Spring is finally here and, for many, it’s the perfect time of year to start thinking about upgrading their interiors and breathing some new life into them for the warmer, lighter months ahead.
Whether you’ve recently purchased a new luxury property or are looking to makeover your existing home, switching up your furniture is one of the easiest ways to make a big impact and to inject an unequivocal sense of style, sophistication and good taste into your living space.
Whilst it’s true that furniture should be practical, that doesn’t mean you should have to compromise on the aesthetics, and although keeping your home clear of clutter is essential to avoid detracting from the overall look and feel, it’s possible to find a happy medium by seeking out furnishings that offer the best of both worlds.
If you’re unsure where to start, then here are some easy ways you can give your home a luxury uplift by adding or changing a few key features.
Choose your aesthetic
Having an idea of the direction you want to go in with your aesthetics is key before getting started, and will form the foundations of the entire makeover – so you’ll need to have this figured out before you start splurging on lavish items of furniture to ensure they will work in the space you have and will help to achieve the desired result.
Instead of just picking out individual pieces you love, you’ll need to look at the bigger picture: will that modern chest of drawers work with your mid-century theme? Or, if you’re envisioning a vintage-style aesthetic, then do you really want to opt for matching pieces of furniture, or would combining one-of-a-kind vintage finds or made-to-order Italian furnishings to create a unique look and feel that exemplifies your personal taste?
Make a statement
The key to infusing a sense of glamour into any living space – whichever room of the house it happens to be in – is making a statement, and that means selecting one beautiful, stand-out piece and allowing it to do all the talking.
Statement furnishings work well with the kind of minimalistic, modern design aesthetic that remains a popular interiors trend, and a stunning chaise-lounge in your living room or a huge four-poster bed placed at the centre of your bedroom will instantly create a sense of opulence and grandeur. Keep your accessories minimal and your colour palette simple – monochromes or neutrals are timeless choices that always work well.
Use textures to your advantage
Aside from investing in high-quality pieces that are designed to stand the test of time, the key to creating a luxurious feel in your home is by combining sumptuous fabrics and finishes. Materials that you can’t help but reach out and touch, like velvets and silks, inject an instant sense of opulence with minimal effort, and can make all the difference in even the simplest of spaces.
Some of the easiest ways to add some decadent fabrics to your living room are by layering up cushions in a variety of different materials on your plush new sofa, and in your bedroom you can do the same with your very grand bed. Oversized rugs that feel soft to the touch can really help to create that palatial feel, too, and look great in just about every room throughout the house.
Don’t forget the lighting
Your choice of lighting has the power to make or break any living space, no matter how carefully you’ve chosen those beautiful pieces of luxury furniture. Harsh overhead lighting is a sure-fire way to spoil the elegant ambience you’ve worked hard to create, so instead, opt for strategic mood lighting designed to softly illuminate specific areas of your home, positioning lamps in key areas like behind the sofa or above the fireplace.
Have a dimmer switch installed if you don’t have one already, as this will give you full control and allow you to set the right mood at the click of a button. Many of the latest smart home systems will allow you to control it all via a smartphone app, even allowing you to change up the colours when it suits to create a variety of different atmospheres.
Of course, one advantage of it being spring is the fact that, for much of the day, you won’t need to have the lights on at all, but during that time, it’s still essential to ensure you allow plenty of natural light into the room to avoid it looking dark or dingy. Large, floor-to-ceiling windows or sliding glass doors out into the garden are the ideal choice and will help to bring a sense of the outdoors indoors, but if it isn’t possible – for example, in a loft conversion – then consider adding a skylight. If you have small windows, then avoid heavy curtains, which can block the light from coming in, and opt for stylish woven blinds instead.
