The first thing you should know about how to make your house look luxurious is that you won’t need to shell out thousands of dollars to make it happen.

Luxury design is as much about making smart, purposeful choices as it is about the amount of money you spend. And, if you’re working with a limited budget, there are still plenty of steps you can take to maximize your impact and create a welcoming space that looks much more expensive than it really was.

Below, we’re sharing our best tips on how to make your home look expensive while on a budget, including some recent interior design trends to keep in mind as you freshen things up.

How to Make Your Home Look Elegant Without Spending a Lot of Money

When it comes to interior design, good taste can be much more valuable than a big budget. Here are four ways to make your home look more luxurious, while saving a bit of your cash in the process.

1. Add Small Touches of High-End Materials

Allocate your budget wisely by investing it in small but impactful ways. For example, if you want a luxury kitchen without the luxury price tag, prioritize your spending on a focal material in the room like marble or quartz countertops, then scale back with more budget-friendly materials elsewhere, such as linoleum or vinyl flooring and lower-priced stainless steel appliances. Having one high-end material will elevate the entire space, and if you choose wisely you can pair it with more affordable finishes that still look anything but cheap.

2. Hang Large Art Pieces

Nothing says luxury like a large piece of art. Scour second-hand stores and estate sales for huge framed pieces at cheaper prices, or get creative and make your own. The DIY option is especially useful if you’re interested in how to make your house look modern on a budget, since you don’t need to find a way to replicate traditional or ornate styles.

3. Stick to Classic Colors

Warm neutrals, clean whites, and cool muted greens and blues are all staples in the color palettes of luxury homes—and for good reason. These classic colors instantly make your home look more sophisticated and put together, especially when compared to more garish hues. And while there’s certainly a way to use color and keep things classy, bright shades usually require a lot of additional styling to bring in a sense of luxury, and that can easily eat into your budget.

4. Change Up Your Lighting

Sometimes luxury is as simple as swapping out a light fixture or two. You can find fantastic deals on stylish, elegant fixtures at antique stores and online, including styles that fit any interior aesthetic. Shop around to find fixtures you love at prices that work, then replace any existing fixtures in your home that are outdated or that don’t look very expensive. Little by little, you’ll start to see a big difference as you gradually replace your lighting.

2022 Interior Design Trends for Luxury Homes

Luxury interior design is more about timelessness than trendiness. But some 2022 interior design trends are particularly well-suited to designing a luxury home on a budget, and are worth considering as you make your style choices. These include:

• Natural materials. There’s an inherent elegance to natural materials like wood, stone, slate, and marble, all of which are trending in today’s high-end homes.
• Plant happy. Put that green thumb to work and fill your home with plants—a simple and luxurious trend that’s unlikely to go out of style anytime soon.
• Sustainability. Even luxury designers are finding ways to repurpose and reinvent. Help the planet and elevate your home by giving new life to antiques and other older items.

Need help bringing more luxury to your home? Learn about Natalya Starinova Interiors and contact us for a one-on-one consultation.