What elements do you think make a room look polished, high end & well put together?

[StoneBasket]

I'd like to change my interior around & shake it up a bit. Less of the student squat look & more of a grown-up vibe. Everything I put together is a hodge podge. I want to try & elevate it a bit. Apart from decluttering & cleaning, what says polished & well put-together to you?

Following with interest as I’ve just moved into a proper grownup house

I’ve taken all my old photos out of clip frames, for a start.

Aiming for classic and quality furniture rather than overtly trendy.

Good quality natural materials

If carpet -wool
If hard floor -real wood
If curtains -cotton/linen

Not too cluttered but not too stark

No massive tv (anything over 32’’)

No huge speaker systems

Pictures hung correctly at the right height and not too small for the wall

Also not too matcha matchy

A three piece suite is not the way to go

No feature walls

Pools of lamplight
Fresh crisp white painted woodwork
Mix of textures (thinking probably more living and bedrooms here but knitted throws/fluffy cushions/layered throws on bed, but within a toning colour palette)
Fresh flowers nicely arranged as a centrepiece or nice dried hydrangea heads or similar
Some interesting bits, but not many

I do think it’s mainly down to the bones of the room though - nice clean carpet/floor in a neutral, clean and tidy unsaggy sofas, walls even with a decent paint job etc

Large art in real frames definitely helps... but crucially no one will know if it’s a print or not (presuming you don’t have a few £££ for art) so long as It’s not something from IKEA or similar. Pick something you like on the internet that is unique to you but being sold by the creator, even if they are selling a few thousand copies it’s unlikely anyone you know will have one. Frame properly with card as inlay. Get a chopping board and a knife and a set square. The frame can then be quite cheap/plastic.

Paint your skirting... stares are scuffed skirting.

Cushions can also really elevate a room. As does plants on side tables.

Floor length curtains, and hung up as high as you can.

In a living room, TV in an unobtrusive spot, not the main focus of the room and if you have the space, two sofas opposite each other with a coffee table in the middle with a large rug underneath. Fold a nice blanket over the arm of a sofa.

Not too much out on display, arrange objects on shelves in threes with differing heights. Get some nice coffee table books and stack on top of each other.

Pictures hung not too high on a wall and not too small for the wall space.

In a bedroom, try putting a tray with small vase of flowers, perfume on a chest of drawers. Prop large framed photos/artwork On a chest of drawers instead of hanging them on the wall.

Do you want to share some photos for specific ideas?

Sounds like a a show home, @givememarmite.

Bumping cos I need more ideas

Well they are generally polished and well put together

Unobtrusive electronics
Not too metallic and not too much sheen ok fabrics
Layers of texture - uphostery, cushions, rugs, throws
Tidy!

Curtains - floor length or skimming the window sill. No vague hanging somewhere over the radiator.

Lock my husband & cat in the utility husband.

Well designed & stylish furniture that looks like it’s had some thought put into it. Good lighting. Original floorboards ideally with quality large rugs that are co-ordinated to the colour scheme but if not then neutral wool carpet or hard flooring. Wall colours that compliment the period of the property and light of the room and isn’t the latest fad colour. Art that’s more than decoration and is genuinely interesting and makes you want to look at it. Books!

If you are artistic & creative you can style a room without spending lots. I have zero talent on that front personally though so we buy original items & furniture we love over a period of time rather than sticking a load of cheap crap in just to fill it up.

Following!

Moving home soon, place marking for ideas!

Agree with pp about tall curtains ceiling to floor
My thoughts are:
Quality door handles
Part glazed doors
Avoid hooks and pegs on backs of doors (i.e. with clothes and bags hung on them)
Crisp woodwork (coving, skirting and architrave)
Natural fabrics rather synthetics
Mixture of lighting options (task and mood)
Clean windows and sills without trinkets
Avoid furniture too close to the opening sweep of the door
Doors hung so they open towards the wall therefore offering privacy to occupants if the door is ajar

Clean. Not just half hearted but properly clean. And fresh smelling. Paint regularly touched up. Nothing lets cheapens a house more than smelling food across the whole house, yellowing paint, and dusty / scuffed skirting.

Art, ceramics/pottery, textiles (curtains, cushions,rugs), lighting.

@Caramelwhispers

Lock my husband & cat in the utility husband.

Wish I had a utility husband 😁

God me too!🙂

Not having those bloody plug in “air fresheners”

Tidy and properly clean. Anything visible should look ‘placed’. Anything ugly should be put away.
Paint in good nick; no cheap laminate flooring. No curtains better than cheap unlined ill-fitting ones.
Beyond that it’s about individual taste/trends.

Having a few really good quality statement pieces, especially mirrors and lamps. I have one very expensive table lamp that I got on sale, it looks excellent quality and is beautiful and large. I also have a pretty cheap but unusual floor lamp and a statement mirror. Visitors to my house often comment on these pieces.

Another one is decent light fittings with the right brightness/types of bulbs makes a huge difference. There's nothing worse that a huge room with a basic 12 inch diameter drum shade.

Making sure that the majority of the elements of the room are reasonably cohesive. So if you are going for 'country house' choose fabrics, patterns, sofa shapes, plant pots, mirror frames, curtain poles, paint colours etc that reflect that. If you are going for mid century - make sure your furniture / accessories, colours, textures etc are of that kind of style so it looks a little bit put together. I would also be mindful not to overdo this though so it doesn;t look 'show-homey' or 'styled' unless you like that sort of perfection.

I also think getting the proportions of things right makes a huge difference to how pleasing a room looks - so for instance the size of the rug relative to the sofas and overall room size, the size of pictures, mirrors, lampshades, TVs etc.

Yep, I need a bigger lamp so I can call it a "statement piece" like a proper grownup

Absolutely nothing that you'd describe as 'nice'! If it's just 'nice' then it's going to be timid/try hard/trendy.

Have things that you either need to be there, or that you love. Everything else will be today's 'nice' & next year's 'naff'...

Be ruthless in getting rid of things you don't like or that don't feel right in the room - it's nearly always better to remove stuff than to add more.