10 Ways to Make Your Home Look Expensive!

On today's episode .

I'm going to be going over 10 ways to make your home look more expensive .

So let's get started on our first one , which might be a little controversial .

It's going to be an unpopular opinion and that is ignore the design trend videos .

Now , I love to watch these videos .

They're so fun and entertaining but take them for what they are just informational .

What I recommend is decorating with Timeless design in mind or decorating in a style that you absolutely love because all these fads will come and go and you are the one who has to live with it .

Now a few years ago , gray was all the rage paint your walls gray .

You had kind of gray on the floors , gray everywhere , gray on the cabinets .

And now they're saying gray is out a few years ago , they were saying Boho was all the rage .

You needed to have Boho style .

Now they're saying Boho is out .

So what I suggest is going for a more Timeless and classic approach in whatever design style that is .

If you like modern , go for the things that have stood the test of time .

If you like transitional go with those elements .

So for example , white kitchen cabinets , now they kind of come and go a little bit here and there .

But overall they have stood the test of time .

So you know that if you go with that route , you're going to be ok .

If you like a dark mahogany cabinet , those are good as well .

But ultimately find a style that you love .

And so when styles come and go , it doesn't really matter because you're happy in your home .

And that's ultimately the the best way .

Now with a background in real estate , I would be remiss to say that you need to make really smart choices if you're intent is to sell .

Now , I have a whole video on this where I talk about things you can do if you're selling your home .

But for most of us who are living in our homes from day to day , just go with a style that you love .

Now , there are some things that you can do to kind of be timeless , which is picking furniture pieces that are neutral in color and style with clean lines , simple lines and then bringing in some of those trendy things through pillows and accessories , things that are not like super expensive .

So if you want to kind of bring in what's trendy right now , do it in the smaller areas and not in the big scale things not in permanent features like flooring .

Now , Chevron walls like 10 years ago were all the rage .

They were like super popular , super fun and then they went out .

But the thing was , is most of those were painted on so you can just paint right over it and it's not a big deal .

But if you did like Chevron floors or , or something like that , then that would be a little bit more challenging .

So find ways to bring in some of those trendy things that you are loving and , and liking um without doing on your big ticket items , that would be my suggestion .

Now that may be an unpopular opinion because I know how popular those , what's trending this year videos are .

So I just go with what I love or what I think will stand the test of time and that's worked out really well for me in the past .

If you are out of style , that's gonna cheapen your home .

But if you do timeless choices that's going to elevate your home and make it look expensive , luxurious .

And there you go .

I hope that helps you .

So for our next point , it kind of ties into what we were just discussing about fads and styles and that is hardware .

Now , this could be two fold , you could either have just build your grade hardware and to make your home look expensive , you can elevate the hardware by nicer hardware .

It's very simple to switch that out and it really does elevate a kitchen or a bathroom .

It's the jewelry of the room .

So switching out some of those hardware items is pretty simple to do , can really elevate the look and you know , brass hardware has come and gone .

It's in right now .

Um , so if you want to put that on then you can , um , but in a few years brass will probably be out and it will be back to Peter or Black or whatever .

So that is just a simple way to elevate the look of a room .

If you don't have hardware on your cabinets , definitely , definitely add some hardware .

It will elevate the look of your room and you'll be happy you did that .

So I hope that helps you if you want to make your home look more expensive , then neutralize your color scheme .

Now , bold colors are super fun and I've used them in my house before .

I've done the lime greens and like fun punchy colors and that is good .

If you really want to elevate your space , then you're going to want to neutralize your decor .

There is a caveat with that , you can go super , super rich and I could go into that a little bit more if you like this type of episode , let me know , hit the like button and I can do more of these .

We're just covering 10 today .

But in general , if you neutralize your Decor and use very muted tones like in my bedroom here , I I've used Topees and creams and whites and a little soft green and it really elevated the look in here and that kind of leads into my next point and they're kind of like tied together a little bit .

So what do you do for interest ?

If you are neutralizing everything you do it through adding texture , interesting patterns , add some smooth elements like a linen next to some knitted elements , next to a velvet , next to some hard surfaces , you want to mix and match things .

You don't want everything to be matchy , matchy .

And so when you add a lot of textures from metals to woods , to fabric , to woven things , it's going to add the interest that you're looking for and make the whole space feel a little bit more elevated .

So if you really do want to make your home feel more expensive and you own the home , then I always recommend adding some architectural interest .

This could be feature walls with batten board or picture box molding , adding molding , you can never go wrong .

And as I teach you on this channel , it is easier to do than you would think .

So in my home , for example , down stairs , I had a crazy eco Chevron wall .

It was out of style .

I wanted to do something a little bit more elevated .

So what I did is I covered up the texture of the walls with some masonite .

It's kind of the easiest way to smooth out a wall without having to repla it .

So very simply and easily you can put some of this very thin plywood that's very smooth , pink , up beautifully over the wall .

And then I proceeded to add some board and back floor to ceiling .

Very simple to do .

This is straight cuts and the money that you save doing yourself can help you buy like maybe a used saw if you don't have one , these kind of things where you're adding architectural interest , really do add value to your home .

And so it is totally worth it .

You can never go wrong .

The big thing is is you just want to make sure that you finish out really well , make sure the difference between like a finished look and an unfinished comes to how well you do the detailing and that will be separate it from looking like a diy job and a professional job , which will ultimately elevate your home .

If you want to learn how to do these kinds of things , I'll link a couple of those videos below , but keep watching this channel because that is what I'm trying to teach you is to do some of these things yourself and you will reap the financial benefit long term .

And in the meantime , you get to look at all these beautiful feature walls and feel the satisfaction of doing it yourself .

Having said that maybe you don't have time , you can hire it out .

It still will elevate your home because a lot of the homes these days are just , you know , production homes when they say they don't build them like they used to .

They really don't .

I was raised in a home that was built in the early 19 hundreds .

The trim work in that home is amazing .

I'm trying to bring some of those elements into my , build a great home here and elevate it to make it feel more expensive .

So you can do this , watch my channel .

I will help you learn how to do all of these things .

This next one might push you a little bit , but I'm gonna offer you some alternative ideas .

There is something about having a fireplace that elevates the home and makes it look more expensive .

If you already have a fireplace in there , there's ways to elevate it even more , especially if it's just very builder grade again , adding some more molding , building it out , making an over mantel .

I actually do have planned to add on to this .

This is a little portable fireplace that I built on this channel and I showed you how to do I can link that video as well .

It really made my bedroom just elevate and make it look more expensive .

Having said that it doesn't look totally built in .

So I thought I would do a portable over mantle .

So let me know if you , if that's something that you would want to see .

So there's that idea on this channel I showed you and I did this intentionally by myself .

It would be easier to do with a friend or a partner .

A couple of years ago .

After wanting a real built in fireplace my whole life , I decided to take matters into my own hands and build it myself .

And I did it 100% myself just to show that it could be done .

I'd never built a fireplace before , but I just got out of my own way and got really brave and set my mind to it and it turned out great .

And so I framed it out .

I trimmed it out .

It took a lot of time , but I saved a ton of money doing this myself , thousands and thousands of dollars .

And I know that a lot of you have actually replicated the fireplace because you've sent me the pictures which thrills me to know .

And , but it , it took my living room from totally builder grade standard , boring to a very high end finished look .

And I did it myself .

This might be intimidating to you .

And I don't want to do that start where you are at .

My whole goal of my channel is really to motivate people to feel powerful to do something that they might not be for .

But I know we're talking about fireplaces here .

So if you like the idea of adding a fireplace , but the idea of building something from scratch is just beyond you .

I've actually gone on Facebook marketplace and found beautiful fireplaces that like electric fireplaces that are ready to go .

Come up just need a little bit of makeover and maybe a little paint and maybe a little bit of extra trim would really elevate the look and you could have the feel of a fireplace .

There's lots of ideas .

Not everybody needs to have a fireplace and maybe you don't even like fireplaces .

But there is something that elevates a home , like a fireplace that brings a lot of warmth , a lot of personality .

So I'm just trying to get your wheels spinning here on how you could make that happen if you don't have one or if you do have one how to elevate what you have .

Ok .

So while I have talked about not following design trends or whatever , it is important to follow certain design principles .

This is one you probably heard of and it is hanging your curtains correctly .

It's worth repeating just because I see it broken all the time .

You want to hang your curtains high and wide .

And I did a whole video on this .

It was like an old video , the music's on it too loud , but the principles in the video are really important .

So you'll just have to ignore the music a little bit , but I will link it below .

But you want to basically line the inner part of your , your panel right here .

So as you can see with the outer corner of your window .

So that should kind of just barely cup around that and usually it's about 8 to 10 inches away from your actual window um in my video and get the exact dimensions and then about 2 to 3 inches from your ceiling .

That way it really lifts and elevates the room makes it look taller , makes the window look bigger and all of those good things in some cases , I have not done it in this case just because it's kind of a smaller window .

It didn't need to be done .

If you have a larger scale window , you will probably want to double the amount of panels on either side .

If it looks too kind of narrow and skinny , it just doesn't make sense for the window .

So you want it nice and full and so just high and wide , try to line the outside of the window with that .

I also think that it looks really good and I'm guilty of not doing this on all of my windows .

So I'm just going to copy out that right now is I think it looks really nice to put a sheer over there .

I just think it adds a softness to it .

I like it for like control and privacy .

Try to find panels that has like a solid color that I think will stand the test of time a little bit better .

I am guilty of breaking some of these ideas as well .

And you know , sometimes you just , it takes time and money and you just hit project one at a time .

And so in some areas of your house might not be as elevated as other areas .

And so you just do it over time when you have the time when you have the money , implement some of these ideas .

That's how I approach it .

If you want your home to feel more expensive , you really need to be cognizant of smell .

So does it smell clean ?

Does it smell fresh ?

Are there pet odors ?

I mean , I potty trained a dog .

So like I really feel you on this and this types of sense that you use .

If your home smells a very clean , very fresh , that's gonna just by default , make it feel more expensive .

And that's why it's so important .

Like when you go to sell a house , why they say make it smell good because that equals money in people's brains .

It's a very simple concept .

Just keep that in mind .

I like to burn candles .

I also have some really yummy plugins .

But if you're looking for something a little bit more natural this sent by Mrs Myers .

It's uh peon scent , it smells so expensive , so nice , wonderful .

I love it , but I also love anything that smells like food .

So pick a scent that generally people like be careful about some that are might be on the fringe , not everybody likes pine scented stuff .

You're safe going with kind of like a florally scent or a food scent .

And I think that you'll be just fine if you do that one thing that I have done to elevate the equity and elevate the feeling of expensiveness in each of my homes that we have owned .

I have always added a backsplash .

So this is simpler than you might think if you can get brave and powerful .

I have a video on here that kind of walks you through how to do it .

And I did it the traditional way .

But they there are tools out there now that make it even more simple .

You can do the muscle bound peel and stick backing for the backer , which I'm totally gonna try one of these days maybe on my next backslash .

It's so simple .

It simplifies .

It makes , takes a lot of the mess out of it , makes it go quicker and adding a backsplash .

Really does elevate your kitchen .

You can do the traditional tile , but you could also do like press tin or you could do wood trim whether that's like bead board or something like that .

I'm all about the diy ones obviously because this is a diy channel but adding some sort of backsplash .

It does , it elevates the the kitchen makes it look more expensive .

So keep that in mind .

And again , echoing my sentiments from the beginning of this video , try to not go super trendy .

A few years ago , those little square glass tiles were all the rage and now they're not so try to pick elements that have stood the test of times like a career marble .

Something a little bit more classic in color .

Nothing too wild or too crazy .

I even pushed the envelope .

What in what I did in my kitchen downstairs , the , the white with the gold trim ?

I think it's going to be fine , timeless wise .

I I selected it to kind of go with a granite that was already existing .

I think we're ok there .

But you know , that was a little bit of a risk .

So if you're nervous about that , pick something that looked good 20 years ago and is hot again today and you'll probably be safe , but it does , it really elevates the look and makes it look more expensive .

Another idea to make your home look more expensive is adding built ins wherever you can .

Now , it sounds intimidating .

It's less intimidating than you would actually think tap into your inner powerful and you can do this .

I've seen a lot of people take IKEA Billy bookcases and hack them and make them look built in .

Those are fairly simple to assemble .

So you're taking something that somebody has already constructed , making them built in into your home .

I know that I have taken an IKEA closet and made that look built in in my entry way .

Um I've also built them from scratch using plywood and screws .

And I learned a lot by doing that in my living room .

I put some cabinets on either side , um , that were prefabbed cabinets from lows .

And I built those in , put a little top on it .

And I've got like these built in cabinets and then some open shelving .

So just how can you add value by just getting brave , um , getting a friend who may , has a little bit of experience working together .

I love the firm mindset .

And if you watch my channel , you really understand this , that if somebody else can do it , so can I , I might not do it as fast as them ?

And maybe that my first attempt isn't as good as them .

But with every project I improve , I'm just all about digging in and doing it , giving it my best effort and it's usually worked out .

There's very little times where I've made a mistake that can't be fixed .

You just got to get brave , slow down and say I can do this and then go out and do it .

So this was a new type of episode for me .

So if you liked this and want to see more episodes like that , hit the like button , let me know in the comments if this is for you and you want to see more ideas on how to elevate your home .

And if you enjoyed this episode , here's another one that I think you'll like as well .

And I just want to remind all of my diy niners that you are more powerful than , you know , I truly believe that and we'll see you next time .

Bye .