Elevate Your Home With These 7 Budget Friendly Designer Secrets

This post may include affiliate links in which we earn a commission, as we are supported by our users. All opinions expressed are always our own and any commissions earned are of no cost to you. Thanks for your support!

When I worked as a student admissions ambassador for the school of interior design at my university, one of the most common comments I heard from potential students and their families was, “Wow, I had no idea there was so much to interior design!” And it’s true… with so many facets and intricacies, much of the industry is misunderstood as an expensive take on HGTV instead seeing the research, development, construction documents, scheduling, project management and relationship building required for residential and commercial interior projects. That being said though, most people realize just how influential a space can be on the lives of those who inhabit it, even without much knowledge of the design industry and all its inner workings. Colors can affect your mood; lighting and green space can affect your health; furniture can affect your daily movements. All of which reflect the power of interior spaces to enhance or detract from life. So, knowing that our homes, offices and other daily environments have such an impact on us, why not make them as harmonious, personal and aesthetically pleasing as possible?! As possible of course within a budget… because if you’re like me, then your budget has boundaries. But the good news is, a boundary filled budget does not have to mean unattractive design! There are SO many amazing tips and ideas to transform your space with a small investment or reimaging what you already have. With just a few small changes, your space can instantly become more sophisticated. Let’s dive into how to elevate your home with these seven budget friendly designer secrets! 

Properly Size Your Pillows 

One of perhaps the easiest budget friendly designer secrets to transform your space is the proper sizing and filling of your pillows. Whether on a sofa, chair, bed or bench, adding a properly sized pillow can totally elevate your look and give a room a completely different feel! Have an old sofa you don’t care for, but aren’t ready to replace? Bring in a pop of color or pattern with pillows! But make sure they aren’t flat or too small to prevent the entire ensemble from looking tired. 

Pillow Group Sizing

Before determining the insert size to get, you must decide on the size pillows you need overall! There are many, many layouts and pillow options (Google can be your friend here!) and feel free to experiment with your own situation but traditionally, most designers recommend:

Chair: One 20”x20”, 14”x20” or 16”x20” per chair depending on the chair size 

Insert Sizing

Once you have figured out the overall sizes you need, to give that full, plush, designer pillow feel, make sure to add a pillow insert that is one size larger than the pillow cover. For example, if your pillow cover is a 20”x20”, fill the pillow with a 22”x22” pillow insert, preferably one that is feather down. 

If you can’t easily come by one large pillow insert, you also can use two small down inserts to provide the same effect. Upon moving to Europe, I discovered that the sizing and fullness of the inserts were quite different, so I simply doubled them up within the pillow covers and it has worked great! 

Highlight Your Collections 

I believe some of us are just wired to be collectors…we start with rocks and toys and knick-knacks as kids and never quite grow out of our love for finding unique pieces. Whether you are a collector of art, baskets, currencies from travels, sports gear, hats, stamps, dishware, scarves, or any other item you enjoy collecting, turn your collections into your home decor! Displaying your collections not only makes your space personal with unique conversation starters, but it also solves the problem of what to do WITH your collection while capitalizing on items you already have on hand. 

To transform your collections into home decor elements, here are a few ideas:

For mismatched items with a similar form such as scarves, handkerchiefs, coins, stamps etc. use a collection of matching frames to help provide a blend of continuity in form and contrast in subject. 

On the other hand, you can arrange free formed and easily hung items, like hats, dishware / plates, baskets etc., to create unique interest on a wall all by themselves. 

For larger items like toys, sports gear, vintage finds etc. modern acrylic display boxes (like those shown below by Tori Rubinson Interiors) can create the perfect moment to highlight each piece. 

Hang Drapes High & Wide 

Beyond collections and pillows, adding drapery to your space with proper installation is a great budget friendly designer secret. Even without custom curtain panels, installing drapes, regardless of whether they are from Home Goods and Amazon or Pepper Home and Etsy, in the proper fashion TOTALLY changes their appearance. Typically, curtains should be hung a minimum of 10”-15” out from the window and at least at a height of 2/3 of the space above the window. If you have low or moderately high ceilings, I recommend mounting your drapery hardware just underneath your molding and letting them slightly “kiss” or “puddle” on the floor according to your preference. 

Likewise, to look balanced, the stack back of the curtain when the panels are open should be at least 25% of the curtain panel width and up to around 50% of the width, depending on the size and scale of your window and your ceilings. A common curtain stack back width is 18” to 22” which likely will come into the window just a bit to cover the side molding, however this can be increased depending on the effect you are looking to have and the proportions of your space. Just be sure that when you stand back to assess them, the curtains seem proportional and look more full rather than slim. 

Embrace Tone On Tone

The fourth of our budget friendly designer secrets is to embrace tone on tone color palettes when painting a room. Painting an entire room a single color with different sheens for different elements (ex. walls in eggshell, trim in semi gloss, ceiling in flat – or all in high gloss for a lacquered design) or painted with very similar colors just a few shades different from one another (ex. a trim color just slightly lighter or darker than the wall or ceiling) can instantly elevate your home to make it seem larger, create an architectural feel and allow the architecture to compliment the added pattern, texture and color interest provided by the furnishings. Certainly this can be accomplished well in white or neutral tones, but it also can be applied to bold color applications. 

Likewise, if using wallpaper, create the elegant tone on tone effect by selecting one of the primary colors within the wallpaper as the trim and ceiling color. These small color decisions within a space add no additional cost, however they can have a DRAMATIC difference in the story that a room tells. 

Rethink Finish Applications 

One of the key elements of being a designer is being able to think creatively and when you pair that when looking for budget friendly solutions, you must use your creative muscle double time! When implementing investment friendly design choices though, one easy place to start is with rethinking finishes and methods. 

For example, if you have a brick home and are looking to change the exterior of your house, perhaps you explore German Schmear (like we did HERE!) instead of just painting your exterior to limit upfront costs and costs of painting maintenance down the road. Or, on the interior, maybe you decide to paint a wallpaper design instead of installing true wallpaper or you install wallpaper in accent panels instead of around an entire room. Certainly, not all designs are replicable, however there are many wallpaper patterns (stripes, dots, stencil motifs) that can easily be painted with a little patience. Techniques like this to replicate designs or place designs within panels can be seen all throughout history, even dating back to pre-renaissance times as artisans would frame textiles to act as “wallpaper” panels and paint columns or door frames to resemble marble or other high end materials. Rethinking wallpaper designs or exterior finishes can be a great way to lower investment costs while achieving a designer look, particularly if you are willing to undertake a project yourself. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jessi Morley Nichols (@jessimnichols)

Shop Your Stuff, Then Other People’s 

Shop Your Stuff 

Another key designer secret when looking to be more budget conscious and not start entirely new is to shop your own stuff! If examining all that you have and designing it in a new way seems overwhelming, empty your room entirely and lay out your pieces in another space. Then, walk through that other “shop” of your items and pick out individual pieces that you think would work nicely in your room. This allows you to see each piece in a new way and can encourage you to put things back together in a different configuration than you had before. Bonus: whatever items you have remaining, either find a new home for them in your house, or sell / give them away all together! 

Shop Second Hand 

Once you have “shopped” your own things, shop second hand! There are SO many people looking to sell new or used items on Facebook Marketplace, antique malls, flea markets or thrift stores. Often, if you use terms such as “designer” or the name of designer brands (for furniture, fabrics, wallpaper and lighting), you can find new or gently used designer items from other clients who have gotten them exclusively from working with an interior designer! Don’t be afraid to elevate your space with actual designer items that someone else has already used, assuming they are in good condition, or even find historical or vintage pieces to make your space unique. Everything from lighting and furniture to hardware, wallpaper and even architectural pieces like doors, windows and moldings can be found second hand. Shopping second hand can be very investment friendly and can allow you to make your space uniquely personal to your individual tastes with pieces that are really quality.  

Install Art & Mirrors Lower Than You Think

The last of the budget friendly designer secrets to discuss here is less about items to purchase or updates to make and more about the installation of items you might already have. A common mistake people make is hanging art, wall decor, mirrors and other items way too high, while installing their drapes way too low. Since we have already addressed installing curtains, it is now time to talk about hanging other items. 

For most wall decor pieces such as art and mirrors that are free floating on the wall, aim to hang the center of each piece at about 57” to 60” off the ground to provide the best viewing angle. If installing art or a mirror above a dresser, chest or console table, it is advisable to hang the work about 6” to 10”  above the furniture to ensure that the artwork or mirror looks connected visually to the furniture piece and not as if it is floating. 

Final Thoughts

Creating a beautiful, nourishing space for you to enjoy with your friends and family does not have to come at an exorbitant price tag. I love that with just a few budget friendly designer secrets in place, you instantly can build upon the foundation you already have with a bit of creativity and proper installation knowledge! You may not have endless resources, but knowing how to strategically leverage the elements you already do and/or plan to have in place (ex. paint, pillows, drapes etc.) will totally change the vibe and really elevate your home! So, do you have a favorite budget friendly tip to design your space?! Feel free to share in the comment section below! 

Happy designing!

Chloe

– pin for later –