Modern Luxury: How To Make Your Home Look Luxurious

Sophistication and elegant comfort are within reach, even if you don’t have the funds for a first-class interior designer. A sumptuous look without the grand price requires a little strategy, some style-savvy, attention to detail, and perhaps some work. In the end, you’ll have an elegant space you can’t wait to show off to neighbors, family, and friends.

 Our interior design and budget-friendly decorating tips and tricks can help you achieve your luxurious home dream.

 There are benefits to creating a more expensive look for your home’s interior space. Not only will you enjoy spending time in your more sumptuous environment, elevating your mood, but having an opulent interior design can increase the resale value should you decide to sell your home.

How to get started

So, how do you turn your mundane space into a fabulous, lavishly appointed oasis worthy of a luxury hotel?

First, start planning which rooms you want to renovate. You may want a luxurious bedroom or a modern, on-trend living room. Doing one room at a time helps you stay focused and organized. While big-money renovations often take place in the kitchen or bathroom, you may want to start with the first room visitors often see: your living room. Take a good look at it, seek inspiration from interior design online spaces or a friend’s decor, and start brainstorming. You may also want to invest in the professional services of an interior designer.

Think about the colors you enjoy having around and assess what color theme you already have. Do the colors you have now uplift your spirits or is your room a mix of unrelated colors? Try to choose colors that spark joy or feelings of relaxation.

Making your home look more luxurious can be a fantastic journey. Below are some tips and advice to help you elevate your space into something you’ll proudly show off to guests.

 Ways to invite luxury into your space

Sometimes, it’s all in the details. While you may be focusing on big things like furniture to change in your rooms, consider giving extra attention to smaller details, like your lighting or bookcase adornments. That tired old lamp? Donate it and buy something more updated. Replace faded plastic wall plates with on-trend metallic ones, upping the opulence in a quick and easy way. Replace ho-hum doorknobs or cabinet hardware with functionally beautiful ones. These are small details but can make a sizable impact in achieving your goal.

Look around each room you plan to renew. Are there some things you can easily replace or upgrade that will change the aura of your room? It may be something as simple as adding an interesting shape like a sculptural element. Here are some other ways you can invite a more luxurious look into your home.

Paint the walls

A fresh coat of paint on your walls can add a rich vibe and set the tone for the space. For a minimal price, you can brighten and transform the look of any room or create a more intimate bedroom space using darker colors. Paint a single wall or the entire room. Gray and crisp white walls are trendy, and you can accessorize later to add color to the space.

Try adding a bold color to one wall of your room while keeping the other walls neutral palette hues like beige, gray, or yellow. Too much of bold color in a room can be overwhelming. Browse online home decor sites for wall colors that speak to your senses and gather some swatches from a home improvement store before you commit to colors. Narrow your color scheme to some of your favorite hues.

Add textures and colors in your decor to accent and contrast your wall colors. Try a contrasting-color armchair or loveseat against the strong-colored wall.

Try a more lively wall color in your kitchen and a subdued, soothing color in your bedroom. Try adding touches of gold and rose gold for luxurious-looking accents.

Light and bright

Homes of distinction usually have a light and bright, expansive look, either through large windows or from strategically placed lighting.

Properly located lighting can bring a bright, clean look to your interior or highlight a particular area of your home. Upgraded lighting can also be a statement piece, tying the room together. Consider investing in a quality chandelier, a hanging entryway light or lamps that bring a rich look to your surroundings. You can change out your older light fixtures or lamps for ones that exude elegance and portray the look you’re going for. If replacing a lamp is not in your budget right now, learn how to measure your lampshade and buy a new, trendy lampshade to freshen the look. 

Textures and textiles

Mix up the textures and materials of your furnishings and accents for a one-of-a-kind look. Don’t be afraid to combine wood, textiles, leather, metals, and glass in your decor. Interior designers recommend grouping objects in odd numbers, like three.

Combine traditional, vintage, and modern furnishings, and re-upholster tired-looking seat cushions with updated fabrics.

Add a new backsplash

Add a touch of elegance to your kitchen or bathroom with a new tile or other material backsplash. Whether you try this as a smaller DIY project or hire a professional to install it, a backsplash adds value and fresh visual appeal to your space. You can add tiles to the walls above your countertop, around your stove, around a window, or all of those areas.

 Whether you use tiles, mesh-backed, or self-adhesive backsplash materials, adding a dash of color or texture is an affordable renovation. Find out the cost to install a backsplash in your area.

Have fun choosing changes for your space

Plan your purchases according to your budget and have fun using some creativity to achieve your personalized, elevated interior. Dream big, but don’t spend more than you’re comfortable spending. Browse thrift or consignment shops and online shops like Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist and OfferUp for lots of great furnishing bargains that you can customize by painting or accessorizing. Here are some more ways you can elevate the look of your home.

Buy a quality piece of furniture

Invest in one statement piece of furniture. Whether it’s a functional yet sophisticated sofa, a vintage armchair, or an antique side table, your piece lends an air of importance. If it’s antique, this adds a rich sense of history and tradition. You can build a focal point around this piece, too.

If you have dinged-up or scratched furniture, think about painting it for an on-trend look. Painting furniture can become a creative and enjoyable way to add color and interest to your interior.

Add molding to walls, cabinets, or windows

Bare walls can become more expensive-looking if you add decorative baseboard molding, ceiling molding, or a chair rail. You don’t need any ornate ceiling medallions painted gold – just a simple molding, even around cabinets or windows, will add elegance. Installing a baseboard can be a weekend do-it-yourself project with a little online research and a trip or two to the home improvement store.

Get clever with curtains

Take a good look at your window treatments. You may have noticed that luxurious homes feature high ceilings and an abundance of natural light. You can mimic this with a few changes. Try longer, sheer curtains that let the light in. Hang drapery hardware and your drapes as high on the ceiling as you can. Installing long, ceiling-to-floor curtains can give the illusion of higher ceilings, drawing your guest’s eyes upward. Shorter drapes amplify shorter ceilings. Hang the drapery rods on either side of the window frame, not directly above.

Opt for sheer curtains instead of heavy, light-blocking ones. Sheer curtains allow the light to filter through but with a softer look, so it’s an airy, warm, and bright ambiance. If your windows and room are small, try installing a good-sized mirror on the opposite wall so the light comes through the window and reflects back into the space.

 Consider adding more window treatment textures and materials by combining floor-skimming, light drapes with blinds.

Wallpaper for a rich look

Elevate the look of your walls by adding textures and patterns. Installing wallpaper or wall panels will open up a world of new options and bring a new depth to the space.

Choose a wallcovering with a lustrous look, a touch of gold color or a metallic sheen for a hint of opulence. Wallpaper has come a long way, with peel and stick varieties that you can put up or remove when you go for a new look. Here are some ideas to update your room with wallpaper.

Kitchen stickers with clean, black and white inscriptions or graphics are an on-trend way to add a creative accent to your walls. You can just peel them off when you change up your decor.

Hide your television and technology

 If you’re going for a more opulent look, hide your television, tech devices, game technology and wires. A big TV front and center brings down the sophistication of your entire space.

Hide the peripheral devices behind a closed cabinet until you need them. If you can’t hide the TV because it’s too big, try mounting it on the wall and making it look like it belongs by building a gallery wall space around it. Hanging framed pieces around the TV adds more interest and the frame of the TV blends with the picture frames. Learn how to mount a TV to a wall. 

Accessorize

You can make inexpensive changes that add a luxurious style to your space. Accessorize with momentos, mirrors, rugs, and framed wall art. Don’t overdo it because the space will look cluttered. Keep it simple and choose your accents with care.

Seek inspiration online or in-home decor magazines and shop around for similar items if you’re on a budget. Discount stores and online yard sales are a fabulous way to pick up trendy accessories for a fraction of new-store prices.

Add a pop of color or interest with a trio of candles, a group of statues, or a few books sandwiched between intriguing bookends. You can personalize your space and still reach that well-appointed look.

 Plush pillows bring a lush look

It’s a simple action, but replacing or adding pillows and sumptuous throw blankets are the perfect way to add an on-trend, welcoming, and luxurious look to your space. Pillows can brighten the look of your drab sofa or chair, adding a pop of color. Or, a neutral-hued pillow can contrast and tone down vibrant upholstery. Change up the fabrics and textures because monotony can kill the energy in your space. Try a metallic-fabric pillow to liven up your space.

Pillows or throws don’t have to be bright primary colors. Try a soft lilac or a subdued, dusty pink. Look for pom-pom dimensional pillows or other soft, comfy textures to add a welcoming feel. Switch pillows out seasonally or to match your mood, injecting a fresh look. Don’t go overboard, though. Too many pillows on your sofa, armchair, or lounge can clutter up the space.

A soft, velvety throw across the back of your sofa not only adds color and texture, but it also lends a welcome, cozy ambiance.

Cast off clutter

Decluttering is one of the fastest ways toward a luxurious look. Cluttered equals chaotic, so if you have too many accessories and decorations on tabletops and bookcases, it looks the opposite of sophisticated.

Remove excess possessions and keep just the favorites. Once you have a more streamlined look of just a few, odd-numbered items in one space, keep the sentimental and cluttering objects like piles of magazines, school paperwork, and bills to a minimum.

Rotate your favorite objects seasonally to keep interest in your space. Toning down the competing colors, textures and objects give those pieces the room to shine in the spotlight, so to speak. If you’re unsure how to go about paring down your belongings, here are some room-by-room tips to declutter your home.

Add a rug

A statement rug can tie a grouping of furniture – or an entire room – together. A well-placed rug can set the stage for the space, whether it’s warm, floral, highly textured, traditional or modern. Go grand if you are investing in a rug for a more luxurious look. You can even add an area rug on top of carpeting to break up monotonous space.

Embrace greenery

Bring living plants into your space for an opulent look. Try a bouquet of flowers from the grocery as a centerpiece for a table in your living room, dining room, or entryway. The cheery colors add a bright look to your space. Even a single stem of a rose or other flower in a slim vase placed on a bookcase can add a luxe accent.

Houseplants can also brighten the look of your room and make it feel more gracious. Plants are also known to lift spirits. Try a vine in a gold tone-trimmed pot on your bookcase or a larger plant in a corner of the room.

Show off your new space

These are some of the ways you can take your home’s interior from okay to fabulous. Creating affluent-looking rooms is an enjoyable, ongoing project, ensuring your home is always ready for your next entertaining venture.