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From houseplants to high-end touches...
Looking to add some high-end features to your home? Indeed, a little luxury needn’t cost you an arm and a leg.
Professional interior designers have shared the best 'luxury upgrades' for the home – most of which you can achieve on a budget.
'A house is often sold based on its kitchen and master suite,' says Benjamin Heginbotham, Director and Head of Design at The Practical Planning Company. 'If you’ve got the room, go all out on a luxury en-suite for your master bedroom. There are so many products out there nowadays that it’s easy to achieve a deluxe finish, even on a budget.'
And you can start small too: interior touches like neutral hues (61 per cent), temporary wallpaper (56 per cent) and upholstering (52 per cent) make up the top five most effective luxury upgrades for the home, according to research commissioned by MyJobQuote.
See the top 10 ways to add luxury to your home, according to interior designers...
Benjamin Heginbotham at The Practical Planning Company, says: 'Simply put, by remodelling your bathroom you can ensure all fixtures and plumbing are up to date and working efficiently. By incorporating new features such as recessed lighting and modern tiling and flooring products, you can bring in a real sense of luxury.'
We love Bert & May tiles for some contemporary chic.
'The addition of plants, both real and false, is a great way to instantly uplift any space,' says Alex Willcocks, owner of Burbeck Interiors. 'An easy way to add colour, plants are also great for making instant statement pieces in any room. Choosing the plant pot or vase can be a creative way to add texture and a good focal point, and is almost as important as choosing the plant itself.'
The team at Virtual Viewings add: 'Plants on the floor, on the window sill, on shelves... Mess it up and put small ones in small spaces, massive ones that take up whole corners, trailing down over stuff indoors and outdoors. Instant glamour to any home!'
Neutral shades can offer the calming influence we need right now to turn our home into a tranquil sanctuary. Research by Sellhousefast.uk found grey is the most popular interior colour, according to average monthly search volumes on Google. And Polished Pebble by Dulux is the most popular shade of grey, at 9,900 average monthly searches.
'Adhesive wallpaper is a growing trend as people look to creating new spaces, including home offices, within their home,' says Alex Willcocks, owner of Burbeck Interiors. 'Adhesive wallpaper is perfect for people looking to refresh a space on a temporary basis, or who want to explore new colours and patterns for their rooms.'
Whether you're making a statement wall or bringing life to an otherwise dull room, a great benefit of temporary wallpaper is that you can easily change it when you get bored.
Alex adds: 'My advice – choose lighter colours, and subtle patterns, especially for your working space, or for a smaller room. Harsher colours may become distracting or make a small room feel even smaller.'
Try Wayfair or Graham & Brown for removable wallpaper.
'With so much time on our hands, and unable to get to the shops or order what we like online, we are able to do those little projects we have been putting off,' says Alex of Burbeck Interiors. 'Upholstering chairs with new materials, or sewing new cushion and pillow covers seem to be the most popular.'
Go for an ultra luxe look with velvet upholstery.
Sophie Attwood, owner of Husoe Home, says: 'Add small touches of high-end materials such as antique gold, solid wood or marble throughout your home. Swap modern ornaments for a vintage ornament or vintage books, and you’ll instantly up the price tag on your decor.'
'Another easy fix is to focus on updating old light fixtures throughout the home,' says Sophie. 'Whether you update your pendant lights in the kitchen or add new standout lamps to the living room, a new light fixture is a great way to give your home the right ambience to feel cosy and luxurious.'
'One of the best ways to make your home feel luxurious is by creating open space, and sometimes simply rearranging, decluttering, and investing in some clever storage solutions is enough to achieve it,' says Benjamin. 'But, when that’s not enough, a home extension or garage conversion can help massively by creating a new, separate space, or enlarging an existing room.
'Both can be done on a budget with some clever cost-saving ideas. Please remember, professional advice is always required with home improvement projects such as extensions and conversions in order to comply with building regulations.'
Benjamin says: 'Loft conversions can add huge improvement to any home where extra bedrooms or multi-use rooms are needed, particularly now when so many people are working from home. It costs comparatively little but adds so much, potentially increasing house value by as much as 20 per cent. A loft is usually dead space and a conversion, which doesn’t require planning permission if it’s under a certain size, doesn't eat into valuable space like an outside extension – something to consider if you have a small footprint.
'Although it’s a higher investment than changing some doors, for example, it is usually worth doing in the long run. It can be used to create the ideal space away from the noise and chaos of everyday life – complete with a freestanding bath for the height of luxury.'
'Bifold doors tend to be the dream aesthetic, with floor to ceiling glazing allowing natural light to flood a room,' says Benjamin. 'However, they can be expensive. A cheaper alternative to achieve a similar, luxury effect would be to replace existing windows at the rear of the property with traditional patio doors (French doors), which opens up the living space and makes it appear larger, while blending the outside space seamlessly with the inside. This works especially well in kitchens and kitchen extensions.'
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