Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, and some pieces Jennie has shared came from brand partnerships, including gifted products or paid collaborations. This post includes a paid partnership with Wayfair. Our full disclosure.
To make a builder-grade house feel like home, change what you touch and see most, in this order: lighting, rugs, the bed, a few vintage or vintage-look pieces, then texture and greenery. Jennie started with the light fixtures, swapping builder-grade ones for affordable Wayfair finds.
Builder-grade isn't a flaw. It's a blank page: flat ceilings, basic fixtures, bare floors and rooms that look like everyone else's. The fix isn't a renovation. It's a sequence of swaps, each one making the next look better. Here is the order, with the pieces Jennie has linked from her own rooms.
Jennie summed up the idea in an August 2026 post: It’s amazing what the right furniture, texture and styling can do to completely change a space.
(Jennie on LTK, August 2026)
Start with the light fixtures
Builder-grade fixtures are usually the first thing you notice and the last thing anyone replaces. Swapping them changes the whole ceiling line, the color of the light at night and the "custom" feel of a room, without touching a wall.
In a July 2026 paid partnership post with Wayfair, Jennie wrote: I don’t think anything changes the feel of a room faster than lighting. We swapped out builder-grade fixtures for these affordable Wayfair finds, and they completely transformed each space.
(Jennie on LTK, July 2026, #ad with Wayfair)
The chandelier: one sculptural piece per room
Pick one fixture with real shape for the main room. A candle-style chandelier with open arms reads as collected rather than new, and a warm metal finish works with wood and cream instead of fighting them. Of the gold chandelier in her living room, Jennie wrote: This 6-light gold chandelier has such a pretty sculptural shape and brings just enough warmth to our otherwise neutral living room.
(Jennie on LTK, September 2026)
Wayfair
The 6-light gold chandelier Jennie linked for her living room, paired with wood tones, creamy furniture and black accents.
Wayfair
A second fixture from Jennie's builder-grade lighting swap, for a dining area or bedroom.
Sconces: warm light at eye level
Overhead cans light a room evenly and flatly. A wall sconce adds a pool of warm light where you actually sit or read, and it gives a plain wall a focal point. In Jennie's bedroom, a brass sconce sits on a black accent wall beside the bed.
Wayfair
The sconce Jennie linked for her black-wall bedroom: a simple shape that adds a warm point of light beside the bed.
Working with low ceilings too? Our guide to decorating a room with 8-foot ceilings covers fixture choices that don't crowd the room.
Ground every room with a bigger rug
Bare builder-grade floors make furniture look like it's floating. A rug that's large enough for the front legs of every seat to rest on it pulls a room together, and a vintage-style pattern adds the sense of age that new houses lack. If you're unsure of size, start with our rug size guide.
Pattern is the decision here. A warm, faded pattern hides daily wear and works across seasons. Jennie on the Loloi Morgan rug in Sunset/Ink: I love the vintage-inspired pattern and how easily it works with leather, warm wood furniture and all those rich fall textures
(Jennie on LTK, October 2026).
Wayfair
The rust, charcoal and brown pattern Jennie styled under warm wood and leather.
Quince
Chloe hand-knotted wool rug, Cognac
A hand-knotted wool rug with a cognac base, which Jennie has used under a layered neutral bed.
In the bedroom, the rug and the bedding work as one layer. Jennie wrote about a Quince bedding look: I love how the Quince bedding layers so softly with the vintage-inspired rug underneath
(Jennie on LTK, August 2026).
Quince
Seraphine hand-knotted wool rug, Taupe Multi
A taupe multi hand-knotted wool rug from the same "house we bought vs. the home we made" roundup.
Comparing patterns? See six vintage-style rugs Jennie has linked, compared.
Working with a tighter budget? See affordable home decor that looks expensive, a roundup of the finds Jennie says look far pricier than they are.
Make the bed the softest thing in the house
A builder-grade bedroom usually has a bed that's just a mattress and a frame. An upholstered bed softens the hardest lines in the room, and layered linen on top makes it look finished. Jennie's own formula, from August 2026: My formula for a bed that looks extra cozy: oversized Euro shams + a textured quilt + striped linen + one long lumbar + a chunky knit thrown over the top.
(Jennie on LTK, August 2026)
Wayfair
Tilly upholstered low-profile bed
The low-profile upholstered bed that appears in the bedroom looks Jennie links again and again.
Quince
Euro shams give the bed height against the headboard, the first step in her formula.
Quince
A linen duvet cover, part of the Quince bedding Jennie layered over the cognac rug.
For the full sequence, see a weekend bedroom refresh: 5 changes in order of impact.
Add age: vintage and vintage-look pieces
New houses have no history, so borrow some. Reclaimed wood, worn finishes and one or two true vintage objects make a room feel collected over time. In an April 2025 post about finding her style, Jennie wrote: Slowly but surely, I started adding vintage and antique-look pieces to create a curated but cozy feeling.
(Jennie on LTK, April 2025)
Start with the largest wood surface in the room. In September 2026 she wrote: The Quince reclaimed wood coffee table is still one of my favorite pieces in our home—the chunky wood and natural variation add so much character.
(Jennie on LTK, September 2026)
Quince
Reclaimed oak waterfall coffee table, Cafe Brown
Chunky reclaimed oak with visible variation in the grain, the kind of surface that makes a new room feel older.
Olive Ateliers
A small vintage wood riser to lift a vase or candle on a table or console.
Warm it up with texture and greenery
The last layer is the one that makes a room feel lived in: a stoneware vase, a bowl of stems, a candle, a throw. Jennie described the goal in the same April 2025 post: It’s hard to make a super modern home feel like a hug, but by adding cozy textures with rugs and throw pillows, lots of spring florals for an earthy feeling, and heirloom but lovable furniture we were able to achieve just that!
(Jennie on LTK, April 2025)
Afloral
An oversized slate jug vase that adds an earthy shape and color to a console or table.
Afloral
Faux white snowball stems for a full vase without fresh flowers.
What to do first on a small budget
If you can only do one thing this month, follow the order above. Each change makes the next one look better.
| Change | Effort | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Swap one main light fixture | Medium (an electrician may be needed) | High: changes the ceiling and the light at night |
| Add a plug-in or wall sconce | Low to medium | Medium: warm light at eye level |
| Size up the main rug | Low | High: grounds the furniture |
| Layer the bed | Low | High in the bedroom |
| One reclaimed or vintage piece | Low | Medium: adds age |
| Vases, stems, candles | Low | Finishing layer |
To see these pieces in full rooms, browse Shop the Look, or find more of Jennie's picks in the Shop.
Shop this look
The pieces from this post, all from Jennie's LTK. Current prices and sizes are on each retailer's page.
Zoyla 6-light chandelierWayfairShop
Hinkley Sadie chandelierWayfairShop
Sal task sconceWayfairShop
Loloi Morgan rug, Sunset/InkWayfairShop
Chloe hand-knotted wool rug, CognacQuinceShop
Seraphine hand-knotted wool rug, Taupe MultiQuinceShop
Tilly upholstered low-profile bedWayfairShop
European linen Euro shamQuinceShop
Linen duvet coverQuinceShop
Reclaimed oak waterfall coffee table, Cafe BrownQuinceShop
Vintage wood riser, bleachedOlive AteliersShop
Terra cotta jug vase, SlateAfloralShop
Faux snowball flowers, whiteAfloralShop
Frequently asked questions
What makes a house look builder-grade?
Basic flush-mount fixtures, bare floors, small or missing rugs and furniture with no texture or age. Each one is a swap, not a renovation.
What's the cheapest way to make a new build feel custom?
Start with the things you see most: one statement light fixture, a larger rug and a layered bed. Then add one vintage or reclaimed piece and a few vases and stems.
Should you replace builder-grade light fixtures first?
That's where Jennie started. She swapped builder-grade fixtures for affordable Wayfair pieces, and lighting changes every room it's in, day and night.
How do you make a modern house feel cozy?
Add texture and age: wool or vintage-style rugs, linen bedding, reclaimed wood and greenery. Keep the palette warm and neutral so the layers work together.
Next, read our rug size guide before you order, or browse every piece Jennie has linked in the Shop.
