50 Cringeworthy Design Fails That Are So Bad, They’re Funny

The brains behind the Insta page is actually a qualified interior designer. Eric Dillman has a few social media accounts, and a podcast. Dillman got his Bachelor's degree in Interior Design from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. And started his first design account in 2018.

"I was a year into my career and due to being a very inexperienced designer I wasn’t getting the leads I wanted from the firm I was working at. So I decided to market myself and get my own leads," he told Bored Panda during our interview.

The designer said he started by reposting and giving shout-outs to his favorite brands and manufacturers. "After two weeks I hit my first customer from my Instagram account and after that it was full force posting almost everyday. I’ve done everything since, introduced my podcast, and so much more. It has allowed me to level up in my career in a way I didn’t think was possible."

Dillman's podcast “Pro Series with Eric Dillman” sees him interview professionals from the design, construction, and real estate industries, as well as stars from home design television shows.

He set up the the Design Fails Insta page in 2021. "Being in and out of customers homes for years I have seen some very questionable designs and construction. These 'Design Fails' are always a hit topic between design friends and we always share them with each other," said Dillman. "I post these bad designs on the page for other designers to enjoy."

Much like many of the rest of us, Dillman wasn’t expecting the events of 2020. On top of the disaster that was Covid, the content creator had to deal with his Instagram account being hacked. It was a turning point in his journey.

Dillman was working from home in June of 2020, when he got an email saying his orginal account was hacked. He had around 15,000 followers at the time. At first, he thought it was a joke but soon realized the gravity of the situation. After an uphill battle to get his account back, he eventually hired someone to help him.

Dillman said he knew his brand meant something to him. But he didn’t know just how much until he almost lost it. The whole experience made the content creator realize he needed to "up his game" on social media, and pour even more into his passion.

Up until then, he hadn’t really featured on his own podcast. It was merely professionals answering the questions he put to them. Dillman discussed his turning point during an interview with Bold Journey. “Once 2020 came, I knew I needed to put myself more on my content,” he revealed. He decided to turn his podcast into an IGTV show, and released a new episode every few weeks.

“I was lucky enough to have a lot of HGTV stars, and some very high up people in the design industry on in the very early days of this show. At the end of 2021 I had some requests to make this into a podcast given its already in that format,” he said.

Dillman has continued to push himself and branch out. In 2023, he added a second episode of the week called “Off Topic”. As the name suggests, the host talks tackles topics that aren't related to design. In June this year, Dillman hit 100,000 "listens".

He told Bored Panda while he has other interests, he's been obsessed with all things design since he was a child. "It all stems from my parents custom-building the house I grew up in when I was 8. Going to all the showrooms and seeing the house go from ground up just made me fall in love with the industry at a very young age."

The interior designer and content creator describes himself as an introvert. He says social media has helped him come out of his shell. And has given him a much-needed confidence boost. Since his one page showcases design fails, we were curious to know if Dillman has any flops of his own. ​

"I’m a designer who likes to give my professional advice but there are some clients that want it exactly their way," he revealed. "It’s hard to work for those clients cause you know it isn’t functional design but you do it for the client cause it’s their money and space. Those are usually the ones I just doesn't photograph."

So what screams epic design fail to the brains behind this Insta account? "I feel like with home renovation shows being so popular, it has taught people that anyone can do these designs and renovations," said Dillman.

"You can tell when a designer does it, compared to someone who thinks they can do it because they saw someone on tv do it. Most of the time it’s not functional at all, doesn’t go with the rest of the house, or the materials used are completely wrong and aren’t used properly."

But at the end of the day, we should probably still thank those who "think they can do it". If it weren'y for them, we'd never get to enjoy the epic and hilarious design fails featured here.