When we moved into our home this past summer, we were faced with a dilemma. We were moving from a 900 square foot home into a 2400 square foot home. We were upgrade from 1 bath, 2.5 bedrooms with a living room and kitchen to a home with 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, kitchen, dining room, living room and a basement rec room/bar. (Don’t worry! It’s a 1940′s home, not a McMansion. All the space is well-crafted and usable). Our problem was, we had no furniture.
Our old futon was ready for the trash heap. The frame was held together with yarn and you could see your hand through parts of the cushion. We didn’t have dining tables or the like. All we brought with us were some bedroom furniture, our desks and a bookcase. The house was empty. We didn’t even have anything to put on the walls!
We looked at new furniture. Ugly, badly-crafted furniture that cost more than a used car with even handier payment plans. Then we looked at our four cats, a dog and two boys and realized anything we buy today likely won’t be in one piece a decade from now. Especially since we live in the muddy Northwest. So we moved to plan B and furnished our home for less than $150.
Here is what I learned about furnishing a home cheaply:
Be flexible. Don’t decide on a specific style, brand or color. When we assessed our living room needs we decided we needed either two coffee tables or an end table and a sofa table. Nothing too ornate but finish didn’t matter—it could be redone. We also decided that while we definitely wanted neutral tones, we could settle for a couch and an armchair or a couple chairs and a loveseat. We ended up with a light tan loveseat, two light tan non-reclining armchairs, and two glass-top coffee tables that matched nicely with a coat of black paint. (cost-$30)
Be patient. You aren’t going to find everything you want at the first shop you go to. Or the second, third or fourth. We shopped over a period of three months, and we still have a few items on the want-list, though we have enough now to live comfortably. We stopped by our favorite thrift store two to three times a week to see if they had new items in. I hit garage sales until winter weather set it and perused Craigslist nightly. We made do with what we had until we found the right item as the right price.
Be creative. I have always wanted a simple, Asian-style dining set. Yet these are expensive and many of them seem poorly made. We stumbled upon a rectangular, clean-lined table with horrible wood veneer circa 1985. A couple coats of high-lacquer black paint and a fake red silk table runner (from the dollar store) gave it a very Asian look. We purchased four black wooden clean-lined chairs, on clearance because they were scratched up heavily, and placed red clearance seat cushions on them. It looks like a million bucks and only cost $45 for everything, including the paint.
Put out the word. A couple of friends chipped in and purchased us an inexpensive clik-clak style sofa for the rec room as a housewarming gift. It easily folds down to make a bed, perfect for sleepovers. Another friend found a great deal on towels and purchased enough to outfit two bathrooms, also an impromptu housewarming gift. My parents offered to buy a bed for the guest room, a gift that they can use when they visit. Our old house had no closets, so we suddenly found ourself in need of hangers. While lamenting about this to another friend, she revealed she had a huge box of plastic hangers she was about to donate. Let people know what you are looking for. You never know what they may have to give away or be willing to part with for a low price.
Use what you have. Unless you are truly starting from scratch, chances are you already have items you can re-purpose. Two milk crates stacked and covered with an attractive piece of fabric leftover from a past project became a bedside table int eh guest room. We were short a bookcase and a toy box once our boys had their own rooms, so we used a black metal garage shelf in the older boys room, and used some of the sturdiest moving boxes to hold toys so he could just slide them under his bed. No artwork? We had some blank canvases laying around and my husband can draw, so he painted up some living room art. I did the dining room by covering cardboard in fabric to make a ‘frame’, then glued photographs of Japan printed from Flickr commons onto them.
Furnishing a home does not have to be expensive, and you can still have an attractive and relaxing space that meets your personal style. Stay realistic and stick to your budget to make your plans come to life.
What are some of your favorite places to find furniture and other home décor items? Do you have a method to turn everyday objects into art? I’d love more ideas to use as I finish decorating my house!
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