Blog · Get the look

How to get the Restoration Hardware look for less

By Sonja Peters, Owner and Lead Designer at Guest and Grace · October 5, 2026 · 5 min read

The Restoration Hardware look, which most people now shorten to the RH look, comes from a consistent set of proportions and materials, and those elements translate well to lower budgets once you know what to look for. The prices below were checked on each store's own website on October 5, 2026, and they will change with sales and new collections.

What makes a room look like RH

RH rooms are furnished with oversized, low pieces in a narrow range of warm grays, oatmeal and charcoal, set against walls with a soft plaster or limewash texture and wood that shows its age. The living room at the top of this page has every one of those elements, from the deep gray modular sectional and the slab wood coffee table to the tree-stump side tables, the exposed timber beams and the tall charcoal panel leaning against the wall.

The restraint matters as much as the furniture, since these rooms carry very few accessories and let a handful of large things, such as the stacked firewood and the plank doors in that photo, stand in for decoration. A room that copies the sofa and fills every surface with small objects will look busy, however close the sofa is to the original.

Start with a low, deep sofa

The RH Cloud is the sofa most people picture when they think of the look, and its wide slipcovered cubes, low profile and deep seat are what make it read as relaxed and expensive at the same time. The table below compares a three-piece Cloud with two modular or deep-seated sofas in the same spirit at lower prices, using the price listed on each store's website on October 5, 2026.

Prices as listed on October 5, 2026, before tax and delivery.

The member price at RH requires its paid annual membership, so the regular price is the fairer comparison for most buyers. Sit on any sofa before you buy it if a store is nearby, because seat depth and cushion fill differ more between these three than their photographs suggest, and the deep seats that define the look suit some people better than others.

Choose wood and stone with visible grain

Natural materials with visible character are the second half of the look, which is why RH carries so many tables in reclaimed oak and marble, including a reclaimed oak plinth coffee table listed at $3,785 regular price on October 5, 2026. The photo below shows the same idea in a marble block coffee table with softly rounded corners, set on light oak floors beside a cream bouclé sofa, where the veining in the stone gives the arrangement its weight.

At lower prices, look for solid wood with a wire-brushed or weathered finish and thick, simple proportions, and for stone or stone-look tops with a honed, matte finish, which reads as older and more natural than a high polish. Chunky legs and plinth bases carry more of the look than any particular species of wood, so a well-proportioned table in an affordable finish can sit comfortably beside a more expensive sofa.

Keep the palette to warm grays and oatmeal

The color palette is the easiest part of the look to copy, because it rarely moves beyond warm gray, greige, oatmeal, cream and charcoal, with black used only in thin lines such as window frames and hardware. Paint the walls in a warm greige, or in a limewash finish if you want the soft texture of the photo at the top of this page. Keep the upholstery within a few shades of the same family, so that the wood in the room supplies most of the warmth.

Soften the room with linen and wool

Texture keeps a neutral room from looking cold, and RH rooms rely on washed linen for upholstery and curtains, chunky wool or jute for rugs and soft throws layered over the furniture. Linen and linen-blend curtains are widely available at moderate prices, and a single heavy throw, like the one draped over the chaise in the photo at the top of this page, adds the same lived-in softness for very little money.

Display fewer, larger objects

Accessories in an RH room are few and large, so choose one oversized vase, a stack of large books or a single sculptural branch for each surface and leave the rest of the surface clear. Large ceramic vases, cut branches and secondhand books also cost little compared with the furniture around them, which makes this one of the least expensive parts of the look to get right.

Where to spend and where to save

If the budget allows only one significant purchase, put it into the sofa, because its size and fabric define the look more than any other piece and it is the hardest item to replace later. Coffee tables, side tables, lamps and accessories are where lower-priced stores do well, and our guide to making a room look expensive on a budget covers the curtain, rug and lighting decisions that complete the effect.

Reveal & Shop Home and Guest and Grace are not affiliated with RH, Crate & Barrel or IKEA, and we receive nothing from the links in this post.