How to Make Your Home Look High-End on a Budget
Designing a home isn’t an inexpensive endeavor, but ultimately, the outcomes you tend to want are spaces that look curated and high-end. Have you ever walked into a house, and it just felt expensive? Whether or not it actually is can be the question.
Designers often use tricks and tips to elevate spaces and give them that luxe, high-end appeal, no matter the budget.
The following are a few things you can consider doing.
1. Add Moldings
Decorative molding is one of the least expensive and most impactful ways to give your home or just a single room a high-end facelift. Adding moldings is also a project you can likely do on your own on the weekend.
Adding moldings gives your home a timeless look and can be used to create architectural features where there are none. For example, if you’ve ever seen a relatively plain, boxy room with added moldings, you know what a difference this can make.
Moldings can also draw the eye upward when installed at your ceiling, giving the illusion of higher ceilings.
2. Add an Antique
If your room feels somehow unfinished or unpolished, think about adding a piece of antique furniture. For example, maybe add an antique console table or an antique wardrobe in a living space.
There are a few reasons this makes your home feel more high-end.
First, a room will often feel cheap if all the furniture seems like it matches a little too well or you bought it off a showroom floor. Adding an antique piece is a thoughtful way to make sure you don’t run into this issue.
You’ll also see in professionally designed rooms, there tends to be a lot of mixing and matching and bringing together pieces from different sources and time periods.
There’s something about an antique piece you can’t recreate in an item you buy online or in a big box store. The materials used to make older furnishings were high-quality, and the details were unlike what we see in new furniture.
3. Change Your Light Fixtures
You can relatively easily change out light fixtures or have an electrician come and do it for you. Light fixtures aren’t a huge investment, but they greatly impact a room.
A statement light fixture creates a focal point in a room, and for a pretty low price tag, you can get a big change.
4. Create Interest With Texture
Looking at many design magazines or books, you may feel like the spaces are luxurious, but you can’t put your finger on exactly what it is. Even a simple overall design can get a boost from texture.
Texture creates visual interest, but you can stay within a relatively subdued or neutral color palette.
Incorporate texture by adding rugs, throw pillows, and blankets.
5. Incorporate Curved Lines
Another way to add subtle and chic visual interest in a room is to use curved shapes and lines instead of sticking only with straight lines. You can add curves in the form of a mirror, the legs of your furniture, accessories, lamps, or anywhere.
This is going to give you the depth that can only come from the use of varied shapes.
6. Custom Window Treatments
Custom shades or curtains aren’t the cheapest upgrades you can make, but they can have the biggest overall effect. They’re more affordable than ever, thanks to offerings from online retailers. Custom window treatments help the entire space feel custom, even when it’s not.
7. Use Dimmer Switches On Your Lights
Lighting plays a huge role in how a room is perceived and how you feel when you spend time in it. During the day, natural light is best.
In the evening, when you add dimmer switches to your home, you can lower the lighting to relax and make everything look a little warmer and cozier.
Bright overhead lighting is harsh and makes everything feel cheap and washed out.
8. Accessorize
Finally, even in professionally designed spaces where the goal is simplicity, you’ll still see carefully chosen accessories. A bold accessory can make a statement, replicating the look of a room designed professionally.
