How To Make Your Home Look More Expensive

I know this time of year, we all need as many budget boosters as possible. The holy grail of home design? How to make your home look expensive without spending a fortune. ?  (Or, for my American friends, how to make your home look more expensive on a dime)

I’ve spent years mastering ways to how to make your home look elegant for less and boosting clients decorating pots. Cost-effective home design (that looks anything but) is about knowing clever hacks knowing where to spend and where to save.

Today I wanted to share the many inexpensive ways to give the perception of luxury, a few things that make your home look cheap, and little things that go a long way!

My Number #1 Tip To Make How To Make Your Home Look More Expensive? Scale Up.

Your eyes don’t lie. They love mathematical problems to solve, and your eyes and brain jump in to want to work things out. You will know when a picture looks lost on a gallery wall, when it’s too small and just not sitting proportionally accurate with its surroundings, and it makes you feel a little uneasy and your OCD kicks in a little.

Well, my friend, this is an interior design principle of proportion and scale in action. 

One of the biggest tips I can give to give for how to make your space look more expensive, go big sister. If you’re unsure of the size of something, scale it up. Scaling up ads adds confidence to a scheme. Impact and a strong statement are how to make your house look expensive on a budget.

If your room feels a little cramped to begin with, and you like to create the perception of roominess, I have an entire post dedicated to faking the square footage, 15 simple ways to make your room look bigger.

Bookmark this post for later. With so many nuggets of pure gold, grab the cheat sheet with room-specific options for your bedroom, living room, kitchen, + bathroom below.

Let’s jump in. What makes a house feel luxurious? You don’t have to splash the cash! Here are 23 ways to make your home look expensive on a budget.

4 Window Treatments Hacks To Make Your Home Look More Expensive 

1 – Double Up Your Window Treatments

Double up your window treatments (increase the width by 1.5, 2 or 2.5 x the width of the window), without the need to go custom. You could head to Ikea, but double up and use two panels per stack back, and this will increase the curtains volume and make your home look expensive on a budget.

2 – Hang them wide + High!

Hanging your curtains high increases the perception of how high the ceiling is, and positioning them broader than the window will increase the perception of width, making your space look and feel bigger and more impactful. 

3 – Go Full Length

Full-length curtains make a space feel more high-end, polished and luxurious. Puddling curtains on the floor can also be an elegant touch. We usually add 5 inches max to the finished length, but it depends on the desired look, it could be a little less.

4 – Layer Up

Layer your window treatments. I love layering up floor-to-ceiling window treatments. Here are the steps to create a layered look:

• Recess fit a roller blind so that it’s hidden. 
• Purchase a double pole, I love Bradley poles for effortless chic.
• Hang two Ikea panels on one pole for your main curtains
• Hang a wide width non-directional voile (say up to 280 wide that you can run horizontally without the need for joins i.e. railroaded)
• Et voila, a high-end elegant layered look without the custom layered-up price tag

18 Accessories, Fabrics and Finishes

1 – A Little High End Goes A Long Way

Use high-end materials where you can. Think about marble, antique gold, leather, crystal, or solid wood. They all bring to mind the feeling of luxury and are a great addition in small quantities. A little goes a long way.

2 – Voluptuous Velvet

Use luxurious velvets for upholstery and soft furnishings. Velvet is known for its smooth texture and elegant look. Velvets made with synthetic materials (instead of natural silk or cotton) are generally relatively inexpensive and more durable.

Many companies are introducing intelligent velvets designed to resist liquids, crushes, and marks, which can often adversely affect shine and lustre. The design style is essential here. I prefer flat velvets over crushed velvets for timeless elegance. Classic never dates, whereas trends do. Crushed velvet is a trend, not a classic.

3 – Mix Up The Materials

Whilst I’m on the subject of fabrics, an easy way to add an extra dimension to your space is to think about mixing up your textiles. Using the same materials for your headboard, curtains and occasional seating will make your space feel flat and uninteresting. Struggling with texture? Click here to get 7 ways to add more texture to your home.

4 – Definitely Down

Always use down-filled cushion inners rather than polyester. They are easier to style and won’t flatten like polyester inners—karate chops ready for a styled cushion.

5 – Go Vintage

Buy a vintage rug and make your space look so chic. Adding a period piece like this to a room adds an instant elegance and ups the expense factor over a more contemporary graphic motif or patterned rug, a remarkable statement.

6 – Classic + Timeless

Stick to classic designs such as a geometrically precise Herringbone pattern. It is often seen in floorings such as Parquet or LVT or used as a laying pattern in tiles and splashbacks, and it is an elegant and timeless addition to a space.

7 – A Neutral Base

Create a neutral base. Using an all-neutral colour scheme in your home is classy and sophisticated, allowing your design choices to take centre stage and have more impact. Less is often more.

8 – Muted Maven

If you’re opting for colour in your home, use muted colour combinations. Muted colour combinations are more subtle and less shouty than bright, vivid and saturated colour combos. We all know that subtle is more sophisticated than shouty.

My favourite paint brands for sublime sophistication are Little Greene Paint Company and Farrow and Ball Paint colours.

If you’re looking for the perfect grey try Cornforth White Farrow and Ball, or for deeper darker shades look at Farrow and Ball Hague Blue or Farrow and Ball Railings.

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9 – Convincing Custom

Rather than contrasting items against your walls, match items to your wall colour for a custom look and feel. Think bookcases or radiators making them disappear or feel as though they’re part of the wall adds a considered and custom feel, upping the feeling of expense.

My favourite made-to-measure furniture company without the custom price tag is Jali.co.uk

10 – Work The Walls

A great way to make your room feel more expensive is to try and make your eyes travel up the walls. Using wall art, hangings, and macrame all will help to give the room a little height and the overall finished feel of the space.

11 – Make Your Home Look More Expensive By Supersizing

On the subject of art, if in doubt, go large. You can do this by supersizing your pieces of art or supersizing the frame and mounting. This will make your artwork feel high-end and important.

12 – How To Make Your Home Look Expensive With Decorative Moulding

Add cornice and decorative moulding to a space is instant grandeur and make a room look more luxurious. If plaster cornice and moulding is blowing the budget, think about Orac® Lightweight, Polyurethane cornice and decorative moulding, we love WM Boyle. (and Home Design Vault members can grab trade savings here and at hundreds of other suppliers).

13 – Make Your Home Look More Expensive With Perfect Panelling

Add moulding or decorative wood trim. A design trend all of its own, floor-to-ceiling panelling. Decorative moulding or wood trim can be used to add a little interest and sophistication to your walls. All the rage at the moment and an interiors trend to watch for 2022.

14 – Seductive Scent

Involve all your senses in the room and select a luxurious scent. Scent powerfully affects the ambience and mood of any space and can instantly transport you to any destination. Reeds, diffusers, candles, and essential oils are all fabulous choices.

15 – Go Green

Add flowers + greenery. No room is ever complete without something to feed. Want to stretch the budget? Separate a shop-bought bouquet and create several small arrangements to dot around your home. A careful choice of slim neck vases can maximise the impact of your bouquet and have a huge effect on your home.

Take thrifting one step further and head into your garden for foliage and green appeal.

16 – Make Your Home Look More Expensive Layer Up Your Lighting

Want to add ambience and sophistication? Then think about all your lighting sources. Don’t rely on a single lighting source in your spaces; you need ambient, task, and accent.

A good rule of thumb is to aim for around 5 – 7 types in each room, covering the three categories. Looking for affordable lighting ideas? Click here for 7 of our favourites.

17 – Clear The Clutter

Clutter creates chaos. Pare down your possessions to up the elegance in your home, make your home look more classic chic. A few chic, quality pieces will make your space look more elevated.

Struggling with your clear the clutter crusade? Click here to let me help.

18 – Fake With Faux

Choose wallcoverings (bold patterns or textures), and want to elevate further? Choose all walls. If your budget doesn’t stretch to natural grasscloth or silk, there are so many gorgeous faux vinyl alternatives to feast your eyes on. Here are some of my favourites: