5 Timeless Design Elements for Luxurious Homes

We love celebrating the latest design trends du jour just as much as all our fellow design lovers. But what we love even more is relying on timelessly impeccable design elements that immediately add a luxurious, elevated tone to any room in a home.

And I truly mean any room — from the most petite powder room, where no detail is spared, to main gathering areas that are brilliant for entertaining, and even girls’ and boys’ bedrooms, which can be simultaneously age-appropriate, playful, and upscale. No matter the space, luxurious design is available for the taking – and it’s always so life enhancing for its owners..

Here are five timeless design elements we consistently implement to ensure a luxe aesthetic in a home.

1.  Ceilings: So often, I see people putting so much focus on the main walls of a room and letting the ceilings get completely overlooked. But I’m here to tell you that ceilings can be a game-changer in a space.

Ceiling millwork can be clean and linear, curvaceous, delightfully patterned, or anything in between. It can also help delineate spaces in an open-concept design. It can make a non-remarkable space suddenly become architecturally  interesting. 

We love to completely custom-design this “plane of the room” when budget allows. Paying attention to this “fifth wall” is a big payoff move – whether the ceiling design is a strong or subtle one is yet another strategic design consideration about which we guide our clients in as well. 

2.  Monochromatic colors: Think about the most luxe five-star hotels, or the most beautiful boutiques in Paris, New York or Los Angeles … one commonality they often share is a monochromatic color palette.

Monochromatic color palettes read upscale, creating a sophisticated aura from the get-go. The important thing to remember is that monochromatic schemes are never lackluster when design detailing is impeccably applied. 

The effect can be luxuriously quiet and restful with lighter monochromatic palettes, even when spiked with an accent color. When monochromatic interiors lean into more saturated tonal hues, the feeling is vibrant and eye-catching. We guide clients to “choose your adventure preference” here. 

3.  Rugs: If IDH considers the ceilings to be the integral fifth wall, consider rugs and floor coverings to be the lipstick of the sixth wall. Not to be considered only utility players as a soft place to lay your feet, rugs are an indulgence that can bring a room together with a luxurious flourish.

Luscious, custom rugs in remarkably bold — or remarkably subtle — colors, patterns, or rich textures should complement and communicate with other architectural or design details in a room.

4.  Grasscloth: Wall coverings have come back on the scene with renewed energy and continue to have their strong moment, but grasscloth is the original tickle of fancy into wallpaper — with strong US roots dating back to the 1940s and enormous popularity at various points in the 1960’s & 1970’s – it remains the “safe favorite” in today’s design landscape.

From our perspective, grasscloth is the little black dress of wallpaper; it’s elegant but not fussy and has a myriad of applications. Grasscloth can be refined with a barely noticeable texture, or “glammed up” with a subtle metallic thread. It can also be slubbier for a noticeable textural, organic moment. Correctly used, they’re all wonderful.

Printed grasscloths add additional excitement. These can even be framed in millwork for a bespoke translation that doubles as art. This last flourish offers a lower cost way to amplify a wall and offer high bang for the buck since even the largest design project budgets require manipulating elements to leverage budget wisely. 

5.  Lighting fixtures: What the perfect jewelry is to an ensemble, so light fixtures are to a room. They are the jewelry-like eye candy — and much like the fashion-make-or-break accessories we all love, the right light fixtures can be MVP moments or a subtle notes..

The most luxurious spaces have layered light sources, crowned by gorgeous fixtures that are thoughtfully integrated to light up the drama in all the right ways.

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Applied thoughtfully and impeccably, these are just five timeless design elements that immediately turn up the luxe factor of a home — while maintaining a timeless style and allure.

 Let’s start the conversation about how we can add a sense of timeless luxury to your space.