View image in fullscreen The Filter Interiors From posh egg cups to secondhand lamps: 22 cheap ways to make your home look more expensive Good taste doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Whether it’s designer-looking cutlery or affordable art, these clever buys start from £2 – but punch well above their price tag
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Ellie Violet Bramley Wed 22 Jul 2026 16.00 CEST Share Prefer the Guardian on Google The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more .
Y ou don’t need the budget of a boutique hotel to make your home look a bit more pulled together. It’s all down to knowing where to look, picking a few well-made objects, choosing good-quality fabrics and materials, and spotting timeless classics (or designs inspired by them) that won’t date too quickly.
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Here are some tricks, hidden gems and affordable-but-stylish finds, from egg cups to art, that will elevate your space – and prove good taste and quality needn’t cost the earth.
View image in fullscreen Easy chair cover
I recently bought an inexpensive Ikea armchair that looked a bit Identikit. So I added a made-to-order cover. This swirly pattern from Bemz spoke to me – and I am now the proud owner of an armchair that looks more Architectural Digest than aisle 78.
View image in fullscreen Hay Common Oblong rice paper shade
£45 at End Akari has been following traditional methods since the 1950s to make beautiful rice paper lamps that are rightfully a modern classic. If you can’t afford one, tasteful Danish design brand Hay has some beautiful options, adding serenity to even the most hectic home for a sixth of the price.
£24.99 at B&Q Geraniums and pelargoniums exude the sort of taste vibes you’d find in Charleston House . Plus, they’re hardy, perennial, easy to grow (I managed to keep them alive and flowering for an unusually long time), and they look great in any old terracotta plant pot. Just make sure to pop them on a sunny windowsill – according to the RHS they need “full light but shade from scorching midday sun”.
Choose your hero pieces wisely – by which I mean that the things that will be out on display should look nice to you. This 25cm-diameter fruit bowl, from a Polish ceramics shop in Lewes, features an elegant polka-dot design that won’t age – and there are plenty of lovely dishes and custard jugs where that came from.
View image in fullscreen Steve Camps fine art print
If you’re a fan of the bluey-grey maritime-themed works of Cornish painter Alfred Wallis but can’t afford their £30,000+ price tag, perhaps you could stretch to £46 + postage? Steve Camps, a retired builder from Cornwall, is an artist who sells high-quality prints of his nautical-themed art on Not Another Bill. Your home will look like Kettle’s Yard in no time.
View image in fullscreen Stainless steel egg cup
These stainless steel egg cups might seem like a piffling little thing, but anything that adds design wattage to a basic is a win. These wouldn’t look out of place at Service Projects , the home of chic tableware and (for me) many lost hours.
There’s something unnerving about seeing the same affordable art you have on your walls in the backgrounds of numerous other people’s interiors on Instagram. This beautifully marbled handmade paper is an…