52 ways to make your home look more expensive

Whether you’re looking to fix up your home to put it on the market or just want to bring some fresh updates to your living space, you don’t have to spend a lot to get big results. Here are 52 inexpensive ways to make your home look more expensive.

Take note of the pre-existing features in your home that you can highlight. Architectural details such as crown moulding, wooden beams, hardwood floors, built-in bookshelves, and mosaic-tile backsplashes are all worth focusing on. These details don’t just look expensive; they are expensive. Make them as prominent as possible – keep them clean, clutter-free and the focal point of the room. For example, don’t splurge on an expensive painting just to have it compete with a show-stopping fireplace.

“Paint is extremely inexpensive and makes a big difference,” says interior designer Keysha Jillian. “Whether you need to tone down a colour or add a bold colour to liven up your space, colour is great for changing the overall feel of a room.” A nice wash of colour might only cost around $20 for 4L.

It’s time to get rid of those dingy old bath towels – discoloured whites and bleach-stained colours make your space look dirty and cheap. Proudly display crisp white, or colour-matching fluffy towels like the kind you would find in a fancy hotel or spa. “This will immediately trigger a feeling for your guests, and they will have a more luxurious feeling towards the space,” says designer Drew Henry.

Throw pillows are an easy way to accessorise and brighten a room, whether you buy them or make your own. Jillian says homeowners should throw out their older throw pillows and replace them with bright, fuller pillows – or just buy crisp new pillow covers. “Mix and match colours and textures, and blend different groupings,” she says. But more is not better. “There can be too many pillows, so make sure you don’t go overboard.”

If your walls are bare besides the occasional artwork, consider adding moulding to the baseboard, chair rail or ceiling. “It doesn’t even have to be a gaudy, Victorian-style moulding – a simple and single-shape, single-depth piece of moulding will do the trick,” says interior designer Erica Leigh Reiner.

From family photos to DIY art, framed works can make a house feel like a home. Before mounting any work, figure out where everything should be placed and the proper way to hang it. “Make sure the art you select is the right size and scale for the wall you’re decorating, and remember you don’t need artwork on every empty wall,” says Jillian. “If you feel creative, a great way to get inexpensive artwork is to create your own. Head to your local craft store and you can find everything you need to create a beautiful canvas or framed custom artwork.”

Magazines are a great source of home decorating ideas and inspiration for how to accessorise a room. However, you can shop around for a budget-friendly version of anything you see in a design magazine. “Accessories vary significantly in cost, but if you’re looking for a great deal there are plenty of discount home stores that offer stupendous finds, says Jillian.

The key to making any piece – from bookshelves to kitchen cabinets – look custom is to have them fit into your home perfectly. The easiest way to achieve this look is to have them extend all the way from floor to ceiling. A bookshelf that spans an entire wall will almost always look more expensive than one that stands alone. Luckily, with a bit of forward planning, this project can be tackled in one or two weekends.

A quick and easy way to decorate cheaply is to update old fixtures, especially in the kitchen. Knobs, handles, drawer pulls and light switches are small, inexpensive details that give your home a high-end sheen.

Here are 12 more DIY home improvement projects that practically pay for themselves.