Interior stylist Sarah Yarrow says luxury is less about one particular aesthetic and more about tailoring comfort to your lifestyle – i.e. a home that fundamentally provides a lovely space for rest and relaxation.
Luxury is dependent on your home and personal style. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
“So much about luxury is about having time, particularly time to enjoy your interior spaces,” Sarah finds.
“Luxury could be having a comfy armchair to sit and enjoy a coffee, or being able to have a rug underneath so you can walk around with bare feet and have it feel cosy and comfortable.”
Sounds pretty nice, right?
Her advice for styling a luxury home is to seek out quality pieces, pay attention to light and smartly incorporate the things you love. Here’s five tips on how to pull it all off.
1. Buy quality items
“I’m a big believer in buying the best quality you can afford,” Sarah says.
There are multiple benefits to buying quality furniture items for your home. These include the longevity of your item, the premium look and the personal value it has for you.
Beauty is in details. Picture: King Living
“Luxury to me is having those quality pieces which you can pass on through generations,” Sarah adds.
“Don’t buy stuff just to fill the room or to have it now. If it means waiting six months to get a really coveted piece, then I always encourage clients to do that rather than getting something you don’t completely love. You’ll never value that item.”
“If you’ve had to wait for a beautiful piece of furniture, you’re going to value it so much more.”
2. Luxury is more about ‘feel’ than ‘look’
You may think luxury is an aesthetic but experts tend to disagree. Luxury is more about comfort, feel, texture and multi-sensory satisfaction.
Think about the quality of your fabrics and furniture, as well as their comfort level.
“Consider linen cushions that feel really lovely and tactile, or a pure wool blanket you can cosy up to,” Sarah says.
3. Think about the light
Light is particularly important when it comes to choosing colour schemes. Sarah encourages thinking about the orientation of the room before committing to a palette.
If you want a large dining table in a dark timber, you may want to make sure you have the right light and space to accommodate it. Picture: King
“If it’s a west-facing room, it’s going to get a lot of hot sun in the afternoon,” she says.
“If you’re using oranges and really warm colours in that room, it’s going to feel even hotter than it actually is. Equally, if it’s a south-facing room, it’s generally going to feel quite cold and dark as it gets less light, so you’ll want to warm it up.”
4. Work with the existing space
Speaking of light and space, don’t work against the natural or in-built elements of your room. Unless you’re renovating, you may be limited by certain features and, of course, the dimensions. Take measurements and make plans to ensure everything fits properly.
“A lot of people make the mistake of falling in love with a piece in the showroom or online and it doesn’t work with everything else they’ve got,” Sarah explains.
“Look at the room as a whole and map out the proportions of the space and what you can physically fit, so you don’t buy a beautiful piece that doesn’t work.”
5. Be selective
Clutter is the enemy of luxury and, as Sarah points out, “there’s a difference between clutter and showing your personality”.
Just because you have a lot of ‘stuff’ doesn’t mean it needs to look cluttered and daggy. Picture: Pexels
If you want to display personal memorabilia like photos and souvenirs, be selective and smart about your styling.
“For instance, if you have shelving, just make sure it isn’t cluttered with ‘stuff’ — only show things that are meaningful to you,” she says.
“You might have a lot of inventory, but the way it’s displayed in terms of scale and proportion, the colour palette and the shape or form [of the items], is key to ensuring you’re connected with those items and that space. It’s not just stuff on a shelf.”