How to make your home look luxe for less
"In an ideal world, we would all have a world-class interior designer at our disposal to create a space that exudes comfort, luxury and sophistication," writes Caitlin Chander from News.com.au. Read Caitlin's interview with Lux Hax's Kylie Hughes about her five tips for affordable, DIY-driven interior design.
Here's a quick summary:
1. Bold art prints
Kylie says, “As well as being an affordable hero piece, a large art print can serve as the focal point that brings together the room’s colour palette and style of furniture and décor. You can even save on framing by gluing your print to an MDF board or buying your print and frame from a big box retailer like Kmart, Big W, IKEA or Target.”
2. Add gentle lighting
Kylie says, “Bright, overhead lighting is great in an operating theatre, but no good at home. To create a sense of opulence, you want sources of light that pool gently onto the surfaces they illuminate. A well-positioned lamp or two can transform a room into a luxurious haven. Likewise, candlelight creates a sense of intimacy.”
3. Touches of greenery
Kylie says, “A well-kept plant communicates that the room is alive and lived in. It adds another layer of texture through its foliage and the pot or basket that it sits in. If you don’t have a green thumb, you might consider a mix of real and high-quality fake plants. Succulents are very much on trend and nearly impossible to kill.”
4. Create your own hero pieces
Kylie says: “My design business is based on helping people create the furniture they’ve always wanted. For example, instead of spending thousands on custom cabinetry, I show people how to make built-in flat-pack shelves look like bespoke cabinetry or how to create a customised console by adding legs and handles to a cube storage unit. Gumtree and second-hand stores are also great sources of affordable furniture and décor inspiration. In fact, I rarely buy new pieces these days—I would rather save an item from landfill and put my own creative stamp on it.”
5. Declutter
Kylie says: “Decluttering will not only save you money, it might actually make you money when you sell the things you don’t need. I’m not proposing that you clear every surface and colour-code your bookshelves - a home should feel lived in - but luxurious spaces are ordered and deliberate. Some of the usual offenders include TV remotes, magazines and books and paperwork.”
Read the full article here.
