 Engaging all five senses is key to creating a luxurious look, says interior designer Susan Fredman of Susan Fredman Home. Dining alfresco is one affordable way to suggest a luxe look—decorative accessory and gift products specialist Midwest/CBK illustrates the idea in this setting. http://www.mwcbk.com  Creating a luxurious look for less could mean investing in fewer, but better quality, pieces, says Frank Bence, a seasoned designer with Flegel’s in Menlo Park, CA. This skirted Channel back chaise from furniture manufacturer Kindel, is a versatile silhouette that’s worth the investment. www.kindelfurniture.com Luxury Looks for less By Nancy Robinson, Nine Muses Media How can you create a luxurious look in your home on a budget? Designers say the first and most critical step is to understand what luxury is—and isn’t. Luxury is not synonymous with “large” (McMansions) or even expensive. Rather, true luxury is based on an appreciation of environmental qualities that support and enhance one’s sense of living well on a daily basis.“Luxury is about having an environment that works for you, takes care of you, functions well and feels good,” explains Susan Fredman, an interior designer and owner of Susan Fredman at Home (link http://www.susanfredmanathome.com), with stores in Michigan and Chicago. “It’s attention to detail and understanding what your needs are and how good aesthetics enhance your life. From an interior design point of view, luxury is how you connect a functional aesthetic to a sensuous environment that evokes all five senses.” Frank Bence, a seasoned designer with Flegel’s (link http://www.flegels.com) in Menlo Park, CA, believes luxury starts with the right mindset. “I’m a great believer in having the best that you can afford around you,” he says, offering the following tips and tricks to create luxury on a budget: 1. Invest in a few exceptional furniture pieces that set the overall tone and quality level. In this economy, it may require buying fewer pieces and/or spacing out purchases over a longer period to get the best look and quality possible. 2. Select one fabulous fabric that establishes a room’s tone and color palette. Use it in small quantities and supplement with lower-grade fabrics elsewhere in the room. “On one project, we had to take a chunk out of the budget after the whole interior was laid out,” Bence says. “We managed to keep the look and color palette by using chairs with more wood and less fabric in order to keep the ‘fabulous’ fabric.” 3. Appreciate the importance of scale. “One of the things that makes a room look cheap is if the scale is off,” Bence advises. “This could include if the leg on a coffee table is too thick, the scale of the chair too small, or window treatments that don’t look luxurious. If the window treatments are skimpy, there isn’t enough fabric to make the drape look rich.” 4. Choose accessories carefully. That doesn’t mean they must be expensive, but they should be interesting rather than merely filling space. “I find clients have wonderful things tucked in the back of their closets,” Bence says. “They just don’t know how to use them. Sometimes rearranging things in a room helps, because people don’t know how to display what they have.” 5. Make sure the lighting is soft. Nothing obliterates the feeling of luxury faster than harsh lighting. Put all of your lighting on dimmers, Bence advises. 6. Entice all the senses. Invest in a cashmere throws for curling up in front of the TV and have beautiful scents in the room. Tuck a bowl of potpourri in the back of a bookcase, burn a scented candle, or place fresh cut flowers or fragrant orchids in your entry hall. “Whenever I can, I open the windows to my garden, where I have jasmine and other fragrant plants blooming in the summer months,” Bence says. It doesn’t cost a thing, but the luxury quotient is great indeed.
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