There are approximately one million little decisions you have to make when decorating a room. Between paint colors (don’t even get me started on paint finishes) and upholstery pleating styles, there are also approximately a million ways to make a room look more luxe than it actually is. You likely know the big ones—designer-dupe furniture or light fixtures and secondhand to-the-trade fabrics—but it’s actually the small, subtle details that bring a well-designed room together. It’s likely that 99% of your guests will never notice them, but to the 1% that does, these details can make—or break—a room.
Below, I’m sharing the six small design and decor details that designers swear can make a HUGE impact on your finished room.
Upgraded Switch Plates
Usually an afterthought, high-touch items such as light switches and doorknobs prioritize utility and durability, but that doesn’t mean they can’t also be beautiful. Swapping out boring, builder-grade covers made from the same off-white plastic they’ve been using since the ’90s is easy and usually pretty inexpensive, as home upgrades go. Their impact, though, is immense. Retailers like Anthropologie and Rejuvenation—another designer favorite for knobs and hardware—are great sources for timeless switch plates that you can carry from house to house or room to room.
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Refreshed Can Lighting
Designers have quietly been doing away with standard can lighting for the last five years. While the light that overhead can lights provide is necessary, especially in a kitchen, there are just too many good replacement options these days to settle for the builder standard. Thanks to an explosion in direct-to-consumer lighting options—think Pooky, Rejuvenation, Lamps Plus, or Mitzi—there are really so many good and relatively inexpensive options out there. Whether you want to go all out with a flush- or semi-flush mount light or add a bit of character to existing can lights with a handy brass trim ring, upgraded ceiling lights are a sneaky sign of *really* good taste.
Kitchen Drawers, Not Cabinets
Allow me to let you in on a secret that kitchen designers everywhere wish you knew: Kitchen drawers will always—ALWAYS—be superior to door-fronted cabinets. Cabinets are, frankly, an organizational black hole waiting to happen. Standard entry-level cabinets offer little customization, meaning fabricators take a one-size-fits-all approach in a space that requires thoughtful design.
The best design accounts for the realities of life—the little hands rummaging through your cabinets for their favorite cup or the less-than-helpful helper trying to unload the dishwasher—and kitchen cabinets often don’t. A drawer-filled kitchen quietly signals a space that prioritizes both form and function.
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Classic Crown Molding
If you’ve been on social media at all in the last two years, then you have undoubtedly noticed design influencers going crazy with molding—and, I mean, I get it! Molding has the power to pull a room together and instantly make it look more luxurious. I don’t believe everyone should be slapping picture-frame molding on their walls, but I do believe in the power of crown molding. A room simply looks unfinished without it. Most of your guests will likely never notice the exact reason why your room just looks better, but the design-savvy among your friends certainly will. Plus, it provides a great opportunity for contrast trim, giving your space an even more designed feel.
RELATED: Everything You Need to Know About Contrast Trim and How to Execute It Like a Designer
Contrast Pillow Piping
Stay with me here because this detail is super subtle! There’s just something about a well-finished pillow that says luxury to me. Knife edges aren’t inherently bad, but they are a bit boring. Contrast piping on a pillow adds quiet interest and tells me that you know a thing or two about pulling a palette together. While I also personally love a ruffled edge, it just can’t compete with the understated elegance of contrast piping.
Layered Window Treatments
Frankly, window treatments often don’t get the respect they deserve. Much like the way earrings or a bracelet can make or break an entire outfit, curtains and drapes can make or break an entire room. The secret ingredient in a designer-approved window treatment recipe? A pair of easy-to-install woven-wood shades. Not only are they hugely impactful to the overall look and feel of your space, but they aren’t insanely expensive, either. (Don’t believe me? I installed these in my own home for less than $100!) So save a bit of your decorating budget by going with the same inexpensive custom shades I bought on Amazon and put it toward custom curtains that pull your room together with ease.
Anna Logan is the Deputy Homes & Style Editor at Country Living, where she has been covering all things home design, including sharing exclusive looks at beautifully designed country kitchens, producing home features, writing everything from timely trend reports on the latest viral aesthetic to expert-driven explainers on must-read topics, and rounding up pretty much everything you’ve ever wanted to know about paint, since 2021. Anna has spent the last seven years covering every aspect of the design industry, previously having written for Traditional Home, One Kings Lane, House Beautiful, and Frederic. She holds a degree in journalism from the University of Georgia. When she’s not working, Anna can either be found digging around her flower garden or through the dusty shelves of an antique shop. Follow her adventures, or, more importantly, those of her three-year-old Maltese and official Country Living Pet Lab tester, Teddy, on Instagram.
