15 Outstanding Ways To Make Your Home Look More High-End on a Budget

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I truly believe that anyone can have a pretty home no matter the budget – the only thing required is some creativity. Read my tips below to find out that you can too have a luxurious, enjoyable home, – even with a small budget.

Just be careful, sometimes trying to look expensive may end up looking even cheaper. The key is the balance – so go for gold for example, but with moderation.

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1 – Create a Color Palette

The easiest way to spot a designer room is the intentional color palette. Chose 2-3 colors you are going to implement and stick with those.

An easy way to choose a color palette is to choose a focal point in the room, like a piece of art, and pick the inspiration from it.

Some people suggest using light, neutral colors to create an expensive-looking vibe – I partly disagree. If you like it, definitely go for it, but also darker, deep colors like navy blue and forest green give a calm sense of luxury.

2 – Ditch the Clutter

One of the basic mistakes a decorator can do, is to include a lot of small, mismatching clutter. Invest in pretty storage boxes and remove all your clutter and decor items, and after you have created the mainlines of your room design, you can start to add your accent pieces back on – but don’t go crazy.

Sometimes everything doesn’t work at the same time – maybe swap your decor items from time to time when you fancy some change.

If you like a lot of small decorating pieces, stick them together within a theme, like color or function.

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3- Add metals and some bling bling…

… but don’t go crazy.

Metallic spray paint is one of my favorite inventions ever, as these IKEA hacks that look more expensive than they are prove.

4 – Pay Attention To Lighting

This is a factor most amateur decorators overlook, and they definitely shouldn’t. The lighting plays such a vital role in what comes to the atmosphere and the feel of the room. For example, imagine bright hospital lights in your head. Would they work in your dining room when you are trying to enjoy a romantic dinner with some red wine and roses?

Make sure your light is the right brightness and color for the purpose of the room. Scatter more lighting sources around the room than just one overhead light. This will make your room feel bigger as they eliminate dark shadows in the corners, but also creates so much cozier feeling.

5 – Paint Is Your Best Friend

And not only on the walls. If you have mismatching furniture and not the funds to upgrade, consider painting them with a matching color. Some people have created amazing results just with this simple hack.

If you want to make a statement, paint an accent wall. It is one of the easiest ways to create drama on a large scale, for cheap. It is also very easy to paint over if it goes horribly wrong or if you just get bored.

6 – Pull the Furniture Off The Walls

People tend to think that in the small spaces the furniture should be pushed as close to the walls as possible, but this is not always (in most cases) the case. The furniture should never be straight against the wall anyway, but next time try to pull your sofa a bit more in the middle and see if it makes an airier feeling to the room.

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7 – Add Art

It doesn’t need to be original art, although you can often find super cool pieces from flea markets. If you like abstract art, try painting one yourself! Especially a large scale art makes a statement.

A good alternative to a big artwork is a gallery wall.

8 – Accessorize for Wow-Factor

Adding accessories is a great way of introducing color and wow-factor to the room without breaking the bank and making irreversible decisions. Look out for heavy and soft materials like velvet.

Plants are also a lovely way to introduce freshness and luxury to space.

9 – Don’t Match, But Coordinate

Mixing different styles and textures gives the room a bespoke (=designer) feel. Just make sure there is something to tie them all together.

10 – Hang Your Curtains Higher And Add a Few Extra Panels

Get the longest curtains you can afford and hang them as high as possible, to create an illusion of height. Also if financially feasible, the more curtain panels you have, the better.

11 – Add Molding

Molding adds character to the room straight away and gives it a more polished look. It is relatively easy and cheap to do yourself and it doesn’t have to have a complicated design, a simple one works just as well.

This tutorial can be found here.

12 – Update Your Fixtures

Update your hardware in the kitchen and bathroom cupboard doors for an instant uplift. Avoid plastic and painted wood knobs and aim for metal. You can find some beautiful pieces in flea markets, or even your local hardware store has some cool options for a small budget – like check this cool cabinet pull from Home Depot.

High-end is all about the detail.

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Read more excellent ideas here on how to revamp the bathroom on a tiny budget.

Even this seemingly simple kitchen looks very sophisticated with well-thought handles and pulls.

13 – Fake Built-Ins

Fake a built-in with this Ikea hack. The trick is to make it look like it’s build from the floor to the ceiling.

14 – Pick basic, matching bedding

This has been one of my favorite ways of up-scaling the bedroom looks. White bedding always matches, gives the hotel luxury feel and it’s easy to accessorize. Time to chuck that old Disney duvet cover now!

Not convinced? Read the undeniable facts on why you should always buy white bedding here!

15 – Get Rid Of Ugly Packaging

Instead of hand soap and shampoo bottles from the convenience store, get some pretty soap dispensers – same with the dishwashing liquid in the kitchen. Invest in pretty glass storage jars for food for a coherent look – this also keeps the food fresher.