To ask what makes a home look luxurious/posh/modern?

[minniemummy0]

No matter how hard I try I can’t seem to get our home looking as nice as some of my friends. There’s just something I can’t put my finger on. So far I’ve worked out some common things - such as new, clean, plush carpets, or candles burning. For some reason they all seem to have an L shaped sofa. What makes you really feel “wowed” by someone’s home??

This is my sort of style.

Not that our house is quite like this, we have spent the last few years stripping woodchip. We have a red carpet downstairs that we are determined not to remove until the kids have moved through the destruction stage

Babyplaymat is that your living room? It's lovely and it looks effortlessly tidy.

Lol just seen your post.

Is anyone putting pics of their living rooms up? Happy to go first if anyone wants a nose

Books. Huge book shelves full of books do it for me. Bugger the rest of the furniture. Get a few big book shelves full of books and your house will start to look amazing.

Brizzle - that bathroom is the opposite of posh!

This is my idea of a luxurious bathroom

I like houses full of interesting stuff. Minimalist and all matchy doesn't work for me.

Bright velvet, clean lines and expensive/ quality art work

We always look at our own homes with an over-critical eye. Maybe your friends have cupboards where they fling everyday items so that their homes look oh, so lovely for visitors.

I wouldn't worry too much as long as your home is healthy and happy. If you're still concerned there are fabulous ideas in interiors magazines but bear in mind that the 'perfect home' probably doesn't feel very lived in. It isn't worth getting neurotic about.

I think it's down to the individuals taste.

We have a mixture of inherited furniture, the nicest is a pair of late Victorian Carver chairs and an Art Deco chest of drawers. Some pieces we had made for us, a couple of bits we bought second hand.

I have a cloak I made hung on the upstairs landing which people tend to ask about and I'm thinking of putting up a giant hat I made for a production on the wall as well. I have lots of seascapes going up the stairs with similar but not exact the same frames. Not to everyone's taste. My friend has a nice everything matching house, I don't because I cannot be bothered.

I am thinking of buying a chaise lounge it's something I have always wanted.

Screw trying to make your house look like how you think it "should" look. The nicest houses are a reflection of the tastes and personalities of the people who live in them. Fill your home with things that make you feel happy and bring you pleasure to be around. Never mind other people's opinions.

As for toys. Well my DS's toys make him happy and bring him pleasure to be around and so I treat his objects anyone else's. Not messy hindrances that are to be hidden away but joyful objects on display like everything else. I think our house looks exciting and fun and stylish in it's own way.

I don't think luxurious, 'posh' (however you interpret that) and modern are the same thing.
Cosy and welcoming is easy and cheap to achieve; lighting is very important (a room looks instantly more welcoming with lamps rather than a central light). The second important thing is not plastering your furniture to the walls, use the space in the room. I think quite often people choose furniture (particularly a suite) which is too big for the space or conversely aren't brave enough to go bigger e.g a big rug generally looks better than a postage stamp.
I personally think you can make any property have the interior you want, if it is done properly it will look right. What looks wrong, whatever your style, is something that is instant- style evolves over time.
I also like to adhere to William Morris' advice of only owning things that you find either beautiful or useful. And that, combined with decent lighting, is how you get your own personal style and it will work

I have a friend who has an amazing style - think Victorian cabinet of curiosities/taxidermy etc. - not my style at all, but it looks amazing. I think I could have style, if I/the kids were not so messy - I prefer quirky to bland/neutral.

I don’t like pale/light wood, it looks impersonal and bland to me. It’s what you get in hotel rooms, offices and hospital waiting rooms.

You need to evolve your own style. Lots of stuff in my living room has been mentioned here as a no-no.

But I like my space and it looks pretty pulled together.

I think a really individual look would wow me, though tbh, I don't know anyone with that, including us, though it's our ambition and we are very happy with what we have anyway.

A lot of people have houses which are very nice, but honestly a bit samey. But you know, as long as they work for people, that's great!

The kitchen.

I like cooking, so I like a proper, utilitarian cook’s kitchen with lots of proper cheffy kit to admire and no silly pointless ‘fashion’ or ‘lifestyle’ crap cluttering it up.

Apartment Therapy has lots of house tours, mostly American, but there are also British ones too. There are also lots of articles on decorating your home, and how to style things like coffee tables and shelves.

One thing I've noticed over the last few years, is that the majority of places have white walls, although grey has been a popular colour in the UK. The trends are starting to shift now, and dark walls (charcoal grey, deep blue, and some deep greens) are showing up more.

I've never painted walls in white because I love colour, and only having colourful soft furnishings and décor just isn't enough for me.

I wonder, when you say "luxurious, posh, modern" if you're thinking along the lines of how boutique hotels are styled.

Whatever sofa you get, don't buy a black leather one. The only one of those boxes they tick, is the "modern" box.

Good quality flooring, furniture and doors. Decent skirting boards too. My flat has good doors but not any of the rest!

Has anyone mentioned about giving a nod to the age and style of the house? Our last house was a 1800 cottage, with lots of beams, wooden floors and small rooms. Our house now is 1960's open plan with big rooms and floor to ceiling windows. So all artwork is totally different, we can go big and bold here, a lot of our furniture now is mid century. We've gone a lot less neutral and a lot bolder. The old house just couldn't have carried it.
We've had to spend a lot of our cash on stuff you can't see like drainage so as always much of the furniture is second hand bargains. I think the most I've spent apart from the main sofa is £200 because I really wanted an Ercol sofa. My latest purchase is some gorgeous cinema seats for £80. So everything is quite eclectic and not luxury but people usually comment on how much they like the house.
So what I'm trying to say is that there are all sorts of looks that are wonderful. The luxurious minimalist look I think you're getting at is so hard to maintain unless you haven't got kids/stuff and like housework all the time. Go for a bit of character!

I have lots of seascapes going up the stairs with similar but not exact the same frames

IDK if you relate to this but I get a sort of visceral pleasure out of collections of different versions of the same object. Like my kids' drawing pencils, arranged in pots by colour. 9 purple pencils, all slightly different shades and lengths and brands, all put together.

My friends and I all bought within about a year or so, and my house was awarded the "most beautiful" title (in a conversation where we also gave out best location, biggest etc, so not some wanky one sided thing).

We happen to be lucky that the previous owners did a wonderful finish, and the house was barely more expensive than places that hadn't been done to the same standard.

We actually have laminate throughout, but everyone immediately says, "ooh, real wood floors" (before I somewhat smugly correct them). There is cheaper laminate in the conservatory, whish pisses me off because it doesn't match the rest of the house.

We seem to have ticked a lot of the boxes here - white walls, neutral grey furniture,pops of yellow and green in different rooms. (The ones that are finished anyway). Copper and grey in the bedroom. Bits and bobs of personal and professional artworks, nick nacks from travels but not an excessive amount.

I think the point about mixing textures is massively important when it comes to style. I picked it up from a interiors piece that pointed out minimalist colour schemes could look so much more engaging if there was a mix of shape and texture within it, and now I've started paying attention, it is what makes nice looking arrangements really look beautiful.

My ideal home would be old, thick walls, deep patterned carpets and rugs. Floor to ceiling book shelves full of well read books. Everything off the floor into storage would be my dream. I like old furniture; except for the beds, all my furniture is second hand/hand me downs. I love the dark , solid wood so much. My walls are magnolia and the ceilings are white (except bathroom;blue and kitchen;yellow) My daughter 8 and myself have just finished painting her bedroom Firey sunset (orange) Sounds awful but is truly lovely and my daughter loves it. I think style is personal and what makes you happy. I do not want a posh or luxurious home, I want a style that reflects us, as a family.

for me it's;
Good lighting
Natural materials
Quality fittings in bathrooms and kitchen
Clutter free and clean
Space
Art
Sumptuous soft furnishings
Shows the personality of the owner

But all loved by you and even if some ideas are pinched, in your own individual style over all.