How to get the quiet luxury look for less in your home

Quiet luxury looks for less: Easy ways to refresh your home on a budget

Are you looking to give your home a quiet-luxury look, but without the luxurious price tag? I have a few budget-friendly home refresh ideas that prove you don’t need to spend a fortune to make a big impact.

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Designer-inspired, quiet luxury home decor ideas

I am obsessed with creating affordable room refreshes! The thrill of finding a good deal or doing DIY projects to makeover a room is so satisfying. This dresser transformation was my favorite project in my daughter’s room makeover.

My son’s room got a little budget-friendly room makeover as well, and it turned out even better than I imagined.

Instead of buying all new furniture and decor, I focused on a few impactful DIY projects that made a big statement. As soon as you enter the room, the focal point is this floor-to-ceiling upholstered headboard, which made such a big statement.

When do we need to refresh our home?

With that said, have you ever taken a look around your home and realized it needs a bit of sprucing up?

That was my friend Joyce a few months back. She’d looked around her room and thought, ” Nope, this is not working anymore!

She felt her home was starting to feel tired and uninspiring. So she decided it was time for a refresh. But this time, the goal wasn’t just to update the room; it was to give it that calm, elevated, quiet luxury look, but for less to refresh her home.

What she really wanted was a cleaner, more modern look, something lighter, more updated, and a lot less busy.

The only caveat is that she spends half of the year in Florida and half here in New York. So she didn’t want to break the bank with expensive purchases but wanted a high-end look for less to refresh her home.

While Joyce was in Florida, she gave me carte blanche to update the living room and dining room. I love a good challenge! And honestly, it was such a fun project, and I love the way it came out!

Simple ways to create a luxury home look

This was Joyce’s living room before…

She felt her furniture was bulky, old, and somewhat outdated, and was making the space look heavier and more cluttered.

Start with a clean slate to refresh your home

First, I sifted through everything to determine what she wanted to keep, items that could be repurposed, and what could be donated to Goodwill.

Then, we completely cleared out the living room and dining room, removing all the knick-knacks and paintings.

The big leather loveseat was moved to the family room downstairs, along with the TV cabinet (which received a complete makeover). I seriously can’t wait to show you the transformation in an upcoming post!

Having everything out of the rooms makes it easier for you to bring in only what you want and need in your space.

This makes it much easier to create a cohesive look in the room and avoid a cluttered, mismatched appearance.

I came up with a pretty simple idea to replace the old, outdated furniture with something fresh and modern. Once we nailed down the vision, I put together a couple of design plans and picked out furniture and accessories to pull everything together so my friend could really picture the finished space.

Living room Inso #1 Living room Inspo #2

Dining room inspo

Affordable Ways to Make Your Home Look Luxurious

Onto the fun stuff! We went on a shopping spree online! We were able to order everything online, which made it much easier since Joyce and I were in different states.

Before we jumped into the fun part, decorating and styling every corner, the entire house got a fresh coat of  Benjamin Moore’s White Dove.

It instantly brightened up the space and gave us the perfect neutral backdrop that really set the stage for the decor.

We were also very intentional about what to bring back into the rooms. Every piece of furniture and decor had to earn its place. I chose items that actually served a purpose, added warmth, and elevated the space.

Speaking of warmth, two of my favorite go-to tricks for making a space feel cozy are curtains and rugs. They instantly soften a room and add that lived-in warmth. But Joyce isn’t the biggest fan of either; she feels rugs and curtains tend to collect too much dust. And honestly, I get it! Everyone has their own comfort level when it comes to what they want in their home.

While not having rugs and curtains keeps the space clean and minimal, it adds an extra challenge when trying to create a warm, cozy feel, especially in a living room.

Add texture to the living room makeover

Texture is the secret sauce to making a room look high-end. Layering fabric, cozy throws, and pillows can elevate and warm up any room.

I replaced the bulky black leather loveseat with two bouclé chairs. The fringe pillows she already had were the perfect complement to the chairs, while adding instant softness.

How cute is this marble pedestal table and ruffle bowl?

I love the reeded door fronts on this cabinet...

Coffee table dilemma

Ahh, the coffee table… I ordered a coffee table online, thinking I knew exactly what color I was getting, and let’s just say the one that showed up was definitely not what I was expecting!

It was one of those moments where you open the box and go, wait… this is the color?

I thought I was ordering something with a warmer wood tone, but what showed up was more of a faux grey wood look on top with black legs. I did not want grey in the mix at all!

Sometimes things look great online, but in person they’re a totally different story! That is the risk of buying online. Even though I could return it and find something else, I decided to keep it and work with it.

DIY it or return it?

Here’s the coffee table that showed up… rocking a very manufactured grey wood look. Not exactly the vibe I was going for. Instead of going through the hassel of returning the table, I decided to DIY it!

It was prettly easy, a couple of coats of Retique It paint and stain, I was able to transform it and get the exact color and look I originally had in mind. Sometimes a little DIY magic is all it takes!

One of the coolest things about this paint is that it actually contains 60% recycled wood, yep, real wood! Even though it goes on like a primer, once you stain and seal it, the finish looks and feels just like real wood.

After two coats of the wood primer, I went in with Minwax Provincial stain and applied it using a light dry-brush technique. This helped build the color gradually and gave it a much more natural wood look.

Exactly what I was envisioning!

Onto the dining room…

Joyce’s dining room was already a great space to start with. Her furniture was in excellent condition, so there was really no need to replace it.

Instead, we focused on working with what was already there and making a few simple updates to refresh the look.

Quiet luxury look for less with simple lighting updates in your home

Joyce had a farmhouse-style dining room chandelier that was fairly new and was nice, but she wanted to update it with a more modern lighting.

Swapping it out for something a little more modern helped shift the feel of the room.

Next, I added this beautiful ocean-inspired modern artwork...

Then to highlight the artwork, I added two sconces, one on each side. It instantly made the wall feel more balanced and gave the artwork more presence.

Best part, they’re battery-operated, so there was no need to run any electrical or deal with wiring.

Super easy to install, but they look like custom-built-in lighting. Just add the plate to the wall, and hook the light onto the plate, easy-peasy!

Sometimes those simple, no-stress upgrades make the biggest impact.

Quick and easy upgrades for chairs

Next thing we tackled were the dining chairs, they were perfectly fine, but they just felt like they needed a little upgrade.

The black leather was a bit too heavy for the look I was going for, so instead of replacing them, I took the easy route and covered them with simple white chair covers.

The room instantly felt lighter, fresher, and a little more elevated without spending a fortune on new chairs.

It’s always nice when you can build around pieces that are still beautiful and functional; it saves money and lets you create a whole new feel for the room.

Sometimes it’s the smallest change that makes the biggest difference.

The final dining room reveal

The dining room makeover turned out so beautiful. What I love most about it is how simple and calm the space feels now.

It still has warmth and character, but now it has that clean, lighter, effortless look that just makes the space feel fresh and inviting.

So remember when I mentioned that Joyce wasn’t really a fan of rugs and curtains?

Well… I couldn’t help myself, I just had to do a little mock-up of both the dining room and the living room with curtains and rug to see what it would’ve looked like.

I must say, I absolutely loved it!

The curtains added height and elegance, and the space instantly felt warmer, softer and more finished.

And the rugs anchored the whole room and helped tie everything together, completed the whole look.

So who knows…I may have to convince Joyce to take the leap, she may come around and give them a chance!

I might just have to convince her to reconsider the curtains and rugs!

What do you think? Is it better with or without the curtains and rug?

I love the completed look of the curtains and rugs!

They ground the space!

But at the end of the day, it all comes down to the person living there and what makes the space feel like home to them.

It is amazing how a few simple home decor updates, DIY touches, affordable finds, and a few styling tricks can instantly elevate a space and make it feel brand new

Once we completed this update in Joyce’s living room and dining room, she didn’t want to stop there, she wanted to give the entire house a refresh (more on the rest of the house in another post)!

Getting that quiet luxury look for less in your home is not about spending alot of money, but more about creating a calm, elevated space with timeless materials and thoughtful design choices.

It’s proof that you don’t need to spend a fortune to get that luxurious, designer look—you just need a few smart updates that make a big difference.

Thank you for stopping by!