Affordable luxury is a big part of what drives my designs for my clients. I like to help my clients enhance their homes and their lives without breaking the bank. Keeping one eye on making a room look fabulous and the other on keeping it affordable has served me well in my business for as long as I have been practicing.

Family Room

This is a family room that I recently completed for a family of four who desired a cool, calming effect but very comfortable and low maintenace. Certainly you don’t think white when you think low maintenace, but my clients loved a monochromatic palette of whites, soft grays, greens and blues and wanted to use that palette throughout their home. We used a pair of slipcovered sofas from Pottery Barn as the main seating. Slipcovers give them the option of cleaning the sofas for those inevitable spills. We also fabricated custom pillows with hidden zippers on the covers that can be removed for easy cleaning. We anchored the room with an existing dark wool area rug that can take heavy traffic. We considered bringing in a new area rug in softer, cooler colors, but since budget was a concern, we had to make this one work. By focusing on the blues and whites in the area rug, it worked very well with the rest of the room.

My clients loved the look of living rooms seen in shelter magazines, but did not want to spend alot of money to achieve that same look. They had a collection of folk art and religious sculptures from artists in their home country of Venezuela that they wanted to use instead of purchasing all new accessories. All these pieces were arranged in the built-in shelves and the tables in the room. These pieces were all colorful reds, blues, golds and greens that didn’t exactly work with our palette, and couldn’t be altered in any way, but to me what was more important was making their home about them and the things they love, and not necessarily trying to match a certain color palette. Sometimes we have to bend the design rules for everyday living :-) My clients were very happy with the results. Here is another view of the family room

Family Room

Family Room

Good design does not have to break the bank. There are tons of creative ways to achieve affordable luxury in your home. Here are a few ideas that I like to recommend:

• Repurpose the furniture you already have or change the look to suit your personality. Example – Painting a dresser using a metallic paint, reupholstering a chair in a beautiful, rich looking fabric, or adding moldings or other architectural details to a room, adding decorative panels to furniture pieces. O’Verlays Decorative Fretwork Panels is a great resource for taking a plain piece of furniture and make it look spectacular!
• Painting a room or creating one accent wall in a darker shade or even using wallpaper. Doing a decorative wall treatment such as horizontal stripes or a faux finish, goes a long way to making a room look luxurious. Paint is your best friend when it comes to decorating
• Arrange your accessories in new ways, especially seasonally. Adding a few items with some bling (do people still say that? ) gives the illusion that they cost a bit more than they do. Do this sparingly and complement them with pieces that have visual texture, because you don’t want to end up with an 80′s Las Vegas lounge
• The process of layering your rooms is what make them “sing”. It’s very much like getting dressed for a nice evening out. You start with a basic little black dress, and then layer on your jewelry, makeup, clutch etc. Same process with a room.
• The use of color sets the mood and tone in a room, with paint having the biggest impact! There are so many other ways to bring color in for a luxurious look. I usually recommend keeping the big ticket items in a room neutral and add color through pillows and accessories, but if you have a favorite color that you’ve loved for years, why not go bold with a certain piece. For example orange is my favorite color and I would totally add an orange sofa in a room. How you use color is what makes the difference between affordable luxury and cheap & tacky
• This is a big one that seems pretty obvious but most people don’t do – Re-arrange your furniture…. and frequently (maybe even seasonally). Moving furniture away from walls helps to make a room feel more intimate and create conversation areas. It’s amazing how different a room can look with a new furniture layout.
• Shopping at flea markets, garage sales and estate sales is another great way to bring luxury in without breaking the bank. This is where your rose-colored glasses will come in handy. You will sometimes have to look past yucky finishes and beat up appearances, and see the potential for a diamond in the rough.
• Look through shelter magazines and other publications for current trends in interior design. You will often find that the high-end fabrics and furnishings that are usually featured on their pages have knock-offs that look alot like the originals. Knock-offs aren’t really a bad thing if you can get the look of luxury far more affordably.

Everyone deserves a little bit of luxury every now and then in their lives. Why not make your home that dream space that you’ve always wanted. A few simple creative touches often does the trick. If all else fails, call on Casa Vilora Interiors to help you achieve affordable luxury in your home. It doesn’t matter if you aren’t local to the Houston area, our Mail Order Decorator service is available and may be just what you need – a professionally designed room that you can put together at your own pace and as budget allows. Often times, you just need a plan to get started! If you are local to the Houston area, you can take advantage of our HappyNest One Day Makeover…..because we all love instant gratification.

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…….And before I wrap up for today, please support small businesses in your community on Small Business Saturday (November 30). Small businesses are the heartbeat of our communities. Here’s the link to my e-commerce site where you can purchase great items for your home.

…….And for the first time, I am participating in a couple of  Bloggy Parties. I’ve always wanted to be a part of this community of creative minds who understand what it is to be passionate about decorating and design. Feel free to go check them out and subscribe to their blogs as well as mine so you never miss out on some great decorating tips, ideas and how-to’s.

First up, one of my favorite Blogs Serenity Now! This will be such fun!

……And The Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home Blog

……And Be Inspired @ Common Ground Blog
Have a Marvelous Monday!

Be Inspired!