Cheap Ways to Make Your Home Look More Expensive

While it would be amazing to hire a professional interior designer to update your home, it’s not always in the budget. Thankfully, there are several ways to make your home look expensive without breaking the bank. With just a few tweaks, your space can transform from basic to chic. Best of all, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you did it all yourself.

Follow our simple, budget-friendly tips to make your home look more expensive and luxurious.

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Add accent pieces

Coffee table books are an affordable and chic way to upgrade your space. Large hardcover books can be found at thrift stores for great prices.

Don’t be afraid to remove a book’s dust jacket. Sometimes beautiful covers are hiding underneath.

Place your books on a coffee table, end tables, or displayed on a bookshelf.

Vases are another luxe accent piece, displayed with or without flowers. Thrift stores again are a great place to search for vases, as is Amazon. Amazon carries many budget-friendly contemporary style vases in a variety of colors.

Update your hardware

When it comes to making your home look expensive, new hardware can make a huge impact. Just by switching old drawer pulls and handles on your kitchen and bathroom cabinets can upgrade your furniture. There’s no need to replace your cabinetry if they’re still in great condition.

These contemporary drawer pulls from Amazon only look expensive.

Replacing the hardware on thrifted furniture can elevate its perceived value. Do you have an old dresser from the ’70s that needs an upgrade? Change the hardware and instantly breathe new life into an old piece of furniture while making it look more upscale.

Purchase an area rug (or two!)

Rugs anchor your space and create balance. A rug under your dining table, in your living room, or even your bedroom will look high-end.

Rugs have a way of making a space warm and cozy. Persian rugs can cost thousands of dollars, but there’s no reason to spend a small fortune. Get the look for less with this inexpensive Persian-style rug.

Apply fresh paint

Paint can completely transform your space without doing any major remodeling.

Consider painting your walls in more neutral colors. For a bolder look, paint an accent wall in a larger room. Colors like cobalt blue that are normally too intense for an entire room can pack a punch as an accent color.

Choose your paint colors carefully. Red walls in the bedroom or brown walls in the living room give off a negative vibe and can make your space look smaller, dark, and even depressing

Bring the outside indoors

Plants throughout the home make it more luxurious. There’s something about plants that immediately create a tranquil and serene environment.

If larger floor plants are not in your budget, shop for smaller plants that you can place in plant hangers or stands. A plant stand adds height to smaller plants, making them look taller.

Real plants are preferred, but there are many convincing faux plants available on the market. Just remember to clean them often as they tend to collect dust.

Create a gallery wall

Artwork can add the finishing touch to any room. Rather than hanging one large painting over your sofa, create a gallery with a few pieces of various sizes. Use similar colors or matching frames for a more cohesive look.

There are many free or low-cost ways to get affordable artwork. You can frame old calendar photos, images from magazines, or even black and white portraits of your friends and family.

If you have access to a quality printer, you can download free printable images from a library such as CreativeCommons.org to add to your gallery. Just type in a few keywords, tick the ‘CC0’ box, then search for free stylish images available in the public domain.

Searching for the term “Vogue Magazine” brings up beautiful images of vintage Vogue magazine covers suitable for framing.

Save the image below to Pinterest so you can come back later!