8 Simple Tricks to Make Your Home Look More Expensive

There are plenty of ways to make your home look more expensive without breaking your budget. It all comes down to style. Style is not about money. It’s about attaining, and applying the knowledge of basic design principles and using those to shop wisely.

So, why make your home look more expensive? It feels amazing to live in a home that feels well-put-together, but it’s also a great way to increase your home’s value if you are thinking of selling up any time soon. And, as you already know from reading my monthly market reports, home prices are coming down. This means you need to put in a little extra effort to squeeze every possible dime out of those offers that come your way.

WHAT MAKES A HOME LOOK MORE EXPENSIVE?

Actually, let’s look at the things that make your home look less expensive. Starting with – clutter. Clutter makes spaces look smaller, chaotic, and stressful. All things we don’t want, especially if you’re about to put your home on the market. De-cluttering your home ensures you are starting with a clean slate. That’s why every interior design and real estate project should start with a de-clutter.

After that, the key is to choose materials wisely. Obviously you want to avoid anything that looks and feels cheap.  But that doesn’t mean you should run away from the dollar store just yet. It’s more about styling and less about cost.

Here are 8 simple tricks to make your home look more expensive:

USE A NEUTRAL BASE

A great way to ensure you’re in keeping with the luxury look is to make sure your large, base pieces are neutral-toned. A fresh coat of paint can go a long way when you choose off-white, cream, taupe, and greige tones. The goal is to use neutral furniture and then bring in accessories and textiles for pattern and colour.

This will even save you money in the long run – it’s much more cost-effective to swap out throw pillows, blankets, prints and even rugs, rather than buy new sofas and furniture every couple of years.

ADD MOLDING OR PANELING

Neutral doesn’t mean boring. But if you’re concerned about that you can add some texture and dimension with some molding. Add narrow strips for a picture-framed look, or crown molding for a more traditional look.

INCORPORATE LUXURY MATERIALS

Accessorizing with pieces made from luxury materials is a fantastic way to make your home look more expensive without breaking the bank. Pieces like a marble tray on a coffee table, or crystal decanters for your bar set up. Perhaps a suede accent pillow, or a chenille throw blanket.

MIX TEXTURES

When you add different textures to a room you create a custom (aka expensive) look. Opposites attract here, so complement your décor with both warm and cold, hard and soft aesthetics. For example; mix silk with velvet, and metal with wood.

KEEP WIRES OUT OF VIEW

We live in a technological world and there are wires everywhere! And if your home is on the older side you probably don’t have as many outlets in your blueprint, because our consumption of technology didn’t exist on the scale it does today. Your solution? You resort to power bars and extension cables. There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with that. But to achieve an expensive looking home it’s essential that this visual clutter is reduced as much as possible (because even the most elegantly designed room can be downgraded by a tangle of stray cables).

ADD PLANTS AND FRESH CUT FLOWERS

Not everyone has a green thumb, so if you go the faux route do so with caution. Achieving a high end look with faux plants should not be approached with a small budget (stay away from the dollar store). Opt for high quality pieces; these are the ones that almost look real.

Fresh is best, especially if you’re selling your home. Fresh flowers in your kitchen or entryway can make the word of difference at showings and open houses. 

WINDOW TREATMENTS

Curtains and drapes really make a space look finished. Hang floor-to-ceiling drapes to create a sense of luxury. This can be achieved easily by hanging your curtain rod high; this adds to the illusion of a high ceiling, which is associated with luxury homes. Go high, and go wide, using a generous amount of fabric to create lots of folds.

Roman shades or beautiful woven blinds are excellent alternatives to short curtains. Just no plastic or flimsy metal blinds with kinks in them, ok?

DON’T OVERLOOK THE DETAILS

What makes a luxury or boutique hotel stand out? Their attention to detail. Your home is no different. Finishing touches are a great way to instantly make your home look and feel more expensive. Door handles, light switches, and sockets are all commonly overlooked elements that can pull an entire design scheme together. The key to creating a harmonious look is to ensure that your sockets and switches are in the same finish and material throughout your entire home.

FINAL THOUGHTS

While there are many reasons why homeowners decide to take on home improvement projects, it mostly boils down to adding value to a home. But for some, spending an extravagant amount of money on home projects just isn’t a reality. However, with the tips you’ve picked up from this post you should be able to transform any space with smaller-scale changes that will make your home look more expensive.