Making a home look pricier is a daunting task, even before budget enters into it. The details matter. While most home improvements are made to be immediately noticeable, it’s the hidden details that make all the difference and make a home look more expensive.
Explore these home improvement hidden details that can be incorporated into nearly any home’s design to give an instant uplift and added allure, even when there isn’t a big budget to play with.
Ornate Crown Molding
Simply upgrading existing crown molding to textured lines or thicker, bolder patterns can make your home look expensive. If putting it in every room seems extreme, update your molding in the most-visited parts. These include the living room, dining areas, kitchen, and family rooms. Not only is new crown molding a way to instantly modernize an existing room, but it’s one of the least invasive home upgrades you can do.
Matching Cabinet Hardware
When hardware throughout the home matches, the result is a more streamlined, expensive look for the home. Consider upgrading all doorknobs, cabinet handles, and cupboard knobs (in addition to hardware such as towel tacks and toilet paper roll holders) to the same finish for a smooth upgrade the entire home can benefit from.
Finishes include:
- Brass
- Stainless steel
- Bronze
- Nickel
Finish styles to consider include solid, brushed, polished, or matte. Take this idea further and make sure all storage containers for grains, pastas, and baking elements (especially those that are kept on countertops in view) also match.
Modern Door Locks
Modern door locks on the home not only make a property more secure, but also add instant home improvement. Door locks in contemporary styles feature modern technologies like keypads and smooth, slim lines.
There are many styles of contemporary door locks to choose from, including:
- Lever handles in slim styles over traditional knobs
- Matte-finished locks
- Blunt, square angles
- Black, copper, or bronze colors
All main entry locks should be upgraded at once to maintain safety.
Painted Ceilings
Remember the accent wall trend? Painted ceilings give similar appeal, adding dimensionality that makes smaller rooms appear brighter and larger. They are ideal DIY home upgrades for any room since they can be done on a room-by-room basis, as well as being easy to customize by color and texture.
Consider painting ceilings a rich neutral, or go bold, with jewel tones in big rooms and dusty pastels in lighter spaces. If you already have an accent wall, going a shade darker adds dimension. This strategy instantly makes dated rooms feel luxurious and expensive.
Modern, Varied Lighting
One of the easiest home improvement ideas to make a living space appear more expensive is simply swapping lighting throughout the entire interior. Yellow lighting is friendlier than white, so change out generic light bulbs with softer tones.
While not as inexpensive, adding lamps, sconces, and under-cabinet lighting gives some vibrancy, especially in dark corners or underlit areas. Home details that bring even more value include:
- Brass or bronze wall sconces
- Beaded lamp shades in various patterns
- Recessed mood lighting
- Remote-controlled fixtures
Choose modern lighting for the most commonly-used rooms in the home first, adding simple table lamps to bedrooms and hallways to make them more welcoming.
Natural Lighting
You can incorporate sunlight into your home’s style in many ways. With a limited budget, focus on drapery that lets in more light or layered curtains that make windows look larger. Bigger budgets let you consider skylights, which bring in natural illumination to rooms like kitchens and bathrooms. They’re great choices in spaces that lack windows or need added privacy.
Varying Materials/Textures
An expensive living space often features more than one texture or material throughout the home. Tiles in the kitchen, hardwood in the living room, and carpet in personal rooms are an example of using varying materials and textures to bring elegance to a living space. Wall textures varying from one room to another (including wallpaper) is another.
Placing rugs in harder-surfaced rooms softens living spaces and adds color and texture, while hanging tapestries on walls and placing ribbed or crocheted pillows and throws on couches will accomplish much of the same thing. Don’t be afraid of mixing and matching patterns, since florals and stripes may contrast one another, but certainly bring personality and expensive appeal to a room.
The TRUE Home Improvement Hidden Details
Nature Elements
One of the best home upgrades in any living space is the addition of plants. From impressive perennial plants to more demure parlor ferns, plants and indoor trees fill empty spaces with texture and greenery while actually improving indoor air quality.
Not only will a home with plants look more expensive, but it will feel and smell more expensive, too. Easy plants to care for include:
- Aloe
- Succulent
- Spider fern
- Snake plant
- English Ivy
- Peace Lily
- Bamboo Palm
Choose non-toxic plants if you have children or indoor pets, and keep them where small hands (or paws) can’t reach. Greenery noted for improving indoor air quality is best, as not only is it beautiful, but it helps keep the home’s atmosphere healthy.
Expensive Elements Without Major Upgrades
It’s easy to make a home look more expensive with DIY home updates. Whether the goal is to modernize crown molding or add more lighting to a living space to brighten common areas, home improvement hidden details that make a big impact can be done project by project for home renovation. The best part? The results look much more expensive than the actual cost, so nearly any budget can accommodate one or more of these home improvement ideas.
About the Writer: Aaron Smith is an LA-based content strategist and consultant in support of STEM firms and medical practices. He covers industry developments and helps companies connect with clients. In his free time, Aaron enjoys reading and writing about adventure, fitness, and lifestyle.
Leave A Comment