Sometimes less is more. And sometimes, more is more. It generally comes down to personal taste. But regardless of whether rich carved wood panelling, jewel-toned walls and gold-accented furniture is in line with your particular preferences or not, it’s hard to defy the magnetic attraction that many people may instinctively feel towards luxury. Incorporating noticeably luxurious elements into your home doesn’t necessarily have to mean swapping out your kitchen chairs for jewel-encrusted thrones and investing in red silk sheets for the bedroom. It can mean that, as this ideabook shows; but as with all things design, there are degrees to luxury. Decadent decor need not be a means of flaunting wealth. Indeed, wealth is no prerequisite at all for some of the design shortcuts – for example, well-chosen wallpaper—that can contribute to a sense of luxurious indulgence and comfort in your home. With careful planning and the right colour schemes, there’s no reason why every one of us can’t have a palace for a home – if we want one, that is.
Alright, so this bedroom certainly doesn't fall into the “affordable excess” category. But nonetheless, it really is worth taking a good, long look at. The designer has pushed decadence to its absolute limits: the imposing carved headboard, with its rich upholstery, just isn’t quite enough on its own; no, what every truly lavish sleeping area needs – absolutely needs –is a bathtub. And what a bathtub it is, too. The vintage simplicity of its shape harks back to the unplumbed washtubs of days gone by, while its beautiful copper finish works wonderfully with the colonial-era charm of the rest of the space. This is a room that clearly privileges elegance, comfort and pleasure above all else. This is a room for royals, or at least a room to make you feel royal.
From the same designer, this stunning room offers bathing options for those who don’t mind having to actually walk to the tub in the morning (as opposed to rolling straight into it from bed). The classic shape of the bathtub itself and the regal detailing above, perfectly framed by the ceiling beams, are an imperial match made in heaven.
As with the two previous images, this one clearly has a colonial influence; yet it’s far subtler, and far less showy. Here the sense of decadence does not derive from any particularly sumptuous furnishings (at least not as far as we can see), but instead from the combination of three crucial elements: high ceilings, wood panelling and traditional patterned wallpaper. The fresh choice of white for the woodwork keeps the look from slipping too far into the past, as it might if it were left unpainted.
Here, again, the use of a classically luxurious wallpaper pattern is used to bring a touch of old-world glamour to the space. In this case, however, the wallpaper has been given a contemporary makeover with a monochrome colour scheme, and the smooth, clean lines of the furnishings add to the highly modern appearance of the room.
Few animals are as closely associated with opulence as the peacock. This one comes with a host of other beautifully-illustrated animal friends, too.
This magnificent four-poster bed is possibly the most blatantly luxurious item you could put in your home – though the golden dressing table peeking out from behind certainly comes close too. Fall asleep in this bedroom and you might just wake up as a king or queen.