Luxury is tied to appearances. It’s not merely about natural quality. It’s about properly highlighting top quality.
For example, perhaps you’re attempting to make a home look as attractive as you can through photographs as well as in person. Perhaps you’re trying to sell the property and want it to appear valuable, or maybe you just want your own home to look luxurious when friends come by or see it on Instagram.
Whatever the case, the following tips will help.
Take Quality Photos
From impressing friends when showing off your new home on Instagram to developing marketing content to sell a modern mansion, you can have many reasons to want to take attractive photos of the site. The way in which you go about this will depend on your skill level and goals.
For instance, if you’re not a particularly skilled photographer, but you hope to sell or rent the property fairly quickly, your best bet is to coordinate with property managers who can provide property marketing and photography services. Now isn’t the time to rely on your limited expertise.
On the other hand, if you’re simply taking pictures for Instagram, you have many tools to improve their quality, even if you lack professional expertise as a photographer. One is to shoot pictures during the magic hour (also known as the golden hour).
When the sun is rising or setting, the light is more likely to cast a golden glow on anything you could be taking a picture of, as well as cast striking shadows. These effects can make virtually any subject look more impressive than at other times of the day.
You should also learn basic composition techniques. For example, the rule of thirds is a photography principle which calls for you to imagine two horizontal and two vertical gridlines that break up the space in a photo into nine boxes of equal size.
The goal is to ensure the most important elements are photographed at the points where two gridlines meet, so as to highlight them.
For example, if you were taking a picture of your luxurious new kitchen, you might choose a worthwhile detail you want to show off, such as a new vase. Therefore, you take a photograph so that the vase gets positioned at the intersection of gridlines on either the left or right side of the overall frame.
(Tip: Many smartphone cameras now offer the option to superimpose gridlines on the screen when you look through the viewfinder so you don’t have to imagine them.)
Make Affordable Upgrades
You don’t have to empty your bank account to make a home look more luxurious. A costly upgrade based on current design trends could be a smart decision if you can justify the expense, but if you can’t, there are more affordable ways to improve a home’s appearance.
For example, switching to new light fixtures doesn’t typically cost much, but it can make a surprisingly big difference. So can painting old cabinets, installing new “minor detail” items (like mailboxes and doorknobs), or using contrast and pastel colors to make a room feel both more balanced and more dynamic.
Use Large Scale Art
Decorating your walls with art, photos, posters, or similar items is often an effective way to improve a room’s visual appeal (if you know how to do it properly). Not all art will have the same impact, though.
Interior design experts recommend hanging large-scale art that calls attention to itself. This can have a dramatic impact on a room.
In addition, you may often find high-quality, large-scale art or prints at flea markets, which can allow you to create a sense of luxury in your interior spaces without a lot of expense.
Declutter
This is one of the simplest ways to add a sense of luxury to a home without spending a dime. Removing clutter will make your home feel more spacious and inviting. It’s also been shown to improve your mood!
Add Plants
Many equate luxury with the way in which a home does (or doesn’t) promote calm feelings. Thus, you could make your home more calming (and therefore more luxurious) by adding plants in key places throughout it. Studies have indicated that the presence of plants in a space makes it a more relaxing place in which to be.
Try Temporary Wallpaper
Sometimes, adding luxury to a home involves experimenting with different changes until you discover which yield the desired effects. For example, you could apply a temporary pattern or photo wallpaper in various rooms to determine how certain patterns help you achieve your goals. If a pattern doesn’t deliver the results you wanted, you can easily swap it out with a new one until you discover what you like.
Freshen Up
Remember, a home’s appearance isn’t the only quality that makes it feel luxurious. Odors or stale air can limit the impact of any other upgrades you make.
Thus, it’s a good idea to air out your home. You could add to the effect by installing air fresheners or scented candles throughout the home as well.
Play Music
Hearing is another sense that can contribute to the way in which someone perceives a home. When having guests over, you could easily make your home feel more luxurious by playing “classy” music in the background, such as jazz, classical, or anything else that suits your liking.
Use High Curtains
High ceilings are often associated with luxury. Fortunately, you can make your ceilings appear higher than they actually are by installing window curtains as high as possible. This will trick the eye and brain.
Make Sure Items Match
In every major room, strive to ensure all essential items match. For example, in your bathroom, the liquid soap dispenser, bar soap holder, toothbrush holder and any other such items should boast similar designs. They don’t have to be identical, but they should be of the same basic style.
The essential point to remember is that there are many ways to make a home appear more luxurious. Whether you’re selling it, renting it out, or just showing it off to friends, the above tips will help.
