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Frequently asked questions