5 (more) Tips to Make Your Home Look Expensive
Focus on the art.
Art is such an effective way to make your home super luxe.
Art is not only highly esthetically pleasing, but when done right, it is also really personalized.
What demonstrates luxury more than something customized to you as an individual? IMO nothing.
Let’s talk about the 5 ways you can use art in your home to give it that super chic, super expensive look.
1. Large Art
Go large. This doesn’t mean the art has to cost you 50K. But if you want that serious wow factor, if you want to give the impression that you have money to spend (without actually spending it), look for oversized art. First, look for emerging artists with a low price point who sell oversized art. It’s not going to be cheap, but it’s not going to be nearly as expensive as you think either. Commissions are really effective here. Identify an artist whose work really resonates with you, and whose price point is low, and strike up a conversation about what an oversized work from them would cost you.
If that’s a no go, you can get oversized prints for under a thousand dollars. There are some great print stores online that offer absolutely enormous art. Just make sure the quality is exceptional (for which I would always be willing to spend a little more!) because at that scale you’ll really notice issues with reproductions.
You can hire a local muralist to make a piece in a large canvas. Muralists usually set a per square foot or per hour price. Find one whose work you connect with and ask what they would think of transferring their skills to canvas. Muralists are used to working in large scale, and while some are purists, others are more than happy to have some money coming in and are willing to switch platforms.
2. Get Personal
As discussed above, nothing really says wealth like something customized to you, your personality, and your story. Focus on your personal narrative in the art pieces you buy and tell your guests and audience about the connections you draw to the work. Whether or not that work was actually custom made for you is neither here nor there. And no need to lie here, simply saying what a piece represents in your life, how it tells your story will give the illusion of customization and fine curation.
3. Create the Gallery Vibes
We are talking layout and placement here. Pick one piece of art in your home and give it a ton of breathing space. Luxury = spaciousness. Don’t place anything under the art (no credenzas, no couches), and nothing to the side of the art (this isn’t for beside the tv). If you don’t have a whole wall to dedicate to a single piece of art try to give it as much space as possible. You can even consider placing it across from a chair where you can sit and gaze at the art. This creates a true feeling of being in a gallery, where the whole space is set up to better appreciate art. And light it well…
4. Lighting
Install art lights above the piece you’re highlighting. These are so cheap. You can buy them on amazon, and they make your home look epic. You can shine one of these on shitty mass produced art and it would look pretty good. Such a hack.
5. Create a Gallery Wall
A really well-curated gallery wall goes a long ways towards making a home feel expensive and tailor designed. Gallery walls are really fun, can be quite inexpensive, but give this incredible air of luxury. Having an art dominated space indicates you are cultured and well-off, whether or not that’s actually true. Frames matter a lot here. Pro tip for you, I never combine more than two frame colors on one wall (black and white, black and gold, wood and white… whatever it is, stick to one or two).
However you want to do it, centering art in your home is a signifier that you have good taste, have the luxury of personalized curations, and are in-the-know. Ultimate luxury.
Finding the right art at the right price is overwhelming!
I started this company specifically to support new art collectors navigate this intimidated, time-consuming and overwhelming market. I invite you to take the first step and fill out an application to work with me.