Living rooms that feel genuinely expensive rarely got that way through a single large outlay. More often they are the result of accumulated good decisions – an understanding of proportion here, a considered use of colour there.
Many of the tricks that achieve this effect are less about spending money and more about knowing what details to add or remove – and they are the tricks that interior designers deploy as standard.
Ahead, you’ll find 12 interventions offering your living room a little lift in the right direction.
1. Choose lighting that pools not floods
The quickest way to make a living room feel like a waiting room is to rely on a single overhead light. Designers light rooms from the bottom up – table lamps, floor lamps, the occasional candle – creating pools of warm light akin to a really great hotel lobby or wine bar.
Wall lights too are so often overlooked too, but they offer the same soft and romantic glow without robbing you of valuable surface space. Their affordability means you can buy them in pairs to flank your sofa.
2. Invest in a hero piece
You don't need a room full of expensive things, but one thing that is genuinely exceptional does the job of pulling everything around it up. It needn't be a splurge – forget designer sofas that can consume an entire budget in one go – and look instead for drama. A great armchair in a really eye-catching fabric, a statement rug or something commanding overhead.
Antiques tend to have the imposing proportions of a more architecturally generous era, which gives them a natural authority and sense of grandeur in today's homes.
3. Upgrade sockets and switches
The plastic switch plates and sockets that are standard in most homes can undermine everything around them. Swap them for paintable plates that blend seamlessly with your wall colour, or clear Perspex versions that allow wallpaper to continue uninterrupted beneath. Pooky’s range gets the balance right: discreet but utterly satisfying to use.
4. Get rug proportions right
A serious faux-pas in the design world, using a rug that is too small makes the whole seating arrangement feel unmoored. As a rule of thumb, the front legs of your sofa and armchairs should sit on your rug, anchoring the furniture into a unified grouping. When in doubt, go larger than you think you need.
5. Create juxtapositions
If sameness and symmetry are the bland calling card of mass production, sophisticated friction is its antidote.
Interior designers work instinctively with this rule, and once you understand it, you see its absence everywhere. Mixing the pedigree of traditional design with the playfulness of modern accents – an elaborate ceiling rose with a contemporary pendant or a classic sofa shape with a punchy upholstery – feels interesting and high end.
6. Add (faux) architectural details
Few features deliver as much polish and definition as architectural mouldings. Lightweight coving, architraves and ceiling roses – in MDF or even polystyrene at B&Q – can be cut and glued in place by even the most DIY-shy. Once painted, they’re indistinguishable from the real thing.
7. Hang curtains high and wide
Fixing your curtain poles as close to the ceiling as possible – rather than a smidge above the window frame – and extending them generously on either side, makes windows appear larger and ceilings higher.
The curtains themselves should look heavy with enough fabric to pool very slightly on the floor. Interlining makes all the difference. The additional layer of bump fabric – sandwiched between the face fabric and the lining – gives a fullness and weight. In lieu of that, curtain weights do a good job of encouraging a nice fall on the fabric. It's a trick that can completely reframe the architecture of a room.
8. Add one piece of art that is slightly too large
A piece that feels almost daring in scale imparts a sense of generosity that smaller works, however beautiful, rarely achieve.
In a countryside sitting room, a large landscape, oversized botanical study or wall hanging – framed vintage fabric makes for an impactful yet super affordable alternative to XL wall art – can become the emotional centre of the room. And it goes without saying to always, always add a large, creamy mount when framing artwork.
A note on the type of wall art – generic, high-street pieces rarely look elevated no matter how well you display them. Antique fairs are a rich source of interesting wall art that looks considerably more expensive than it is. And adding artefacts such as ceramic plates, sconces, architectural fragments and antique oddities feels more characterful still.
9. Hide evidence of modern life
The functional detritus of daily life, such as remotes and chargers, accumulates on surfaces and erodes the atmosphere of even a well-decorated room. Lidded boxes, lacquered trays, shallow ceramic bowls and ottomans with hidden storage help a room look more composed.
In a similar vein, disguising stray wires is a small job with an almost disproportionate payoff. Head to Etsy for discreet cable tidies, clips and boxes. We love interior designer Sophie Rowell's cable covers that look like scrunchies.
10. Paint your woodwork
The transformative power of painting woodwork cannot be overstated. Take what is ordinarily white and glossy – doors, window frames, skirting boards – and paint them either to match your walls or contrast vividly against them.
Pairing that with a dead flat paint throughout softens everything, and in deeper shades – a forest green, a warm terracotta, a dusty indigo – the effect is particularly striking.
11. Plump upholstery
Flat, sunken cushions are one of the most reliable indicators of a room that has stopped being cared for, and, conversely, beautifully plump, well-filled upholstery is a signal of quality and attention.
A feather and fibre mix holds its shape better than foam alone, which compresses and starts to feel rigid. Equally important is the habit of plumping, to give seats and cushions a generous, cloud-like fullness.
12. Forage garden-grown arrangements
The looseness and irregularity of garden-grown arrangements will beat out the stiff and samey store-bought (or faux) bouquets every time.
A jug of cow parsley in late spring, a handful of sweet peas in a small glass, or a few stems of something unexpected from the hedgerow, arranged without too much fuss, will never fail to look elegant.
Spring homeware edit
Pansy Quilted Bedspread, Multi
Pli Green Pleated Desk & Table Lamp
Next Cath Kidston Cream/Blue Floral Quilted Storage
M&S Pure Cotton Floral Embroidered Cushion
Velvet Cushion, Rectangle, Butter Yellow
Catherine Lansfield Epping Textured Stripe Reversible Polycotton Duvet Cover Pillowcase Set
H&M Large stoneware serving plate
Scalloped Mint Green Vase
Rachel Edwards is the Style & Interiors Editor for Country Living and House Beautiful, covering all things design and decoration, with a special interest in small space inspiration, vintage and antique shopping, and anything colour related. Her work has been extensively translated by Elle Japan and Elle Decor Spain. Rachel has spent over a decade in the furniture and homeware industry as a writer, FF&E designer, and for many years as Marketing Manager at cult design retailer, Skandium. She has a BA in French and Italian from Royal Holloway and an MA in Jounalism from Kingston University. Follow Rachel on Instagram @rachelaed
