You are the king or queen of your home, never forget it.
When you walk through your front door, your house should greet you with respect, even awe.
You should feel instantly pampered, enlightened, and alighted to a position of strength and dominance.
Achieving an effect such as this is all about controlling the atmosphere.
If your house is a sloppy pigsty you won't feel like royalty, you'll feel piggish.
Therefore, for your own self respect and personal piece of mind, you should strive to make your home look as elegant as possible, so that it can in turn make you feel better about yourself.
While expensive possessions are one way to make your home feel more upscale, they aren't necessarily the most important element.
In fact simply having a neat, orderly, and well styled home is much more important than any monetary investment you can make in the space.
Simple things like making sure that none of the colors in the space clash, matching periods and style in different decorative items, and using interesting conversation piece accents to give the space energy are all fundamental to creating an elegant atmosphere.
Lighting is another important factor that is often overlooked.
If a space is too dark it will feel gloomy, but if it is too bright it can be glaring.
Use layers of light to combat this, matching smaller out of the way ambient lights with stronger overhead fixtures.
This allows you to match the light to the situation, and creates a more sophisticated effect in a space.
When purchasing home décor pieces, you don't necessarily have to shop at the high end designer stores to make your home look like a palace.
All you have to do is have a creative mind and a good eye.
Bargain treasures can be found at flea markets, garage sales, and in online auctions.
Since style is constantly recycling itself, even peoples old cast off treasures will eventually come back into vogue.
The important thing is to create consistency in the space, if you are using decorative items from the 70's, don't mix them with items associated with the 40's.
This consistency is what will bring the entire effect together, making the house seem planned, rather than random.
Another important factor in making your home feel like a palace is to make sure that it does something to pamper you.
Your home should offer you a variety of delights that are catered to your own unique personality.
Having a favorite comfy chair is one example of creating pampering zones throughout the home.
You should also decorate with art which inspires you, and excites your blood.
Smell is also an important factor, and the purchase of a few scented candles can go a long way towards giving the space an elevated feeling.
Just make sure you use them in as safe a manner as possible.
On the other hand you don't want to make the place over indulgent.
This is a palace, and as such you want to impress others with the space as much as you impress yourself.
This is important to the self image that you are trying to achieve.
The way your home looks is part of your psyche.
It is based on your own artistic vision, and reflects on you as a person.
If you treat your home like a palace, you will feel like royalty, but if you let it turn into a dump, your own self worth can take a hit.