This article is brought to you by Fairsquare.ca
This luxury kitchen features a separate bar area where guests can serve themselves and stay out of the cook’s way.
In its simplest form, luxury can be defined as comfort and convenience. So, luxury is living in beautiful and functional surroundings, comfortably. It’s not about spending a lot of money on expensive things.
Homeowners and homebuyers seek as much luxury as their budget can afford because a home filled with beauty that is functional and comfortable is considered desirable and of high value.
The luxury of comfort and convenience can also be achieved when you’re buying or selling your home. There’s nothing more convenient than saving money and according to a survey commissioned by Canadian real estate brokerage FairSquare Group Realty.
(FairSquare), 61% of Canadians consider saving money a top priority when it comes to real estate.1 With FairSquare, homebuyers receive cashback and home sellers save thousands in commission – in fact, FairSquare saved Canadian sellers an average of $13,5002 in commission last year! Find out how much you could save to put towards your luxurious upgrades.
You can achieve a luxurious look and feel to your home without taking out a second mortgage. Here’s how to make your home more luxurious on a budget.
Achieving luxury on a budget
A dark, rich colour on a focal wall adds drama. Drama is luxury.
Paint an accent wall in rich dark colour. Contrast, especially if the adjoining walls are white adds drama to a space. While you’re at it, paint your interior doors in a different shade.
Luxury Vinyl, the great impersonator
Luxury Vinyl is the great floor impersonator. It can look like everything from wood to concrete to make your home more luxurious on a budget. Photo: Jay Kerr.
Luxury vinyl can mimic almost any other surface, and it wears beautifully. It’s perfect for high-traffic areas and it’s less costly than real wood and may last even longer.
Put your hobbies on display
A wine collector’s wine room is on display in the dining room.
Ok, so maybe it’s not in your budget to create a whole glassed-in wine room. A bar cart is a great alternative. Put your treasures where you can enjoy them. Whether it’s model trains, planes or well, wine, put it in a well-curated display.
Losing your marbles over quartz
Quartz can replicate almost any stone and can be fabricated for any flat surface.
Having real stone from quarries in Italy and India is the height of luxury. But quartz does a great job replicating stone. It’s also a more practical surface for kitchens and bathrooms because it is stain resistant, impermeable, strong and less expensive than real stone. Learn more about the cost of quartz countertops.
Who needs walls when you can have windows?
Luxury is floor-to-ceiling windows that let the outdoors in!
Maybe a floor-to-ceiling wall of glass isn’t in your budget, but letting in lots of light is pure luxury. The more daylight you let in the better for your health and comfort. For instance, if privacy is an issue, install blinds and adjust them so the light comes in from above, but no one can see in. Lighter paint colours reflect light and positioning mirrors to scatter light from the window can help distribute light into dark corners.
Make your home more luxurious on a budget with lighting
Bedroom lighting can be multi-layered to set a mood.
Lighting is an important part of any home and it’s one of the least expensive ways to achieve a luxurious look. Task lighting is important in the kitchen, ambient lighting is important overall to light up an entire space and accent lighting is used on focal points like artwork.
Have you heard of a morning kitchen?
This servery or butler’s pantry acts as a “morning kitchen” for its homeowners.
A morning kitchen is a place where appliances and breakfast supplies are corralled. It’s a way of keeping appliances off the main kitchen countertops. If you don’t have a separate pantry to do this, try setting up a separate coffee station with everything you need within reach.
Top to bottom luxury
Uncluttered, neutral colours, soft furnishings and floor-to-ceiling draperies say…luxury!
Trim, like crown moulding and baseboards, complete a room, so don’t wait until you put your house on the market to enjoy this luxury. Don’t ignore your window coverings, either. Floor-to-ceiling drapery is a way you can make your home more luxurious on a budget.
The luxury of comfort and convenience
As you can see, when it comes to luxury spaces it all comes down to comfort and convenience, meaning there are plenty of options for any budget!
And if you’re looking for a luxurious experience when selling or buying a home, FairSquare is the smart, modern choice. Home sellers and buyers are paired with the right professional for every step of their journey – from listing to customer service to showings to negotiations and paperwork. Plus don’t forget, they offer cashback for buyers and thousands in commission savings for sellers so you will have more money in your pocket for home design!
Learn more about the FairSquare way.
1An online survey of 1,533 Canadians was completed between January 14-16, 2022, using Leger’s online panel.
No margin of error can be associated with a non-probability sample (i.e. a web panel in this case). For comparative purposes, though, a probability sample of 1533 respondents would have a margin of error of ±2.5%, 19 times out of 20.
2Average savings based on a commission of 5% in Ontario, 4% in Manitoba, and 7%/3% in Alberta, less a buyer agent commission estimated at 2.5% in Ontario, 2% in Manitoba and 3.5%/1.5% in Alberta, taking into account fees paid to FairSquare Group Realty and applicable taxes, from January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2021. On December 1, 2021, Purplebricks rebranded to FairSquare Group Realty. This statistic was calculated using data collected under the Purplebricks brand.