Good Design Isn’t About Budget. Let’s Prove It!

Have you ever walked into a room and immediately felt good? Oh my god I love this! Delicious! That feeling is not accidental. Light, colour, shapes, materials are all quietly shaping how you feel and changing them might cost a lot less than you think. I've been a designer for 20 years and toured homes across every kind of budget and the homes that feel good aren't necessarily the biggest or the most expensive but they do tend to have a few things in common in an earlier video i explored the design psychology behind what makes a home feel good but a lot of you pointed something out while i said good design wasn't necessarily about budget and it's not the budget a lot of the homes i showed you were well pretty expensive fair call the homes i featured were very impressive architectural houses but i didn't show you enough examples that really reflected how a lot of us actually live and i guess had a lot of you thinking help me i'm poor the question is do those same principles still hold up on a smaller budget today we're putting that to the test i'm taking the same psychology behind spaces that feel good and showing you how to apply those using simple and affordable changes only that will make a surprisingly big difference no major renovation no custom joinery and no enormous tree in your entryway that costs more than your car let's start with one of the fastest ways to change how room feels lighting has a direct effect on our mood alertness and circadian rhythm and our bodies respond very differently to different kinds of light one of the biggest mistakes i see is people relying far too often on a single bright overhead light now overhead light is really important for visibility but it can also make a room feel quite flat and functional rather than say warm and comfortable directional light on the other hand creates a completely different feeling this could be light that comes through a window or a focus task light and it draws your attention to specific areas of your home which creates contrast depth and intimacy a reading nook for example instantly feels more inviting when it has its own light source so rather than relying on one big overhead light you want to create smaller pools of light throughout your home and you don't need an expensive lighting plan to do it here are some ways you can create the feeling of a custom lighting design without needing an electrician. Add lamps at different heights. A floor lamp here, a table lamp there, maybe a small light on a shelf. This creates layers of light and shadow, making the room feel softer and more dimensional. Portable wireless lamps are a great hack for adding soft light, especially in places where there is no power outlet, so up high on a shelf for example cordless wall lights step lights and wireless LED strips are also great affordable options especially for renters they can highlight specific areas and create a more custom lighting effect without needing an electrician but what about the big light because a lot of us still have a single overhead light if you can change the fitting and try to choose a large rounded pendant or shade that will help to soften and diffuse the light i love large ball pendants for this and you don't need to spend a fortune on the George Nelson original there are plenty of paper and fabric options at different price points Hay, Beacon Lighting, IKEA all have great different options in fact i'll put a link to some of my favorites in the description below these soft rounded organic shapes also affect how we experience a space psychologically but i'm going to get to that a little later now let's talk about color temperature research has shown us that warmer light can support feelings of comfort relaxation and intimacy specifically bulbs between 2700 kelvin and 3000 kelvin because their warm glow echoes late afternoon light and can help signal that it's time to slow down and rest whereas cool white blue light around 4000 to 6500 kelvin is more associated with alertness and focus and that's far better suited to more practical spaces like offices hospitals and garages look around your home for cool white blue globes and swap them for warm ones especially for bedrooms and living rooms you can completely shift the feeling of a room simply by changing the light bulb lowering the light level can also instantly make your room feel calmer because dimmer light helps signal to us that the day is winding down. Dimmers are great, but they can be expensive to retrofit, whereas dimmable lamps are a far easier and more affordable alternative. And then there is the most important light source of all, natural light. Whilst you might not be able to change the size of your windows, you can make far better use of the light you already have. Pull back or remove any heavy curtains, keep windows and sills clear, move furniture away from the glass and use mirrors to bounce light further into the room if you are choosing new curtains or blinds hang them higher and wider than the window frame it makes the window appear larger and means the fabric sits outside the glass when open allowing more light into the room lighting is not the only thing our brain responds to before we consciously notice it color can make the exact same room feel calm energizing or a little off and we often approach color backwards we say what color is trending when a better question is how do i want to feel in this room color creates emotional cues before we even have a chance to properly analyze them and yes our response to color is personal it can be shaped by memories and culture but research in color psychology has shown common patterns in how certain colours make us feel. There are three colours I come back to again and again because of their feel-good associations. Brown. This tends to create a sense of grounding, stability and security. Green is often associated with growth and restoration which can make a room feel balanced and relaxed. And blue is often associated with reliability, calm and tranquility. That doesn't necessarily mean every brown, green or blue will create the same feeling. Shade matters. A soft muted green will feel very different from a bright acid green. A deep navy has more weight and intimacy than a pale blue. And warm earthy browns often feel more comforting than cool grey beiges. So if you want a foolproof place to start, Brown, green and blue are my three foolproof colors to make a home feel good. Just choose the version of that color that gives you the feeling you actually want. Then before buying anything, look at the colors already fixed in the room. Flooring, timber, tiles, furniture, curtains. Instead of fighting them, work with them. Is there a color in an artwork that you can pull from? Or could you pick up on the tone of your floorboards? Working with the colors that are already in your room will make your selection feel far more connected and intentional you can test color through low commitment pieces bed linen artwork cushions or a rug but if you want the biggest change for your money paint is hard to beat you can start small try painting cabinetry an internal door a shelf or even the trims i personally love contrasting color on doors and trims this is a really affordable way to carry color across an entire room without actually having to paint every wall. And if you want to dive headfirst into color, try color drenching or color capping. Color drenching is where you use one color across the walls, ceiling, trim and even the doors. Color capping is where you paint the ceiling in a second related or contrasting color. It can draw your eye upward and give the room more depth. Paint is not free and it's definitely not effortless, but it's one of the most cost-effective ways to make the most dramatic change to a room. Here are some very satisfying before and after that use those three go-to colors brown, green and blue. This was my DIY green bedroom makeover. Ditching the white walls and opting for a deep green made this room feel good instantly and made it incredibly inviting. I loved the use of brown here in Geneva van der Siel's kitchen makeover. This was a DIY project, really simple, painting cabinetry doors, adding timber shelving and also handmade timber pulls. Very simple and effective. This was another Hunting for George project of mine, my blue living room. This is a great example of how two blues don't look the same. I got rid of the soft pale blue and opted for a deeper, richer colour, which added far more sophistication and depth to the space. Not to mention there's also touches of brown and blue here through the furniture and decor. Lighting and colour are not just standalone design tricks, they're actually part of something much bigger, biophilic design. It sounds complicated, but it's actually a really simple idea. Humans often feel better when we feel more connected to nature. The term was popularised by biologist Edward O. Wilson, who described biophilia as our tendency to connect with nature and other living things. And later, Professor Stephen Kellert developed a framework for bringing those principles into architecture and design. Research into environmental psychology shows that elements such as daylight, views of nature, fresh air, plants and natural materials can support our wellbeing. And there are two ways to bring nature into our home. Direct connection is the obvious stuff, natural light, fresh air, greenery and a view. Indirect connection is about creating the feeling of nature through materials, colours, textures, patterns and organic shapes. I've already shown you parts of this. Warm layered lighting recreates some of the variation we experience in natural light. And brown, green and blue are commonly associated with natural environments. Rather than showing you a high-end architectural home, i want to show you what biophilic design can look like in a rental this is our old rental we lived here for about six years through our 20 30 something era i did not style this apartment with biophilic design in mind but looking back now there were actually a lot of those principles at play the art deco windows and doors these created beautiful natural light and shadows they were honestly the reason I fell in love with the home. The curved archway and textured glass made the space feel less rigid and echoed organic forms that we see in nature. I'm aware that not all of us can have windows and doors like that but adding a circular or arched mirror is a really easy way to add a similar shape to your room. The apartment was actually quite dark so I tried to maximize the natural light as much as I could. I left a lot of the windows bare and I kept the windows and doors open for fresh air because honestly it could get a little dank in there. I also changed the light fittings and bulbs which helped soften and warm the artificial light. I chose rounded pendants and wall sconces to bring in softer organic forms. I couldn't paint the walls which is the reality for a lot of renters but I brought blue and green in through cushions, throws, artwork and furniture and brown in through timber and leather which picked up on the tone of the existing floorboards and I couldn't afford an expensive marble coffee table but I could afford indoor plants and I did not hold back. Anywhere I could add a plant I did and then I added natural materials, timber chairs, a timber dining table, a jute rug in the dining room, wool rugs in the living room and bedroom, and layers of linen, cotton, leather, imperfect ceramic and woven pieces. None of this was a major renovation. Like I said, this was a rental, so my options were limited, but those smaller choices helped make the space feel more connected to nature, and it made the apartment just feel so good to live in. One of the simplest ways to bring nature into your home is through materials, textures, and shapes. And if we think about nature, it's really smooth, perfect, and uniform. It's full of contrast, texture, irregularity, and softer forms. And bringing some of that variation indoors can make a room feel more layered and less sterile. So when choosing things for your home, ask yourself, does this bring a quality that I recognize in nature? Natural materials are a great place to start because they come with variation already built in. Timber has grain, stone has veins, linen creases, and ceramics are often slightly irregular. But that does not mean you have to fill your home with expensive marble, solid oak, and travertine. That would be lovely, obviously, but it's absolutely not required. If you love the look of natural stone, think smaller. A marble or travertine tray, stone coasters, a bowl, bookends or a small stone furniture piece. You can also ask your local stonemason or tile shop for offcuts because they often have pieces that they are quite happy to get rid of and these smaller pieces can then go on to make trivets or coasters or even a small furniture piece. Natural materials also extends to fibres, linen, wool, jute and cotton. So choose natural materials for bed linens, curtains and rugs. For natural materials like timber, bamboo, rattan and terracotta, secondhand op shops and Facebook marketplace are your best friend. Older timber furniture and aged ceramic vessels can be way more affordable and often have a lot more character too. Those timber dining chairs that you saw in my dining room earlier, I actually found them on the side of the road. I paid $50 for them. They had quite a dark cherry stain to them, but I sanded them back so that it would match my dining table. And all of a sudden I had a beautiful set of dining chairs for a fraction of the cost. So natural materials doesn't always have to carry a high price tag. Texture doesn't just come from natural materials either. It's about mixing finishes and giving the eye some contrast. And this is where you can be playful with materials. Velvet cushions, cord upholstery, woven baskets, textured glassware, worn leather, high gloss metallics or flat matte ceramics. If you want to bring texture to your walls, textured wallpaper and also textured paint like lime wash can be a really accessible way to add movement to a wall without installing something like paneling. If you love the look of fluted or reeded glass, you could achieve a similar effect through textured adhesive film. It can diffuse light and add texture without needing a glazier. The key is variation. When every surface in a room is smooth, hard, and the same finish, it can feel visually flat or a little clinical. Mixing soft and hard, matte and glossy, rough and smooth finishes gives the eye more to take in and makes the room feel more layered. Shapes also deeply affect how a room feels. Research suggests that people often respond more positively to curved forms than sharp angular lines. Part of that may be because curves are so familiar in the natural world. Think rolling hills, clouds and leaves. Curves can feel softer and more comfortable, whereas lots of hard corners and rectangles can make a space feel more rigid. That does not mean straight lines are bad. They can give your room structure and contrast. But if your entire room is dominated by rectangles, Just adding one or two curves can soften the whole thing. If you have a boxy sofa, pair it with a rounded coffee table. Try a circular or arched mirror. Add a curved lamp, curved door hardware, a rounded pendant, circular cushions, roll bolsters, or a rounded side table. You don't need to fill your room with archways and wavy furniture. just one considered curve can be enough to make a space feel softer and more approachable. The final principle I want to come back to is honest design because the most expensive home can still feel wrong if it's trying too hard to be something it's not. In my first video, I spoke about Dieter Rams's idea that good design is honest. In interiors, that means allowing things to be what they are rather than trying to make them pretend to be something else a home should feel personal functional and easy to live in that might mean using real natural materials where you can and letting them age naturally timber gets marked and brass changes color those imperfections are part of their character it can also mean working with the history of your home rather than trying to erase it if you have original brickwork timber trusses or old windows or other period details, consider whether they're worth celebrating rather than covering them up. It means designing a home around how you actually live and not how you want it to look in a photograph. The goal is not to create a picture perfect showroom. Keep the things that you've inherited, found second hand, made yourself or collected over time. Those are the things that make a space feel more like a home. The homes that have most stood out to me over the years don't all follow the same style or have the same budget but they're the homes that feel believable they give you a sense of who actually lives there which makes you feel instantly at ease as soon as you walk through the door honest design to me is not about chasing the perfect or most expensive version it's about making smarter choices with what you already have and what you can afford so if you watch my first video i want to know did i redeem myself let me know in the comments. And if you haven't seen my other video, it is worth a watch. I'll pop a link here. Just try not to be triggered by all the expensive houses. And if you enjoyed this video, please give it a like and subscribe. That also costs you nothing. And it's a great way to help support us to bring you more videos like this one. I'm over and out.