Living in an elegant and stylish home does not have to be a privilege of the rich even though it often seems so. The reason for it is high-priced decorators and expensive home-art and furniture stores. If you are looking at selling for more, or you simply want it for your family, have a look at only a couple of cheap tricks which can enhance your home with elegance.
Declutter
Lift the weight of your home. Allow for breathing space. Keep your home tidy and free of any unnecessary items. With more open space, your rooms will seem bigger and lighter. You do not want your home to depict you as a hoarder. Have only a few items of furniture and avoid classical wardrobes in all areas apart from bedrooms. If it is possible, have built-in wardrobes or walk-in closets. When it comes to decorative items, you do want to have them, but you do not want to have too many of them. A great number of figurines and similar trifles may seem a little bit old fashioned.
Use the light
Use the natural light as much as you can. Put some emphasis on the windows by decorating them with layers of beautiful curtains, I would suggest having a light see-through one that would let a lot of daylight through and a strong-colored thick one for the night time to protect your family from curious looks of passersby. Apart from serving the actual purpose, curtains have a great decorative value. You can have them in one of the accent colors you used for the same room. Where and when there isn’t enough daylight, install a lot of lightings to keep the rooms bright in the evenings and on gloomy days.
Inspect the floors
Get onto the floors. The first thing you should discard is wall-to-wall carpets. What’s hiding underneath them? Is it a wooden floor? Give it a good sanding and a nice polish. If it is in a really bad shape or you do not have that kind of money at the moment, you can simply choose a color to repaint it, gray and brown might be a good choice here. If what’s hiding underneath your old carpet isn’t hardwood, you can think about laying a wooden floor. As this may be too pricey, consider putting in laminate and you will have yourself a looker and a money saver. Once you have this done, though in a decorative carpet.
Get a paint job
Get it or do it yourself, but make sure your walls are freshly painted. If you are going for elegance, choose a warm color for your base. Accent walls are where you should go bold. This is practically a must and an easy key to elegance. Even if someone does not like your accent wall, they will still know to appreciate the existence of one and it will bring an artistic tone to your home.
Get the details right
As well as to painting, this applies to all the potentially decorative items in your home. First of all, contrast is very fashionable and depending on the colors, sophisticated. You can use black to be in contrast to pretty much any warm color you’ve selected for your rooms. You can replace light switches, door knobs, drawer pulls, cupboard handles etc. to the more customized ones found in a hardware store. The same way you used curtains to add accent colors, you can use pillows, cushions or bed covers. If you are missing a link between two colors in a room or two connected rooms, add as much as a flower pot of the right color and you will regain the color balance.
Add architectural details
Any advice coming from professional Sydney painters is to do a little extra from your regular paint job. Add architectural details such as wall and ceiling ornaments. Crown molding, for example, is one of the things that adds a special air to a room and is hard to pinpoint, but once you see it’s there, you know where the feeling is coming from. You can use ornaments to frame shelves, windows, or wall-art.
Whenever you see something you like, think of a way to replicate it yourself. DIY can save you a lot of money and give a feeling of accomplishment. As with everything else, even cheap can be cheaper or more expensive, even if you are following the budgeting advice and doing things yourself, don’t forget to shop around and keep an eye out for good offers.
Author: Steven Clarke
