30+ Inexpensive Ways to Make Your Home Look More Expensive

What You’ll Need: Various
Cost: Various

When in doubt, stick with minimalism. While it can be easy to pick out something you like every time you go decor shopping, more often than not you’ll end up with a mismatched style that gets jumbled along the way.

Keep An Overall Minimal Look @lebonheurethique/Pinterest

Instead, keeping things simple and going for clean lines and muted colors always pays off tenfold. Going for simple, expensive-looking fabrics in greys and taupes will never go out of style, and always appear clean even if you haven’t vacuumed or dusted in a while.

What You’ll Need: Various
Cost: Various

With a few creative choices, you can pick out lighting that looks custom-made even if it isn’t. The best first step to the lighting process is to see what’s out there, scouring your local hardware stores, bigger box stores, and vintage lighting shops to get inspiration. 

Add Custom Look Lighting @yondt/Pinterest

Then, analyze your space and think about artful ways you can use pendant lighting and sconces to create a lighting story that fits your design aesthetic on a tight budget. With a little creativity, you can achieve an artful look without breaking the bank. 

What You’ll Need: Large Tiles, Grout
Cost: Various

Depending on the size of your room, this decor trend could be incredibly cheap and easy to do yourself. One of the biggest benefits to installing bigger tiles on your own is that it takes less time to lay each tile individually, and there’s less math and measuring involved than with tiny tiles. 

Get The Spa-Like Feeling With Large-Format Bathroom Tiles On Walls and Floors @contemporist/Pinterest

If you don’t have a way of cutting tile at home, you can measure, measure, and then measure again, and take your tiles to a Home Depot or Lowes where an expert can cut your tile for you to the exact size specifications you need. 

What You’ll Need: Various
Cost: Various

If you don’t have any interior design know-how or loathe the process of picking out each and every single appliance and cabinet color and detail, there’s an easy out for you. There are plenty of retailers that offer entirely pre-fabricated kitchen options at affordable prices. 

Buy A Used Designer Kitchen @rosafrezz/Pinterest

These former showroom kitchens are often cheaper than buying each element individually, and while the price might seem like a lot up front, they are easily installed and come with the added bonus of everything arriving at once.

What You’ll Need: Vase, Fresh Flowers
Cost: $20+*

While flower displays are notoriously expensive, with prices for rarer stems reaching well into the hundreds of dollars, there are plenty of affordable options out there to keep you in fresh flowers all year round. 

Display Plants And Flowers ©Mariia Boiko/Shutterstock.com

In addition, you could look into picking local wildflowers, as long as it is environmentally responsible to do so in your area. And if you really don’t want to worry about constantly replenishing wilted flowers with 1-800-Flowers, these days there are great faux flower options that look authentic but last a lifetime. 

What You’ll Need: Various
Cost: Various

If you have a knack for sifting for gold at your local thrift shop or estate sale then your home is probably already filled with priceless antiques that you scored for a buck or two. Beautiful antique items with a natural patina can spruce up any space, adding depth to an otherwise flat, modern look. 

Include Historical Items In Decor ©Khaled ElAdawy/Shutterstock.com

While shopping for historical items, keep an open mind. Perhaps a rusty musical instrument would take on a new life mounted on your wall, or a set of dusty glass decanters could be cleaned and displayed on a vintage bar cart in your office. 

What You’ll Need: Spray Paint, Masking Tape
Cost: $5-$10*

One of the easiest hacks to upgrade your furniture from looking like a mass-produced Ikea piece to a unique boutique find is to add metallic details. Whether you’re painting the legs of an office chair or the top of a coffee table, remember to use masking tape on the parts you don’t want to be painted.

Use Gold Spray Paint To Update Items @Mamasdance/Pinterest

The difference between a professional-looking job and an amateur one is clean lines, so don’t be afraid to tape and retape before you spray paint to get the look you wanted. Both painters’ tape and spray paint can be found at any Home Depot, usually kept behind lock and key to deter graffiti artists. 

What You’ll Need: Floor Tile, Grout, Sandpaper, Tile Cutter, Various Tools
Cost: ~$20/sq. ft*

Though a slightly more involved do-it-yourself project than other simple home decor tricks, adding a backsplash to your kitchen instantly upgrades the entire look and adds a lot of resale value. If you’re good at fixing things around the house, you might already have a bunch of the tools required laying around. 

Install A Tile Backsplash in Your Kitchen ©ImageFlow/Shutterstock.com

If not, you can pick up everything you need at a big hardware store chain like Lowe’s. Even only using Youtube for reference, you can do a professional-looking job for a reasonable price, transforming your kitchen in the span of a single afternoon. 

What You’ll Need: Linens
Cost: $11.99+*

Nothing looks more inviting after a long day at work than a perfectly made bed outfitted with crisp white sheets. And while you can spend dozens or even hundreds of dollars for a night at a hotel to experience this, it’s much cheaper than you might think to achieve the same look at home. 

Chose Crisp White Linens @AMANDAENGLE90/Pinterest

Nice sheets are something that has gotten consistently more affordable over the years, and nowhere exemplifies this than BBB. One trip to the popular retailer and you can get a new set of white sheets for under $15, as well as pillows and pillowcases for around that price point. 

What You’ll Need: Throw Pillows, Blankets, Etc.
Cost: Various

This home decorating hack takes a discerning eye, so if home aesthetics aren’t your thing, you might want to take a friend shopping with you who enjoys this kind of thing. While mixing textures can make a space look luxurious or bohemian, it can also look messy and unintentional when done wrong. 

Mix Different Types Of Textures @inspirationdesignbooks/Pinterest

Some rules of thumb are to stick to the same color story and to avoid going too crazy with multiple different textures in the same place. For example, on a leather couch you could opt for textured wool throw pillows and a chenille blanket but probably shouldn’t add a fourth fabric unless you really know what you’re doing.

What You’ll Need: Large Rug
Cost: $100+*

While shelling out for an area rug might feel like an enormous investment, it doesn’t necessarily have to be. Sure, handwoven Moroccan or Persian rugs can cost thousands of dollars when you’re looking at a 5×8 or larger option, but these days there are plenty of affordable alternatives to transform your space. 

Add an Area Rug @buzzfeed/Pinterest

Ikea has plenty of options in the $100-$200 dollar price point, as well as websites like RugsUSA.com, which offers tons of chic options around $100, most of which are completely machine washable, making them perfect for children’s spills and pet’s accidents. 

What You’ll Need: Gardening Tools, Plants
Cost: $100+*

While the sky is the limit when it comes to the cost of landscaping your yard, there are plenty of affordable ways to make your home’s exterior look presentable without breaking the bank. First, it’s a good idea to take stock of what you already have growing, and investigate what plants grow best in your climate. 

Add Fresh Landscaping Outdoors @Zoopla/Pinterest

Then, you can visit your local nursery or Home Depot and check out what they have to offer. Perennials are better investments than annuals, as they will return year after year, while annuals need to be replaced every spring. When picking plants, be sure to focus on choosing ones with varying heights to create a more dramatic and beautiful landscape. 

What You’ll Need: Artwork, Frames
Cost: $100+*

The great thing about a gallery wall is that the finished product looks so much better than the sum of its parts. Even if you have a bunch of random memorabilia and children’s artwork that looks silly on its own, when artfully framing and hanging everything together it takes on a whole new aesthetic.

Make A Gallery Wall @sharpaspirant/Pinterest

One way to achieve a beautiful gallery wall on a budget is to go to a craft store like Michael’s and purchase a few sets of matching black frames in assorted sizes. The clean lines and simplicity will go with any art you choose to put in them, and will look great on an accent wall.

What You’ll Need: Electrician
Cost: $200+ depending on number of lights*

While installing recessed lighting is not something you can safely do on your own, it is a simple project that can greatly improve the look and functionality of your home. In the course of one day, you can truly transform your living space with this remodel.

Add Recessed Lighting @RachaelObella/Pinterest

Recessed lighting creates the appearance of a larger room as light fixtures aren’t protruding down from the ceiling. This kind of lighting also provides better coverage, so your living space will feel brighter even without natural light sources.