High end decorating can be achieved by anyone who wants it, no matter what the budget. Customizing the décor to fit your personality does not have to be tacky either like some would like you to think. Knowing what to keep neutral and where to kick it up a notch is essential to good design. Whether your budget is $500 or $5000, here is what you can do:

1. Clear the space: Most people have everything they own in view. For some reason it makes them feel more prosperous. Big mistake! One of the processes of home staging is the de-cluttering process. I cannot stress the importance of clutter free spaces. Unless the wealthy homeowner is an eccentric, you will see purposefully place art and accessories that are beautiful to look at.

2. Room identities: Each room in the home needs to make sense. Make sure that the catch-all rooms are emptied and an identity assigned to it be it hobby room or home office.

3. Large oversized wall hangings and groupings: Be it tapestries or modern art, keep it large! If you have a collection of small fruit prints, clump them together to make on large square or rectangle. Remove small isolated pictures and photos if they cannot be grouped. Blank walls help traffic flow.

4. Area rugs: Update your shared spaces with area rugs. Group your conversation seating toward the rug and add fresh flowers and sofa pillows in a color pulled from the area rug.

5. Color scheme: As difficult as it is, staying with a color scheme is an important aspect of a professionally designed scheme. Keep your walls and major pieces of furniture simple, and then add your favorite colors in your pillows, art, and accessories. By doing this, it will cost you less to purchase and change out later and it is easier to figure out.

6. Traffic flow: Leave plenty of space to move around all your rooms. Allow direct lines to enter and exit rooms.

7. Mood lighting: Adding good lighting to every room in your house increases not only the visibility of each room and its function, but also makes being in those rooms a pleasure without really knowing why. The light fixtures do not need to be expensive to do the job...they just need to be in the right place and to get that high end look, add dimmer switches.

i totally agree with this.

Okay. for that blank wall.....you will need to take very thin strips of molding...really really cheap flimsy stuff from Home Depot or the like, you will place these all along the edges of the wall - this striip is where you will staple fabric (yes, when you leave you will need to spackle the holes but no paint will have touched the walls so you will be not having a "lease problem). The fabric perhaps will be red - or you can use whatever will enhance the colors of the japanese culture or knick-nacks you already have. The other idea, which is also inexpensive is to get a nice picture of a japanese landscape - the colors in it can be used for your pillows, and drapes - of all the "tricks" of decorating PAINT is the least expensive, but check your lease. Depending on the size of your "nick-knacks" a couple of shelves painted (again, trip to Home Depot lumber dept., NOT the already made dept.) in a color complimentary to the knick knacks - put your largest seating in front of this wall, buy a few plants (again, Home Depot) tall, small and inbetween,
plants are also another inexpensive way to go. A couple of
Goldfish (in colors to match decor - check the pet store, they will know which fish to put in the bowl) and it will become
home. Enjoy!