by Jemma Pearson Get the designer look without having to take out a second mortgage. We have some suggestions.

For the property owner with a full wallet there’s a plethora of products to make your house worth coming home to, but what if you have champagne taste and not the pay packet to match? We have some suggestions.

Furniture
What’s hot
Barcelona, Eames and Egg chairs, art deco side tables and a Le Corbusier lounge. The popularity of original furniture from these movements and influential designers continues to grow. But if you have to ask the price, you can’t afford it.

What’s affordable
We would all love to own the original, but a house full of modernist furniture is a reality for some, a pipe dream for most. While European home owners would not be caught dead with a fake Moooi around the dining table, for those on a budget in this country, replica is not a dirty word. Our laws protecting furniture design are pretty loose and retailers who sell replica furniture do a roaring trade. Go on, you know you want to.

While European home owners would not be caught dead with a fake Moooi around the dining table, for those on a budget in this country, replica is not a dirty word

Lighting
What’s hot
If you wanted to part with some serious dosh during the reno process you’d get a lighting consultant in to design an entire lighting story, source the products and manage the trades for you. And Swarovski crystal chandeliers and sculptural pendants – preferably designed by someone with a master’s degree from a celebrated European art academy – are musts for the guest bathroom.

What’s affordable
Lamps are an easy way to change the look of a room and can be updated without calling in the electrician. Local lighting retailers stock a great range of floor and table lamps. As the technology improves and more home owners take up greener lighting options, recessed LEDs – which are in all the fashionable homes – are also getting cheaper.

Bathroom
What’s hot
The outdoor bathroom, Bali style. Rain shower heads behind frameless floating glass. Mosaic tiles sourced from Italy. Handcrafted stone baths and bespoke cabinetry. Polished marble flooring and for colour, a cabinet full of Missoni towels.

What’s affordable
Reclaimed basins and baths can be bought online or from salvage stores and are very hot right now. Affordable taps won’t look as great as the real thing, but stick to simple shapes and you can’t go wrong. Keep your eye out for an old clawfoot – if it’s got a great shape you can have it cleaned and reglazed. Buy your towels in the sales and fill the room with candles from the two-dollar shop.

Kitchen
What’s hot
Stone benchtops, 2-pac doors and soft-closing drawers are what we all want in the kitchen. Glass splashbacks, high-end tapware and integrated appliances are lust-haves. And without the latest gadgets – a wine fridge, ice-makers, induction stoves and steam ovens – cooking is just not bearable.

What’s affordable
Make your kitchen as posh as you can afford it, and then some. It’s worth it, and you’ll see it again when it comes time to sell.

Outdoors
What’s hot
The vertical garden (or living wall) continues to inspire, particularly in urban settings where ground space is limited, walls are ugly and there are many friends and strangers to impress. First created by French botanist Patrick Blanc, vertical plantings are popping up all over the world, providing a beautiful lush feature that is sustainable, eco-friendly and purifies the air. Put aside between $2000 and $4000 a square metre for this type of structure.

What’s affordable
Bunnings. Some trellis. A bag of potting mix and a couple of trumpet vines. Sorted.

Fabric and wallpaper
What’s hot
British home furnishing powerhouse Designers Guild showcased its much-anticipated collaboration with the very fashion-forward Christian Lacroix at the recent Maison et Objet in Paris. Setting the mood for the year ahead, the company presented decorative cut velvets, embossed linens, embroidered taffeta and floral silk fabrics. Still in Paris, wallpaper manufacturers flaunted their retro botanical prints in limes, blacks and reds. The 1970s is back, if you can afford it.

What’s affordable
The designs of the late Florence Broadhurst, Australia’s queen of wallpaper and fabric, sell well, and while they aren’t cheap (put aside several hundred bucks for a roll of wallpaper) for a feature wall, that’s within reach for most home owners. Or just do a Google search on retro wallpaper and fabric – there are a few online retailers.