Most Homes Feel Cheap Because of This | 5 Design Moves That Fix It — Transcript

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1. 0:00A common misconception is that homes
2. 0:02feel inexpensive because they lack
3. 0:04budget. That can play a role, but it's
4. 0:06not the sole reason. What actually
5. 0:08determines how room feels are the
6. 0:11decisions behind it. Most of which are
7. 0:13being made without you realizing it.
8. 0:16Even with a modest budget, you can
9. 0:18create a space that presents well. My
10. 0:20name is Chad R. And today I'm going to
11. 0:22show you five areas where things go
12. 0:25wrong and how to set them right. You can
13. 0:27make these changes quickly, relatively
14. 0:30easily, and they will make a world of
15. 0:31difference. If you're a returning
16. 0:33subscriber, hit the thumbs up. If you
17. 0:35are new here, hopefully by the end of
18. 0:37this video, you'll be a subscriber.
19. 0:39Remember that if you would like our help
20. 0:41in designing your room, you can have
21. 0:43that help by clicking the link in the
22. 0:45description below. The first issue is
23. 0:47generic under-scaled wall art. You've
24. 0:50seen this before, small pieces that are
25. 0:52hung too high. Mass-produced art whose
26. 0:55only purpose is to fill a wall. And what
27. 0:58happens is the room is stripped of
28. 1:01mean a sense of permanence and
29. 1:03belonging. It starts to feel temporary
30. 1:05and interim. The answer is to establish
31. 1:09a lead piece. One piece that becomes the
32. 1:11voice of the room. It sets the tone, it
33. 1:14defines the palette, and it tells you
34. 1:16what the space is about. Now, this
35. 1:18doesn't mean you're limited to one
36. 1:20piece. It means one carries more
37. 1:22authority. Maybe it's larger in scale or
38. 1:25has a stronger contrast. It has more
39. 1:27central placement.
40. 1:29>> [snorts]
41. 1:29>> It leads so that everything else can
42. 1:31follow. From there, you can repeat that
43. 1:34language in similar tones, related
44. 1:36subject matter, or consistent framing.
45. 1:38Your art will no longer feel like a gap
46. 1:40fill. It now belongs to something
47. 1:42larger. The second issue is visible
48. 1:46clutter unhinged. This one works its way
49. 1:48in like a parasite, a silent killer of a
50. 1:51room feeling expensive. Too many objects
51. 1:54and not enough space between them.
52. 1:57Everything is trying to be seen at one
53. 1:59moment. And when everything is competing
54. 2:01for the same attention, nothing feels
55. 2:03important. What's the answer? Curate
56. 2:06without minimizing. This isn't about
57. 2:09stripping everything away. Some of the
58. 2:10strongest spaces are layered and
59. 2:13collected and full of objects. You see
60. 2:15this in legacy homes like the Biltmore
61. 2:18owned by the Vanderbilt family. They're
62. 2:20not crowded, they're meticulously
63. 2:22balanced and arranged. It's an excellent
64. 2:24display of separation with each piece
65. 2:27given a voice. So, try grouping items
66. 2:30intentionally. Two or three objects
67. 2:32together, varied heights and space
68. 2:34around them. Keep in mind to avoid
69. 2:37tension in your groupings. To not place
70. 2:40two dominant pieces side by side. Having
71. 2:42patterns stacked on patterns that are
72. 2:44incongruent or having every surface
73. 2:47filled edge to edge. You're not removing
74. 2:49personality, you're removing
75. 2:51competition, and that makes the room
76. 2:53easier to experience. Choosing the right
77. 2:56paint color is one of the most common
78. 2:58issues we see. How could it not be?
79. 3:00There are thousands of options and it's
80. 3:02very easy to go down the wrong path.
81. 3:05There are five paint colors we've
82. 3:07returned to again and again because they
83. 3:09consistently create the kind of outcome
84. 3:12that we're after. Depth, weight, and a
85. 3:15sense of control in the room. I put
86. 3:18those together in a short guide called
87. 3:20Stop Guessing Paint Colors. You can find
88. 3:22it in the description below. The next
89. 3:25pitfall is matching furniture sets. This
90. 3:28is something the furniture industry has
91. 3:30really normalized. You walk in and
92. 3:33everything is already decided for you.
93. 3:35Same material, same finish, same color,
94. 3:38simply reshaped into different pieces.
95. 3:41If you step back and relate this to
96. 3:43anything else, you'll notice how
97. 3:45ridiculous it is. When I wear my white
98. 3:48linen pants, I wear my white linen
99. 3:50shirt, my white linen hat, and my white
100. 3:53linen shoes. Different forms of bread
101. 3:56all being made from the same dough. It's
102. 3:59boring. What do we do instead?
103. 4:01Acknowledge it and begin to see things
104. 4:03differently. Matching sets exist for
105. 4:06convenience. They remove our need to
106. 4:08decide, but strong rooms are built
107. 4:11through selection. There's no rule that
108. 4:13says you need 5 years to build a room,
109. 4:16but there is value in pausing and
110. 4:18choosing what belongs. Instead of I need
111. 4:22a coffee table, you shift to this is the
112. 4:24table that fits the room I'm building.
113. 4:27That might mean a modern sofa with a
114. 4:29vintage chair or walnut paired with
115. 4:32leather. Pieces sourced from different
116. 4:34places. They don't match, but they do
117. 4:37relate. You're not filling a room for
118. 4:39the sake of filling it. It's not a
119. 4:41balloon. You're assembling it. The
120. 4:44fourth mistake is flat ignored walls.
121. 4:47This is one that often goes unnoticed
122. 4:49until you see it done differently
123. 4:51somewhere else. Flat drywall all around
124. 4:55you. There's an unfinished feeling
125. 4:57because the largest surfaces in the room
126. 4:59aren't contributing anything. How do you
127. 5:01resolve that? You give the walls some
128. 5:03structure. Here are three directions
129. 5:06that consistently work. The first is
130. 5:08panel molding. Clean, structured lines
131. 5:12painted in a deeper tone. They add
132. 5:14rhythm, a bit of shadow, and the walls
133. 5:16no longer feel forgotten. A second
134. 5:19option would be wood paneling. This can
135. 5:21be natural or stained and you'll notice
136. 5:23an immediate effect from the warmth and
137. 5:25the form of those pieces. Certainly a
138. 5:28more established feeling. Thirdly,
139. 5:31textured finishes. Things like
140. 5:32grasscloth, plaster, or limewash. The
141. 5:36aim is subtle texture that adds depth
142. 5:39without the noise. All three of these
143. 5:41options do the same thing. They take the
144. 5:44walls from being sidelined to
145. 5:45contributing players. The last mistake
146. 5:49is having inconsistent metal finishes.
147. 5:51This is one you don't always notice
148. 5:53right away, but you can count on feeling
149. 5:56it. Have you ever been in a bathroom
150. 5:58where the faucet is chrome, but the
151. 5:59cabinet handles are gold and the shower
152. 6:01head is black? It's like sitting on a
153. 6:03bike with a backward seat. It might take
154. 6:06you a second to realize what's wrong,
155. 6:08but it's uncomfortable. What is the fix?
156. 6:10You establish consistency. You choose
157. 6:13one dominant metal, and that decision
158. 6:15should align with the tone of your
159. 6:17space. If you want something warm and
160. 6:19grounded, oil-rubbed bronze. If you want
161. 6:22something refined and classic, aged
162. 6:24brass. If you want something strong and
163. 6:27architectural, matte black. Now the room
164. 6:30begins to find its alignment. The
165. 6:32lighting, the hardware, the small
166. 6:34details, their consistency creates
167. 6:37connection. None of these changes
168. 6:39require a massive budget, but they do
169. 6:41require awareness. Awareness of your
170. 6:44choices, awareness of your environment's
171. 6:46composition. It's not so much what you
172. 6:49present in your room, it's how you
173. 6:52present it that makes it feel expensive.
174. 6:54If you like the video, hit the thumbs
175. 6:56up. If you feel like sticking around a
176. 6:58while, feel free to subscribe. See you
177. 7:00in the next one.
178. 7:03>> [music]
179. 7:12[music]