I have always subscribed to the philosophy that creativity is far more valuable that dollars when it comes to decorating. It’s not that dollars don’t help, but someone decorating on a budget with a lot of creativity is going to have much better success than someone without a budget without creativity. Except that maybe they can pay someone creative to do the decorating for them… Either way, I have found that some of the best solutions I have found to problems (decorating or not) have been in the context of limited resources.
Save money! Get Creative! Decorate on a budget!
Since we have been married we haven’t really ever had much money designated towards decorations, so we have needed to come up with creative ways to decorate our place without spending much cash.
Linda and I love to go to Crate and Barrel, WS Home, Anthropologie (slightly girly), Restoration Hardware, etc to get ideas for decorating. But to be honest, we rarely buy anything from most of those stores. We get ideas and often try to find ways of duplicating them for much less. For example, I remember seeing a table at Crate and Barrel that was going for $650 and after a visit to the hardware store I realized I could build it (and make it with higher quality materials) for about $50.
Our entire bedroom set is composed of various pieces (that have a similar retro flare) from thrift stores painted to match each other. I think we spent less than $200 on the whole thing and we love it.
What have you done to decorate your house on a budget?
As we are getting ready to buy our first house, we are trying to get some decorating ideas. So if you have any budget decorating tips you want to share, please do in the comments below.
The $30 Ikea Gift Card GIveaway
Ikea is a perfect store if you don’t have a lot of cash to spend, but still want to decorate with a little bit of style. So we thought it would be perfect for this post.
How to win
In order to win the Ikea giftcard, submit your best, most useful, and creative budget decorating ideas below. We will go through all of them and decide which one we like the best and dole out the rewards!
Submit your entries in the comments below by July 2nd at 7:00pm CST. Check back on this article on July 3rd for the winner.
Winner Update: Congrats to Brandon Johnson – with the best budget decorating idea!
A few links from this week…
- Tax records you should save and how long you should keep them
- 1200 Bible verses about money and related topics
- Taking responsibility to spend less than you earn
- BudgetPulse (free budgeting tool) is now revamped and looking clean and fresh as ever…
- Blog Carnivals: Personal Finance, Debt Reduction, Frugality, Pecuniary
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Use garage-sale picture frames to put up your kids’ best artwork. They will feel so special and it’s a great conversation piece! Plus, you can change it out from time to time if it gets “boring.”
My father-in-law had an old wood ladder from years ago and my wife and I were looking for some kind of rack to hold our pots and pans. Remembering seeing it done somewhere, we took the ladder, painted it up, got some loop hooks from the hardware store and there we had our pot rack that we hung above our stove!
Basic, but we think it’s cool!
Most of my furniture has been purchased at IKEA. You can’t beat the prices and quality. Love that place!
Shopping at thrift stores, garage sales, craigslist, or scoring something free at freecycle is where you’ll get the best deals.
To update a kitchen you can switch (or add) some nice knobs to the cabinets. It will instantly change it!
To update a room, paint it and rearrange furniture. No furniture? Check my second paragraph!
Thanks for the chance!
We’ve found that you can really update a room with a nice colorful rug. We just bought one from IKEA for $14.99 (it’s a 5×7) and it totally revitalizes the room.
The best thing I’ve found lately though is to visit the “As Is” section at IKEA. You can get the same stuff in the normal area, but it may have something wrong with it, HOWEVER, on the tag it will tell you why it’s in that section. I saw a pretty cool bookshelf there last night and the only reason it was there is because someone returned it!
I’ve also found this works at other stores. If they have one that is open box or returned they will often sell it at a discounted price!
I have a home decor book (a three-ring binder, recycled from college) where I keep ideas I see in magazines or on blogs. Then every once in a while I go through it and make a list of items I should keep my eyes peeled for at yard sales and thrift stores. I’m slowly getting my home just the way I want it – and I’m spending very little money. Patience is key!!!
Rachel
rachel.blogger@gmail.com
Turn your hobbies into decorations, most people collect SOMETHING, just find a nice way to display that something, it’s a great conversation starter. Sport Collectables are great in a Den, or game room. Coins, Currency, and Stamps are great for a library or office. Etc.
Try painting. Paint is the best way to add personality and style without spending a lot of money. For $20/gallon (or less) you can totally change the look and feel of any room. Enjoy your new home!
e-Mom
Ikea has curtain rings with clips that you can use to hang easy curtains that you make yourself. Hem a piece of fabric that is the right size for your window on all four sides and clip the rings to the fabric. Then the rings go over a rod and voila – an easy curtain. Ikea conveniently has the rods and brackets right by the rings. I usually make my curtains 1 1/2 to 2 times the width of the window and you can make them any length you want. One advantage to this way of making curtains is that its so easy and cheap that you can change out the fabric easily when you get tired of it. Oh, and Ikea has cool fabric that you can use too! Love that store!
Thanks for the include! Glad you liked the article
I don’t have an original idea to mention, but I love to watch HGTV shows when I have the time. “Design on a Dime” and the show where they decorate a house to appeal to buyers (can’t think of the name of that show – maybe it’s “Priced to Sell”?) are two that have some good and economical decorating ideas. I usually see at least one pretty neat low-cost or make-it-yourself strategy/item on each show that I haven’t thought of before.
Family photographs: We love surrounding ourselves with family and friends, so we collect pictures some old, some new and set them on tables and hang them on walls around the house. The display is nice and they are always great conversation starters. My favorites are the old black and whites of my dad as a toddler with my granddad I have in the kitchen and the picture of my husband, his sister and his 86 year old grandfather wearing a bright red bow tie and vest this past Christmas. We’re also taking in Foster children and plan to fill our hallway with the faces of children we’ve loved through our home.
Thanks for the chance to win!
*submitted by Jonathan’s wife
I just finished reading A Good House is Never Done by John Wheatman. He shows how to artfully surround yourself with the things you love. He uses collections in decorating, and makes a visual connection with the room beyond and/or the outdoor view. Here’s a quote: “It’s not what you have, but what you do with what you have that counts.” This is not about decorating on a budget, but I think some of his ideas could be helpful.
Help someone who is moving into a new home or apartment!
Think of all the useful household items and furniture you toss when you’re moving. It’s great to help a friend or family member and be on the receiving end of some of their throw-aways.
When we moved into our loft, we had blank 10′ walls that really needed some color. Since we didn’t want to spend lots of money on artwork, I went to Michael’s and bought some framing pieces that easily snap together. You can buy various lengths to make your frame(s) as wide, tall, etc. as you like. I did 18″x48″. I then created panels by stretching fabric around the frame and stapling it to the back. For under $50, we had 3 big colorful panels that added great personality to our place. You can make them as contemporary or conservative as you choose depending on the fabric. Plus, you can change out the fabric any time you want to change the look.
Desiging on a budget, I try the creative approach. If I see in a magazine I try to recreate it by going to some of my favorite stores, like Walmart, Crate and Barrell Outlet, JCPenny Outlet and a new discovery is Home Goods (great place). I did shop at IKEA doing one of their big sales weekend and made out like a bandit and got a gift card too.
I involve my kids in the paint as well. Big project coming up laying flooring in my study. I’m excited.
Yard sales are key. I’ve furnished my entire college dorm for less than $100 and my entire kitchen cost only $15 through yard sales!!
Oh boy – LOVE Ikea! We’re big on making our own wall hangings – whether that be taking a $1 print and using crackle glaze to paste it onto a canvas, printing a photo in black and white and painting a frame from the thrift store to match or framing one of my son’s outgrown t-shirts along with a picture of him wearing it and making your own shadow box! We get compliments on our wall decor – and most of it I made myself! You can do a lot on a budget if you’ll use a little creativity – AND you can use these ideas as gifts! So, you’re saving all the way around – and it’s fun!
Congrats to Brandon Johnson – with the best budget decorating idea!