Do you ever wish that your home looked more elegant? Have you wished that it had more of a staged, organized look? I am here to share with you how to make your home look more expensive on a dime.
When I was growing up, we had a super cluttered home always.
Little trinkets, photo albums, and STUFF everywhere.
I just wanted a nice organized designed space. A couple of years ago, I was actively wishing that I could just declutter my stuff and have a pretty home to come home to every day.
Heck, I still wish for it every day!! Specifically in my office but it is a creative working space… it can be a mess when I am working in there. But I am happy to say I am a reformed clutter bug!
I have learned a few essential concepts from my designing and blogging journey. Now, rooms like my living room and bedroom as less cluttered and more finessed!
I have broken it down on how to make your home look more expensive into 14 essential elements.
*This post contains affiliate links, which help me to run Arts & Classy. See my disclosure policy for more details.
1. Flowers
Fresh flowers are always ideal. If you are like me and have a cat that loves to nibble and any fresh flower or plant you put in your house, finding good fake flowers can also work. Flowers give off an organic feel that can really brighten up a room. They add life to a room. Flowers can complement or can be used as a focal point in a room. Either way, putting flowers in an elegant vase will absolutely class up your space making it feel more expensive.

2. Hang Curtains High
If you haven’t read my tips on picking the best curtains for your room you should read this first and then come back to this article. The logic behind hanging your curtains higher is that they will give the illusion of higher ceilings, making your space appear grander and larger.
With the right curtains and height, you amp up the sophistication in your space x10! AND you don’t have to spend a lot of curtains.
3. Paint Your Walls
As a renter, this is usually my first step when trying to not only make my apartment seem homey. Even just painting one wall the right color or shade can depict the feeling of the room. For example, my hand painted stenciled Moroccan and grey accent wall really changed the look of my bedroom when I was doing my January Makeover Challenge.
Grey can be an easy shade to paint your walls because it is very neutral and elegant. Make sure to pay attention to how color affects your mood and choose wisely.
Here is a similar Trellis stencil you can use in your home!

RELATED: Surprisingly Easy DIY Headboards
4. Area Rugs
I adore area rugs! Not only are they great to help with soundproofing a room, but they are perfect for adding pops of color or personality in a room. AND you don’t have to spend a lot on a beautiful area rug.
Here is a similar rug to this one.
5. Stone
Natural textures and materials like stone makes a big impact on making your space look more high end. You can purchase real stone decor or you can DIY it. I have a recent DIY project that I made for my home to make it look more expensive.
6. Switch Out Lamp Shades
this is a cute and easy fix to change the look of a room in a subtle way. You can change the look of your space with modern or traditional shade. It’s also a more cost-effective way to decorate instead of replacing the entire lamp.
Here is a beautiful lampshade that would class up any home.
If you LOVE this blanket on the picture above, I finally found out where you can get one yourself!
7. Create Vignettes
I recommend taking all your decorative smalls and gather them in one area. Then build cute, simple, and elegant vignettes to dress is your space up. Use your coffee table books, vases, and little trinkets to dress up little spots around your space. Give it a staged look.
8. Use Matching Containers For Storage
You can go as high end or cheap as you want for this because the uniformity is the crucial element to achieve the high-end look in this case. You could go with mason jars, baskets, or containers from the container store. Either way, the uniform look will give off a high-end feel.
Here are some baskets that are comparable to Wood Wired Baskets, Foldable Fabric Bins, Magazine File Storage.
RELATED: Surprisingly Easy DIY Headboards
9. Replace Crappy Hardware
Even when living in an apartment, this is an easy way to glam up your space to give it more of a high-end look. Crystal knobs or silver-colored knobs for your kitchen and storage cabinets will take your space to the look of the higher price level. This is a simple way on how to make your home look more expensive.
Here is an awesome Moen Reflex faucet that I have in my home and love! It has made my kitchen much ritzier!
10. Use Vertical Space Wisely
I can’t stress this enough. Come up with a clear purpose for your vertical space, whether, it’s going to be an organized storage space, collage wall, or a place to hang framed artwork. Here is an amazing floating shelf suggestion.
11. Peel and Stick Upgrades
This upgrade can help both renters and homeowners. If you are on a budget and can’t spend a lot of money renovating your kitchen, explore peel and stick backsplashes.
12. Use a Curtain Rod to Create a Canopy Bed
This is a great solution to help make your bedroom look more expensive on a budget. Just use an industrial curtain rod to hang drapes from around your bed to create a canopy bed the DIY way.
13. Paint Half of the Wall in a Room
Give the illusion that your space is taller by painting half of your wall in any room you choose.
14. Clear the Clutter
Clutter can really drag a space down. So if you are looking to only take one thing from this blog post, it would be to clear the clutter in your home to make it look nicer and more high end. I am not sure about you, but clutter can also overwhelm our brains. By cleaning up and removing it, you can help a state over overwhelm to dissipate.

I hope this article has shown you the ins and outs of how to make your home look more expensive on your budget. Let me know if this was helpful to you in the comments below.

If this article helped you, please share it on Pinterest!


This post is EVERYTHING!! So many good tidbits & advice. Thank you for sharing your home decorating wisdom. I’ve been wondering how to make my place look more homey & straight out of an HGTV magazine, but I’ve been stuck on what exactly to do. I’ll be coming back & forth to this post for encouragement & advice when I start redecorating.
Lauren, I am so happy you found this article helpful for you! I am really trying to create posts that I feel address subject with decorating that people would relate too. You completely made my day with your comment! Thank you! If you ever have more specific questions, please email me directly [email protected]. Good luck with your decorating journey! xo
Love your tips! As a garden designer I use vignettes as well. I enjoy changing them out with the holidays. I also find something that makes big impact in the garden is using repetition in colors.
Thank you so much Tamara! Garden design sounds like so much fun! How did you get into that? AND Thank you for your additional tip. 🙂
Wonderful ideas! I’m definitely going to be coming back to this for inspiration! I’ve got a whole house to decorate that is going to be fixed up room by room on a budget! Thanks so much for sharing!
Hi Danielle! Thank you so much for visiting my site. It makes me so happy to know that you found the info helpful. Have a great weekend!!
Love your ideas on here! All fabulous! I just pinned the whole article but also the individual pic of the gold end table with vignette. So pretty! Going to try and do something like this in my living room this week. Thank you 🙂
Sarah! I am so happy you found this article helpful! Thank you so much for pinning all the images! Good luck with your decorating. 🙂
Love this! We just bought a house and I will be using some of your tips for sure! By the way – I’ve seen that kitchen hardware (specifically the cabinets) in another desing book. Do you know where they are from?
Thanks again!
amazing. I NEED that comforter!!
That is a Morrocan wedding quilt. Very expensive.
Grat article! I love the tip about the curtains. I did this in my own home, it looks great!
Emily, Thanks you so much for the compliment! Glad to hear some feedback about one of the tips. 🙂
Liked all suggestions!
Thanks for this post. Your pictures really made your suggestions come alive & so easy to see.
Thank you so much for the positive feedback! So happy I could help you visualize the changes that can be made. 🙂
awesome tips thankd
You are welcome Cindy! 🙂
Thanks for this post. Your photos really made your suggestions come alive & so easy to see.
LOVE LOVE the bedroom!!
This is a wonderful post! My mum is a curtain designer and so we are lucky to have custom curtains throughout our house, but as we are heading into winter I love the idea of a rug!
Lauren, Thank you so much for taking the time to tell me what you enjoyed about this post and I am happy you found it helpful! Thats so cool that your mom is a curtain designer. I am sure your home is gorgeous!
Love this post so much :)!
Thank you Jessica! I love that you decided to leave me a comment saying how much you loved it! #epic
These are excellent ideas. Very simple and broad enough for anyone’s taste and style. Thank you for the great tips!
Sarah, I am so excited that you got so much from this article! It’s great to hear that it can be applies to any style and taste. Happy to give helpful info!
thanks that was helpful
Thank you for letting me know Delia!
I love your whole site Meredith, well done, I will be checking in often to see what’s new!
Kellie! I love YOU! Thank you so much for the compliment and it means the world to me that you found the info I am putting out there to be helpful! You rock! Thanks for making my Monday even better!
You’re very talented and I appreciate your site. I’m pinning you now. I can’t wait for your updates.
Mary! You are so sweet. Thank you so much for your kind words and support. Also thank you for pinning and sharing. It’s readers like you that make so so happy while doing what I am doing. xo Meredith
Your ideas are great and achievable for any budget too. The true source for the ‘use vertical space wisely’ picture ledges photo is Oliver and Rust blog.
Thanks Elizabeth! Great to know the original source info. I will update it!! 🙂
Great advice! I always love a good area rug!
Thanks Betsy! I agree… a good area rug can make or break a room in my book. 🙂
Meredith,,
Where did you find your rug at? I am so looking,I brought home “7” yesterday,,Yes! and none are the right color!!
Thanks,,
Hi Tina! I believe that area rug is at Ikea actually. 🙂 Happy shopping!! Thanks for reading.
O’Meredith! I loved this whole Pinterest,,,You had some darling ideas,,and your bedroom is stunning,,everything was! And I loved how you added “source”,,sure helps me a lot,,
Thank you much,,
Tina
Thank you so much for reading! I am so happy you found this article so helpful.
Can’t wait to try these out when I finally move out!! Love the curtain tip especially!
I’m a college student getting ready to decorate my first apartment (exciting!) and this post is such a huge help- especially given that I would love to have a classy little place to come home to but on a college student’s budget.
Hi Alice,
How exciting to be decorating your first apartment! There are so many little steps that can make a dramatic difference. For example, I hated the tile on my kitchen countertops in my apartment so I covered it all with contact paper. Looks so much better and will be easy to peel off when I move. Happy to inspire and help you get the cute and classy apartment you have always wanted. 🙂 Good luck with school. Those are magical years. Learn as much as you can! 🙂
Love all your suggestions!! Could you please tell me where you got the comforter? Thanks for the help!
Hi! Where did you find that cool blanket on the bed in Photo #6???
Hi Lydia. This was a curated post so I am not quite sure where that blanket came from. Its adorable too. I wish I did know. Apologies. If I find it or if you do, please leave a link in the comments. I will add it to the source info below the image. Thanks for commenting!!
Great ideas! I love your curtain tip especially and have used that in my family room and it definitely helps!
I think the other important one is to declutter as much as possible. Cluttered spaces always look cheap.
Aw thanks for responding — I’ll look around:)
Thank you so much for this! Some of these I already do in my home, like #2 as to hang curtains high – it really Does make a difference. As for the others, I’m really excited to try out!
Sophia! I makes me so happy to know that you found this post helpful for you own home! Keep me posted on anything else you try! 🙂
You have made your place so so beautiful. I felt like I was looking at a high end design magazine. I want to create your style. You are so talented. I want to learn more. .
Hi Meredith,
I really enjoy reading your posts and learning about home decor. I am terrible at decorating my home! :/ I need ideas to brighten up and make my house feel homy. I will definitely be coming back to read all of your wonderful posts! Thank you for sharing.
Cindy
Meredith, you really know how to address decor with a simple, yet ‘classy’ approach! – You opened up my eyes, and made me think about all the possibilities I have without having to spend a fortune decorating our rental. I am a big fan of vignettes. I think I switch them weekly, just to constantly try new things (with old things!) – Thank You, Thank You!
Hi Flavia! You did have luck commenting. I have to manually approve every comment but my theme doesn’t really tell people that. I will have to work on it. 🙂 Thank you so so much for your kinds words. I am so happy you are enjoying what I am putting out there!! XO Mere
As a college student moving into my second apartment I have been on a mission to create a space that feels more mature and organized while still incorporating the things I love. I have a slight problem with collecting unique trinkets, I loved the mentioning of decorative smalls and creating vignettes to tie a space together. I am still in the process of unpacking and organizing but your post has given me some fantastic tips! Thank you for the pointers!
Hi Claire! I am so happy you found this post helpful! I feel like I was battling that issue also in college. It pleases me so much to know that these tips can help you make your 2nd apartment fabulous!! You are amazing. Feel free to take a photo on instagram and use the hashtag #decoratemyrental to share your place when you are done with it. I will feature it on my insta!!!:) Thank you again!!
I am so glad I came across your site. These are great tips and I will be using most of them!
My livingroom looks a bit old and out of style, I’m so going to use some of this ideas to give it a new look. Thank you so much for this and your great taste!
Rosie,
I am so so happy this helped you! Good luck with your place and I hope you will share photos on instagram or on my FB page when you are done. 🙂 Best, Meredith
This is just what I needed! I am getting ready to do some redecorating since my daughter has gone off to college and this touches on everything.
This is great. Inexpensive ideas for once.
Where did you get the rods for the window treatment? I love them…
Hi! Where can I find that coffee table in the picture under #1:Flowers? I’m looking for something just like it!
I’m very impressed with your sage advice on decorating. You’ve touched on every important aspect of decorating to make the best use of living space to keep it organized, elegant, homey, comfortable and most importantly, affordable. This is by far the best advice I’ve read and pinned that details the things that actually apply to my concerns in decorating my home. Keep up the good work! I look forward to reading more advice from you.
Diane,
Thank you so much for your kind words! I am so happy you found this post to be helpful to you! To me, home is a sanctuary. I want my home to make me feel stress free and cozy. With this in mind and a practical use of space, this post was born and I am amazed at the volume of positive responses I have received. Thank you for taking the time to let me know how this post impacted you! You are the best! xo Meredith
Great help!? where can I find this comforter?
Hello Anna!! Thanks for leaving a comment. I am actually not 100% sure where that comforter came from but I have received a lot of compliments about it. I will see what I can find out and send info your way if I find the source. Sound good? Best – Meredith
LOVE! this! Just moved out to California and trying to keep my place as cozy and classy as possible. Thanks for sharing!
I am in the process of decorating my space and this list a very helpful to me. I painted the hardware on my dresser adding silver elegance to my space this article made me happy. Thanks.
Mercedes I am so happy you found these tips helpful!
Your suggestions are very good. I live in very warm climate and the homes aren’t real big. I do not use any rugs or curtains…it tends to close the space in ?.. Instead I have plantation shutters and wood floors…it keeps the inside cooler
Good solid advice that anyone can easily follow to create an elegant home. Thank you.
You are sooooo welcome Jo-Ann!!!
Fantastic ideas. I particularly liked the idea of matching baskets for storage. It is such a good design idea and I would do it in the garden too – a row of the same bush/tree looks so much more elegant than a mixed up border.
I have tried extending the curtains to make the window look better and it works.
I am so lucky to have inherited some gorgeous rugs – they are like jewellery for the floor.
Making use of vertical space – have to do that more myself.
Best of all – fresh flowers (and healthy pot plants). So many good ideas – thank you so much.
I can not even begin to tell you how happy your comment made me. 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to leave some feedback on this post. It makes me so happy knowing it has been well received!
Cute ideas! However, “on a dime” is sort of misleading for this article, as some of these suggestions would take tens or hundreds of dollars…
Alice! This is were creativity and DIY comes into play to keep it within your budget. 🙂 Thanks for commenting!
Hi, I was wondering (if you don’t mind telling) where you brought your couch from.
Love this. So much good info. I’m going to share with my daughter.
I love most of these ideas….but why am I the only one that doesn’t like the look of curtains hung so high above window? That blank space between the top of the window and the curtain rod drives me crazy!! LOL.
Hi. Love this post. Could you tell me where you got the narrow shelves for the vertical space ? Thanks.
Are you kidding me!!! Can’t wait for the hubs to get home to show him. I am getting to work ASAP starting with the curtains and I will check out that Moroccan wall for the living… Beautiful. Thank you so much for this post.
I am so happy you got so pumped about this article Lucines!! 🙂 Please share photos if you implement any of this advice! I would love to see before and after photos!
Wonderful ideas. We are moving into a “character” home and I will be using some of your ideas.
Betty! I am so happy to hear you are excited to use some of the ideas I shared. 🙂 If you want to share you before and afters, please use #artsandclassyathome.
I ENJOY all of your ideas!!! Please can you tell me where to find the comforter from Amber Interior. I have not had any luck to find it anywhere.
Hey Vivian! Thank you so much for taking the time to reach out. I actually don’t know where that blanket is from. Boy to a I wish I did. I get emails about it a lot.
YES YES. Meredith I agree with your great tips. The really important ones about going high to draw the eye upwards with curtains, mirrors, kitchen cabinets …….. creating an illusion of height. Huge mirrors can make a space so wonderful. Lighting is another great trick. I have pinned your article into my favourite private folder as I will go through it and use it as a check-list. Great jib Meredith. (I am a retired Interior Designer ).
Great tips!! 🙂 I’m currently renting and these tips are amazing
The pictures are beautiful and the way you write…enthusiastically without being tiresome. Thank you. Most of your tips are doable in our apartment starting with the flowers which is very Feng Shui!
Love you tips and examples! I’ve also been noticing lately that using the color white when decorating or using white furniture, blankets, or accent pieces really makes a room feel fresh and elegant. Thanks for the tips! 🙂
Quick question- I hope you don’t mind me asking here, but is there a plugin to get the ads on the very bottom of your photos? I’ve been trying to figure out how to do that forever. Thanks so much!
Thanks Jessie! So problem! The plug in I use is called Content.ad check them out online. You can also monetize Sharaholic if you want to go that route!That also has a plug in and floating share buttons at the bottom of each of my post and page.
I absolutely loved these tips!! Moving next weekend and I can’t wait do to some of these things!!
Thank you! These tips and photos are great, and love that you added links.
Love,love,love your blog. The ideas are great. Will be coming back again. Thanks
Jean!!! Your comment was so sweet!Thank you so much for taking the time to tell me how much you are enjoying my blog. It really means so much. I put so much time and energy to this passion of mine and to see that others are benefiting from what I am putting out there makes me so happy!
Very helpful ideas! I am also a renter and your ideas help me to feel that my options are not as limited as I thought. Thanks!
Melanie!!! you are exactly the person I am always trying to reach! I believe that decorating as a renter can still fun and you can create a cozy, classy, and stylish space to reflect your style! Thanks you for letting me know! Have you downloaded my 7 Days 2 Home Ebook yet? It’s free!
Thank you for the great tips about home decorating, this article is very informative. I so love your ideas..classy but not costly! I like that..just perfect for my research to help me in decorating my home. ??
Andi! I am so happy you found me and are digging what I am putting out there! If you ever want to share your space on social media… I would love to see it if you applies any of these tips! Use hashtag #artsandclassyathome. Thanks again! Best, Meredith
Can you tell me the source of the desk?
Thx
Hey Sherry! I did a little research and found what looks like this deal but may just be similar…. It is on Overstock.com.
I hope this helps! Thanks again for the question! Best, Meredith
WHERE DID YOU GET THAT BEDDING!!!!!!
Kyndal!!!! Here it is –>> http://tidd.ly/ca6c9255
This article spoke to my decorating & design soul! Especially motivates the thrift nature in me. I feel so motivated and inspired for when I get my place come this summer. Thanks!
I really enjoyed reading and looking at all of your tips and ideas. I am going to use as many as I can to help me beautify our space. Thank you for taking the time to research this and share it with others. I think my favorite as the framed art wall and the organized container area. I also like to use decorative pillows to add pops of color and different fabrics to my spaces.
Hello Tonya!
I am so happy you found my tips helpful! I think that people can overcomplicate the decorating process. I am really on a mission to show people that you really don’t have to spend much to decorate your home beautifully! It’s the little tips and DIY’s that really bring it to life. Thank you again for taking the time to let me know.
Best,
Meredith