How to live in luxury on any budget

how-tostyle
Written By Heather Hankinson

‘Luxury’ isn’t a thing I’ve given much thought about since I used to stick pictures of Manolo Blahnik kitten heels on my school folder in year 10.

Frankly, I’ve always been confused by the concept of perfume, Carrera marble gives me the creeps and I have never had the feet for those kitten heels.

Recently though, I’m mentally reclaiming the word luxury.

Partly because I’ve been thinking about what I want The Nom Edit to be, but also because I’ve been overseas for two weeks 🛫 

If you’re thinking of resorts or at least somewhere with a pool, let me get you back on track.

Over the last fortnight I’ve visited friends and family across England in their homes ranging from a

  • Victorian-era London terrace,

  • mid-reno Art Deco semi-detached home with sea views,

  • slate-roofed modern country house.

It was a fairly whirlwind trip but each house was a custom slice of paradise… for the owner.

Although each one varied in taste and budget, each owner had a clear vision of what they liked, which made each home feel indulgent, curated, and bespoke.

I’ve started calling this quiet luxury.

 
 

Importantly, they also had the drive to create it, nurture it and protect that bubble despite changing trends, incomes or life events.

And surely that’s the definition of luxury: knowing what you want and having something exactly the way you want it.

☕️ A shelf to put your cup of tea next to your favourite chair

🥘 Quality pans to cook the meals you love

🎨 Excellent tools for your hobby

📙 A bespoke bookshelf

🖼 The perfect frame for that print

Which is one of the reasons I don’t understand ‘luxury brands’.

If what I want is custom perfection for the way I live my life, nobody but me should be telling me what that looks like.

(Don’t tell me ‘luxury brands’ are all about the way something is made. Etsy will give you the world’s most skilled artisans from every craft and from every continent at your fingertips.)

You are the only person who knows what luxury feels like to you.

And it should be a feeling.

For me, it’s in the same emotional sphere as smugness.

Using or seeing something that I’ve intentionally saved for, considered, possibly even researched, and placed in a visual or practical sweet spot gives me such a feeling of arrogance and satisfaction.

(It’s a journey, most things don’t tick all those boxes… yet.)

Obviously, I can’t prescribe a set of rules for what your version of luxury feels like.

But since we all love a list, here are some starting point to think about what you want to elevate:

  1. Bespoke sitting areas – wherever you like to sit most, pimp it to contain everything you want it to be. Don’t focus on making it look like a Pinterest post, focus on making everything you do in that area within reach. Do you need a charger cord permanently there? Do you need more light?

  2. Vignettes – Take note of the views you often face in your house, like the wall opposite a doorway or a slither of benchtop visible from the lounge room. Style these with your favourite things like the little frames they are.

  3. Intentional touchpoints – As well as the little wannabe-vignettes you face regularly, think about all the potential little touchpoints you have with your home everyday. Handles, door knobs, rugs, and hooks are all good examples but I would put cookware, mugs and even underwear and socks into the same overlooked category.

  4. Saving to spend -  Add a savings account to your banking app so from now on, everytime you walk away from something nearly-perfect you previously would have bought, you pop the money in for future perfect items. Selling stuff you realised you are only holding on to because of the label can also go into this account.

  5. Lighting – this I do agree with the ‘luxury brands’ on: considered lighting that is not only the right temperature and brightness but the right finish, will preen both your space and treasures. It can be as basic as changing a light bulb or as special as saving for a wall sconce.

Of course, the biggest hurdle to luxury is time.

In the kindest, least-judgemental way possible though, I’d like to politely point you towards the screen-time function on your phone.

Between your brain and this blog post, you already have the time, budget and mindset to create a more luxurious life ✨

 
 
Heather Hankinson
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