How to decorate your home on a tight budget

I have been asked so many times by readers and friends how I decorate our home on a budget and where to even start in their own homes. And while Pinterest is flooded with budget decorating tips, I still get the question all the time. I wrote about today’s blogpost years ago already and felt the need now to re-write the post because so much has changed since then again and I have learned a few new things.

So because I’m being asked so often, I felt like I should just give my two cents to the subject. You guys all know that I like to decorate on a budget because I simply have to. It is so easy for someone with a lot of money to walk into designer stores and shop their heart out. It would be so fun for sure if I could afford it.

Now decorating on a budget has become a habit and even if I had the cash, I’d like to spend it somewhere else and would still decorate as affordable as possible. (I also wrote a blog post about how I decorate with and for a teenager on a budget, see below).
You might also like my 10 favorite Ikea decorating tips and tricks because we all know Ikea is rather affordable.

How to decorate your home on a tight budget

While everyone that frequents the internet knows by now that Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, thrift shops, and auctions are the places to go to start decorating your home on a budget, most people still get discouraged by their lack of finds or ability to put what they see in those smelly and scary places into their home design. Some people just don’t want the “vintage look” and prefer a more modern approach which you can still achieve when you thrift and buy second hand.

I’ve heard so many times “I never find anything good like you” which I’m sure isn’t true. You just don’t know it. Just check out some of the examples I found by simply opening up my Local Marketplace at the end of this post.

And what if you don’t have the money to splurge on those key pieces I mentioned above? There are so many people who can’t do that either and it is also sometimes so difficult to find a budget to buy all the supplies needed for that lovely DIY project you spotted on Pinterest which was supposed to be so cheap.

Where do you start when you struggle financially but still want a pretty home? This is where I start…

Clear out your space

First of all I would start out by reevaluating everything I had in my space and I would clear it all out. This can seriously do wonders and show you that you are probably better off throwing out some of the things or that you can rework some of them.

Clean Space

You might wonder what this has to do with decorating but to me a good cleaning does wonders and you get to start with a clean slate. So when the space is cleared out, I’d give it a top to bottom cleaning. A really, really good cleaning. I mean toothbrush to the baseboard and magic eraser cleaning. That’s what I do, I’m not even kidding. I use a toothbrush, windex or in a really bad case Clorox spray bathroom cleaner, no joke it’s my favorite. I scrub my walls, molding and baseboards and wipe them down with old towels. You wouldn’t believe what a difference that makes.
If you are planning on painting the walls this is necessary in my opinion anyways. Make sure to check out the “Oops paint” section at your home improvement store for discounted paints and if you happen to have a Restore location you might get lucky with some donated cheap paint as well.

My favorite is a coat of fresh white paint if you don’t know what direction you are going yet. I use Valspar’s eggshell Ultra White 7006-24.

Break up matching sets and take photos

Take photos of all your items. List the items with photos of what you want to sell. That can give you a little cash for decorating.

Print the photos of the items you want to keep or add them to your phones favorites for easy access so you can reference them when you are looking for more decor.
Do not keep or buy matching bedroom, living or dining room sets. The collected decorated look doesn’t ever happen with a matching set.

If you happen to have a matching set, consider breaking it up by either selling part of it or moving some pieces into other rooms.

Make a List of Things You Need

Lists are always great and help me tremendously. Make a list of things you need and are looking for so you don’t end up with a bunch of things that you don’t have room for and will just clutter up your space. (I still struggle with this)

Sell some of your furniture pieces and decor

Like I mentioned above already, sell whatever you don’t want anymore. It is pretty impressive sometimes what extra cash I can make from selling unwanted items from our home.

Have patients with this part because some items don’t sell fast. If they don’t sell after a couple weeks, donate them.

Experiment with different furniture placements

This also does wonders! If you just clean and play around with your furniture you can feel much happier with what you have or get an idea of what you want. Especially if you need to figure out what furniture pieces and sizes you still need.

I wrote a blog post about 4 different living room layouts I have tried in our house.

Rework and rotate what you have

This tip is definitely on the top of my list. Over the years my favorite key pieces haven’t gotten replaced. I either rotated them throughout the house or gave them a makeover. This is also addressed in my blog post about how to transition into a different decor style over the years.

I have been blogging since 2012 and since then the major items in our home have stayed the same. Don’t you think I can be proud of that? It shows that you don’t have to buy new things all the time. Instagram and Pinterest usually makes you feel like you have to buy new things all the time to keep up with the trends.

Would I have loved to have a new desk instead of the Queen Anne style one I have? Yeah and I was looking for a while but either couldn’t afford what I found or it wasn’t the right size. I love the alternative that I came up with for the existing desk.

Below you can find some of my recently reworked pieces of furniture and spaces:

Compromise with yourself

Are you wondering what I mean by that? Sometimes I have it in my head that I really want something and I compromise with myself. This might sound like, “ok you can get that one piece but that means that you have to work with the other things in the room…” conversation in my head. Sounds childish maybe but for me it works. It’s literally talking myself out of something.

Facebook Marketplace, auctions and maybe still Craigslist

If you are redecorating you should look every day! Save your searches, tell your friends what you are looking for in case they see something. I can’t even tell you how many times I have gotten a text from a friend to show me something they saw for either free or cheap that they thought I would like.

Search for local Facebook Marketplace thrift and yard sale groups and join them.

(As I mentioned earlier I’m showing some examples at the end of this post.)

Have patience!

That falls in line with all of the points mentioned in this blog post. Good design can happen fast when you got all the cash to spend but the collected look on a budget only happens when you aren’t in a rush.

Splurge on key pieces only

I know the word splurge shouldn’t even be in a post written about affordable decorating and they are not necessary. My splurges are also not the most expensive. A splurge to me is something that I loved so much and really wanted and just couldn’t find cheap somewhere else. I had to save for those purchases and maybe sell something that I didn’t like as much.
In our home, my key splurge pieces are our sofas, my bed, a chandelier, our countertops, the giant baskets, and an area rug here and there but for you, they might be something else if you get lucky finding these things for cheap somewhere else. I have many other key pieces that I barely spent any money on.

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I have had the above sofas since 2012 and they have transitioned well with all kinds of different decor accessories and styles. They were affordable but are unfortunately not available anymore.

The chairs cost me only $120 each at Target on sale – The coffee table was thrifted for $25 – I made the plant hangers and macrame myself – All the end tables are from outlet stores and I painted the two outside ones white – The table lamps are thrifted for $4 each – the large brass pot is thrifted for $20 and so are the basket and giant rosary beads on the curtains – The large mirror is from HomeGoods – The affordable pillow covers are from H&M.

Other key pieces are area rugs, so let’s start talking decor accessories…

Sign up for email lists

It is seriously my favorite tip! I sign up for all the email lists to local auction houses (or any other thrift and consignment store). If I really like something then I go to the auction and try to win the item/items. Well, I mostly send my husband because I don’t have the nerve for it. Or I go to the previews and leave a bid if I can’t be present for the auction. It’s not what I prefer to do though.
Lately, all of the auction houses do online bidding because of COVID.

Frequent Outlet Stores

I always have a bunch of outlet stores and furniture store clearance sections that I check on a regular basis when I’m searching for something.

DIY art, thrift art or print Downloadable art

Having the right kind of art can really elevate a room but it can also be super expensive.

If you think you can’t DIY your art as I did in some cases then try to thrift it or download printable art. I love Etsy where you can purchase downloadable art and get them printed at other locations.

DIY your curtains

Window treatments can get expensive as well but they don’t have to be.

I have previously always just painted or embellished plain Ikea Merete curtains but if you don’t feel like that then other Ikea, Amazon or Overstock curtains can be a budget find as well.

Currently I have velvet curtains in our living room that match our wall color (Quail Egg 7002-12 by Valspar) perfectly and they are also very affordable.

Here are my DIY window treatment posts for you to check out: