Frugal Friday—Almost free decorating ideas!

When we moved last year from WA to CA we determined it was more expensive to move all our things than it was to sell them and purchase new when we bought another house. To make a long story short, we sold almost everything and wound up using all the money we earned on our down payment for our new house. So I found myself with a 2500 sq ft house and no furniture and zero budget.

So here is an example of how you can decorate your home without spending a fortune.

This is our guest room- we had a bed with a cheap metal frame and that was it. Here is how I decorated the entire room for less than $15:

Paint- Purchased oops paint at Home Depot for $5/can. Color is a neutral tan that would match almost anything.

Side Tables- Purchased the white table at Target on clearance for $11. Painted an IKEA table we used to have in our entry way with the oops paint for the other side.

“Headboard”- I wanted to make a nice fabric headboard but it was too expensive. Instead I used an old mirror we had used in our old master bedroom closet. I painted the trim a crisp white. I used white paint the prior homeowner had left in our garage.

TV Stand- I made this hope chest in woodshop when I was 16 years old. It has been dragged around with me for years and I painted it the same white as the trim.
(We just loaned a TV to a family member that needed it- we are using a tiny TV that we have had for years in the interim).

Other: The lamp we had but I needed to get a new lamp shade- I finally found one for $6 at HomeGoods. The drapes we also had but I purchased the curtain rod on clearance at Kmart for $3. One either side of the closet doors there are candle holder/sconces. I cut a photo out of a magazine and had my husband make them with leftover MDF. I painted them white. The other accessories we already had.

My favorite of all is the gorgeous wingback chair. We looked for a new dining room table for about 6 months on Craigslist, yard sales, retail sales etc.. I finally found a mahogany table from a model home someone purchased. They didn’t need the table and it was brand new and in excellent condition. The table came with 6 chairs but the designer had also chosen two wingback chairs as Captain’s chairs for the table. We got lucky and scored the table for $350 and they gave us the wingback chairs free. The table is easily worth $1500 but the owner wanted it out quickly and had taken terrible photos of it. We had cash and they gave us a great price.

So there it is- I spent $53 total but sold something for $40 to offset the cost. Our total oop expense to decorate the whole room was $13.

Check out Life as Mom for more great frugal tips!