It’s a question many of us have asked: What makes a luxury home feel the way it does? Often, it isn’t some flashy feature or items that are notably designer. Rather, truly high-end spaces seem to possess a certain something—a quality it’s hard to put your finger on. Today, we’re going to cover five luxury home design concepts we feel contribute to that ambience!
#1 When Designing a Custom Home, Keep Things Cohesive
Photography by Vincent Rivaud
One major key to making anything look elevated is consistency. This doesn’t mean that your whole home has to have the same aesthetic or that you have to stick to sleek neutrals in any given room. You don’t have to adhere to a matchy-matchy or simplicity-centric look, but you should strive to be thoughtful about coordinating.
Maybe you love vintage details and a more eclectic look—that can feel luxury, but if you randomly mix in a single ultracontemporary piece, it all of a sudden feels chaotic and thrown together.
Items that look out-of-place within the overall design will interrupt the established style leanings. And after all, isn’t a well-styled room a high-end one?
#2 Textiles Make All the Difference in a High-End Custom-Built Home
Photography by Rachel Claire
Think about the most decadently luxurious hotel rooms you’ve stayed in. What, specifically, do you recall about them? We’re willing to bet the softness of the towels, crisp comfort of the sheets, and smooth plump pillows come to mind.
And if you ask any interior designer to name their favorite small luxuries, textiles in some form will likely come up!
For most who have the money to really customize and elevate a space, creating coziness is a top priority. Thus, a palette of carefully crafted textures is now synonymous with luxury. Consider upgrading your sheets and towels, or swapping out pillows and drapery.
Rugs are also a sticking point here! Take your time seeking out the perfect rug for every space … the results will have you feeling like a luxury home design expert!
#3 Say Goodbye to Clutter With A Luxury Home Design
Photography by Karolina Grabowska
Even if you are a lover of collections and tchotchkes, be organized! You can display your bits and bobs in a way that doesn’t feel chaotic and cluttered, and that is key in a luxury home.
No elegant space is overgrown by stuff.
But like we mentioned above, it’s okay if you can’t avoid having a lot of stuff, just make sure you devote some time in your design process to inventing chic, yet functional storage solutions. Think handcrafted built-ins with open shelving up top and closed cabinets on the bottom, ottomans that open to hold blankets, tech accessories, etc., and smart kitchen cabinetry solutions to help you maximize every inch of space.
Speaking of the kitchen, one big trend as of late is the dedicated butler’s pantry. This isn’t a new concept altogether, of course. But the past year has made high-end small kitchen appliances more of a luxury home “must” than ever. When you can’t stop in at your favorite smoothie shop, you’ll want a Vitamix. When you can’t spend you’re afternoon at the best little Italian-inspired café, you’ll wish you had a top-of-the-line Nespresso machine. And instead of taking up space on your kitchen counter, they can now be artfully displayed on butler’s pantry shelves.
#4 Luxury Home Designs Never Skimp on Finishes
In our fast-paced, mobile modern day, it is increasingly common for even the most high-budget home builds to cut corners (for time’s sake, if not money) when it comes to finishes. After all, how noticeable is the molding, or the door hardware, really? Well, actually, many a design pro will tell you that finishes are one of those seemingly subtle things that quietly pulls a room together.
This is the time to splurge and make thoughtful choices, not the opposite! In creating the designs for our homes here at Upper East River, we aimed to use quality finish materials, like hand-tumbled brick, wrought-iron lanterns, and real-wood floors. For us, the goal was to make our neighborhood feel suited to the fabric of Savannah. But in the end, it has made for facades and interior spaces that feel luxurious, too.
#5 Modern Luxury Homes Focus on a Clean and Polished Feel
Photography by Skitterphoto
We don’t just mean vacuuming and wiping down countertops, although certainly, keeping up with such things contributes to the ambience of a luxury home.
What we’re talking about though is deeper cleaning, perhaps carried out once or twice a year. Do it yourself or hire someone, but carefully cleaning and patching up trim finishes, wiping down walls and fixing chips in paint or wallpaper, etc. can have a big impact on the perception of your home.
Those details might seem small, but they undoubtedly contribute to the overall sense that your home is polished.
When it comes to luxury home design concepts, it’s all about executing your unique aesthetic while maintaining the feeling that every choice was intentional and cultivated.
To envision how you might put these principles into practice on a blank canvas, take a peek at a few of our beautifully appointed homes.
