Do you love spending your time browsing through beautiful homes on Pinterest, Instagram and in home decor magazines? If so, you’ve probably wondered how these looks are achieved, and whether it’s possible for you to get a similar kind of vibe in your own home.
If you’re due a redecoration and want to make sure you get it right, here’s how to go about it!
Invest in the flooring
The flooring is an area that’s so easily overlooked when you’re designing or upgrading a room, but despite the fact that it’s under your feet (and not at your eye line) makes an enormous impact on the room. Warped laminated, peeling vinyl or fraying carpets for example will quickly bring down the look of everything else. Spending a little money here gives you a luxury look and feel that will stand the test of time.
Your best bet downstairs is to choose solid, hard flooring since it can easily be cleaned- things like solid wood, granite, marble or other luxury natural tile will all work well. No worries about muddy feet from kids, guests or pets, unlike carpets these materials wont hold onto stains or smells and will last for decades. You can always put down a few rugs to make it warmer and cosier and divide up the space, replacing rugs every few years will be far cheaper than replacing entire carpets.
Have it professionally decorated
A luxurious home will have smooth walls and clean lines, it’s something the regular DIYer can struggle achieving- especially if the condition of the walls isn’t brilliant to start with. If you’ve invested in luxury real estate or a newer home then everything should already be smooth and ready to go, but if you’re renovating an older house then it’s a job best left to the professionals.
You might have to have a plasterer come in and skim over everything first, and then professional decorators can get that ultra smooth, crisp look. Any wallpaper will be perfectly hung with the pattern properly matched. These little details really do make a big difference overall.
Find the perfect furniture
Your next step is to find furniture to put in the room. You have plenty of options here, you could have a carpenter create you some bespoke or fitted pieces to really bring a touch of luxury to the room. Or you could go with glamorous materials such as mirrored furniture. If you have less to spend you can still get a luxury finish, upcycling can be highly effective. Just use the right techniques, and make sure everything works together. You can use pieces in slightly different styles, but paint them in the same colours using the same techniques and give them all matching hardware. Before buying anything, measure the space you have- too big and the room will look cluttered but too small and things can look a little ‘lost’.
Keep it cohesive
As well as choosing the right furniture, there are other ways you can keep your home looking cohesive. One way is to choose an accent metal, this will be used on things like light switches and plug sockets, door knobs, curtain rails and accessories. You could go with classic silver or brushed silver, you could go with gold, brass or even matt black.
Buy all of these things at the same time where possible so you can see that they all work together. Again, it’s these small details that add up and give a feeling of luxury. They show that a room has been properly thought out and not just thrown together.
Using an accent colour is another way to keep the room cohesive, choose one or two shades that work well together. For example, if your base decor is grey then accents of pastel pink would compliment everything well. If your walls are white, you could choose up to two accent colours- something like yellow and navy work well together or you could go with black and red. Accent colours can be incorporated in things like cushions, curtains, rugs and lamps to bring a little extra personality to the space.
Don’t overlook lighting
Again, lighting is something that’s easily overlooked when you’re decorating, but is crucial to get right. You can spend all of the time and money you like on all of the details, but it will never look its best if the room is dingy. First of all, consider the natural light, you can maximise this in most rooms by hanging a mirror opposite the window and opting for lighter window treatments if the room struggles getting natural light.
You then need to consider other forms of lighting- your ceiling light can be a fantastic statement piece, plus a few different lamps too. If you use smart bulbs you can easily set the colour temperature as well as the brightness using your smart speaker or phone so it’s easy to adjust to whatever mood you want to set.
Splurge on a few key items
Finally, a luxurious home doesn’t mean you need to invest in the very best for every detail. Chances are you can snag some bargains and even second hand items to personalise the space. The trick is to know where to save and where to splurge, that way you have more money for a few key items.
For example, you could invest money into a big, comfy sofa but add an inexpensive decorative armchair in a cool pattern or colour to go with it. Marry the two together using the same colours on throws and cushions on the sofa. Invest in a solid dining table that will last you for years, but save on the chairs- go with cool, trendy options that you can simply replace when you get bored of the look.