How To Decorate When You Have Zero Budget

Today I have a newly updated version of a post that while written a few years back, is even more true today in our instagram-driven world…

In this current age of blogs, Pinterest and Instagram it seems that everyone out there has a beautiful custom home and a HUGE budget for decorating. Since that isn’t always the case, in fact most of us have a very limited budget for home projects and decor, I thought I’d share some of the ways I have decorated my home over the years for either no cost or almost no cost at all.

My current home is the result of years of blogging projects with many generous sponsors. We also have made recent updates (like our kitchen makeover last year) that in the earlier years of our marriage we would never been able to afford to do.  I remember when my son was a baby, I stayed at home with him and we needed every penny of my husband’s salary to keep us afloat, my aunt {who has one of the prettiest houses around} always gave me great decorating advice. One day she and I were discussing something and I remember her saying wisely, “it takes a long time to get your house the way you want it,” and she was so right! It doesn’t seem like that quite as much these days, but I still think it’s important to enjoy the process of making your home your own, whatever stage of life you are in.

Anyway– if you are on a tight budget or simply don’t want to invest to much in your home right now, here are some ideas for decorating without spending much money.

Shop your house {or your parents’, in-laws’ or anyone else who might have furniture they are willing to pass down to you!}. While someone’s pass downs may not be exactly your style, but a coat of paint can make a BIG difference. {Read our chalk painting furniture tips HERE}. You can even paint upholstery; this chair came from my grandmother’s house, but a coat of paint {tutorial is HERE} updated it perfectly. Christy did the same thing {with a different painting technique} and you can see it HERE. Either way works to make an outdated chair something that you’ll be proud to have in your home.

Learn to DIY. I guess this is fairly obvious, but taking on house projects is so much cheaper then hiring it out. Painting is simple to do and will totally change the look of a room.  A simple project like DIY Display Shelves are inexpensive to build without fancy tools, and a few decorative items arranged on them makes a space look pretty for almost no cost. You can also fill a whole wall with them like Christy and I did together here.

Learn to sew. I admit that I don’t love sewing, but I am so glad that I know how! My mother took the time to teach me when I was young, though now I think it’s getting to be a bit of a lost art. Fabric is inexpensive and the options to make things are endless. If you can sew a straight line, you can make curtains or pillows, and there are tons of tutorials online. A simple envelope pillow case takes just a few minutes to make (see how here), and adding a few new throw pillows can change the entire look of a room. I sewed my daughter’s pillow shams {below} and even turned one set of Pottery Barn silk curtains into two sets by splitting them and hemming the raw edges (below). It was a huge savings vs. buying another pair.

Sell what you don’t want to buy what you do want. This trick I learned from Christy, and it is a good one! If you have some furniture that isn’t exactly what you want, list it for sale and then use the proceeds to buy what you really want. I did this with my dining room set. I had fallen out of love with my dining room table, but at the time we had just moved and were still carrying two house payments so I couldn’t just go out and buy a new one. I found a set I knew I could refinish on Craigslist, so I listed my current table and another set of chairs and used the proceeds from selling it to buy the new set.  A few coats of white paint, and my dining room had a whole new look {below} and in the end it cost next to nothing.

Fall in love with IKEA.  I wish this concept had been mainstream when I was a newlywed with no furniture,  as the supply of IKEA hacks on Pinterest is limitless. Their furniture, while not always the highest quality, is perfect for making into something better–especially when you pay so little for it in the first place. We’ve done all sorts of IKEA hacks and there are tons more online. It is always worth checking what is available here if you don’t live close to a store.

Here are some of the transformations we’ve done:

Greek Key Overlay Dresser

DIY Built-In Bookcases from IKEA Billy Bookshelves

Under the Counter Kitchen Shelves

Shop Facebook Marketplace. I am still learning the tricks to finding the really good things on Facebook Marketplace (like the amazing mirror Christy found below!) but searching words like “vintage” and “antique” are a good place to start along with name brands like “Restoration Hardware” and “Pottery Barn”. It takes dedication but you can find some great things if you keep at it.

Shop second hand stores. You can find pre-owned furniture at Goodwill, The Salvation Army, Habitat Restore, Craigslist, yard sales, estate sales, and plenty of other places, even neighborhood yardsale websites.  Again, a coat or two of paint can totally transform an old piece of furniture. I have many painted secondhand pieces in my home, and I love the idea of giving them a new life.  Bonus: often the older pieces are better quality then you can buy now. I purchased this mid-century Drexel console and painted it to give it a whole new life.

Find a local Auction House. Hands down, my very best furniture finds {like this custom-built armoire below, which was only $150!} have come from our local auction house. Auctions are so much fun and you can get amazing deals {a set of lamps for my daughter’s room–$2. My son’s iron bed–$20, you get the idea!} on all sorts of things–you can even find mirrors, jewelry and tools, books and all sorts of things at auctions.

Spray Paint.  There isn’t much we won’t spray paint, it’s an essential to low-cost decorating.  Again, we have a ton of projects here on this blog with spray paint I could show as examples but for a few dollars there isn’t much that will give you as much of a bang for your money!  You may even have some dated accessories in your home that a little spray paint could refresh for smaller accents, or you can transform a larger piece like Christy did below to this $10 table, see this transformation HERE. 

Shop Online. While it is hard to make a major purchase without seeing it, if you measure carefully, check the return policy and read the reviews you can make an educated decision.  Amazon continues to up the home decor they have available and of course Target has come a long way in the last few years with their collaborations with popular designers like Joanna Gaines and Shea McGee.

I wrote this post HERE about places you can find free {or almost free art} for your walls to help you fill up those blank spaces on a budget. You can find frames at second hand stores, yard sales or again maybe in your parents’ basement 🙂  A little spray paint on an old frame along with a free printable is a way to create artwork for pretty much nothing. Just recently I added a Gallery Wall in my son’s room with Etsy prints.

I hope these ideas are helpful, creating a home you love should be a process. It takes time but in the end only you can truly make your home your own.

XO,

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