Photography: Alana Landsberry / Styling: Corina Koch ; Inset image: Photography: Leon Schoots
Loui Burke is the master of making ‘cheap’ look ‘chic’. Aware that not everyone can spend the contents of their bank account on decorating their home, Loui recommends the art of high-low styling, i.e. mixing luxury and budget brands.
“I love working with both high and low brands because I think there’s always something there,” Loui shared on The Edit podcast by Home Beautiful. “There’s a trickle down effect as well [from designer-led trends to mass produced items].”
Combining both luxury and affordable décor, high-low decorating allows you to play with trends without swapping out your entire living room and maxing your budget. Read on for Loui’s best tricks of the trade.
Discover more interior trends with Loui Burke on Home Beautiful’s The Edit podcast:
What is high-low interior decorating?
Fashion followers may be familiar with the term ‘high-low dressing’. It’s the concept of pairing expensive, designer items, with affordable pieces to create a more interesting look. In brief, it’s the art of mixing price points to achieve your styling goals. It can also save you spending big on small accents or soft furnishings around your home.
How to do high-low home styling
The ‘high’ part of high-low is achieved by investing in those fundamental, statement pieces that form the foundations of your space. Think: Sofas, dining tables, bed heads, some rugs, and so on.
In the guest bedroom, a Feather + Oak throw complements a ‘Holiday in the Palms’ print from Middle Of Nowhere.
(Credit: Photographer: John Downs)The ‘low’ part often comes into play via accents, small décor, trending homewares, and soft furnishings you might swap out with the seasons.
The trick to high-low styling is avoiding affordable items that look or feel “cheap”. And Loui Burke has been able to weed out some of the wheat from the chaff when it comes to shopping at major discount department stores and high street chains. These are Loui’s tips for finding great, inexpensive décor, that will still look great in your home.
Where to buy affordable décor
“Country Road is a really beautiful brand, so they always have great collections. The same with Adairs. Then [there are] brands that go through different seasons, like Big W,” Loui says.
“[It’s also about] selecting the right product because say, for instance, Big W, they have beautiful ceramics, so you can do beautiful tablescapes. Whereas maybe I might not work with their bed linen, or maybe I do for [a particular] season.”
Field Merino Natural Wool Cushion, $99.99, ADAIRS
Rayne Stripe 100% Cotton Quilt Cover Set,
$80 – $120, TARGET
Openook Charlie Decorative Bowl,
$18, Big W
Wynn Quilt Bedcover,
$349, Country Road
Where to buy affordable bedding
“I worked with Target last year on their bed linen because they did these beautiful awning stripes in this really nice cotton,” Loui says of Target bedding, adding that “fabrication is really important”.
Loui also shouted-out Pillow Talk‘s range of Belgian linen, which is around a mid-range price point for this fabric. However, on sale (especially at stores like Myer), Belgian linen quilt covers can be found for a steal.
“You can’t go wrong with Belgian linen, no matter the brand!” Loui believes. “I think it’s about that understanding of product materials and what works well. I think you should kind of sometimes ignore the brand when it comes to those things. If you’re really familiar and know your materials, and you know what products work, you can go anywhere.”
Listen to Loui Burke’s full episode of The Edit, or watch it on YouTube:
