Frugal Decorating Ideas Part 1: Furniture

Many of my friends are newly-weds or about to get married! Super exciting! So one thing I learned from being married and neither of us owning furniture was how to shop for inexpensive furniture. Right before we got married we did buy a few pieces of new furniture at a good discount. One I am bummed about was our coffee table. We got it about half off but it was still pretty expensive and the people lied to us and made it sound like it was real wood. Well its not and it has chips all over it (not because I put my feet up all the time on it or anything…). So I hope this little blog post will help you learn to pick good quality furniture at a good price.

Ask furniture stores to check out their damage section.

This is probably my favorite one! My aunt and cousin are the queens of scoring great deals doing this. We bought a really nice nightstand for $75 in this section because the piece had a few indentations on the top that you can only see if you look really hard. Sometimes the deal isn’t that good but try to haggle with them it usually works.

Look for sales

We got a brand new couch and love seat for $900 which is a pretty good deal especially when the couch was suppose to be that price alone. Also, at that same sale we got a memory foam mattress and box spring that was $4000 for $700. Definitely worth it.

Shop at thrift stores, estate sales, or antique stores

For one you are being eco friendly because the furniture is seeing a second life and being reused. This is one of my favorite ways to get furniture! Not only is the hunt fun but you can get good deals and sometimes haggle the price down. Here is some of the furniture we have gotten from these places.

This is our tv stand that used to be a ice chest long long ago that I got at a antique store. It was originally $125 but I haggled down for $75 or $100.

You might remember this from the craft organizer blog post. But I scored this beaut on sale for $70

See what your parents/friends will give you or take something off their hands they want to give away or sell

Since we live in a college town its pretty easy to do. When my brother and his wife moved out of there apartment when they lived here I got 2 awesome pieces of furniture from her. A wood table and chairs that needed a little tlc and an awesome dresser that had already been redone. Also, from my parents we got some old side tables that were my grandparents and a large table that we still have to get from their house one day eventually. Since they live quite far away from me I had to hire furniture delivery UK to come and move it to my house, it was really easy and quick to do though!

 

Free awesome dresser that I love
I wish I had before and after pictures. Before it was kind of gross green and natural wood with paint splatter all of it from the many painting I painted with my brothers wife. With a little sanding and some black paint it looks all perrty again.

Look past the exterior

Sometimes you see a really ugly piece of furniture. Maybe is the color of puke or something. But look past it. Look at if its real wood or metal, its lines, and the quality. You can always sand it down and add a fresh new coat of paint. This can go for picture frames and stools too.

Make your own if your handy!

In a previous post I shared how my husband made me a bench for Christmas as a surprise. He also made a wood bookshelf (if you look hard you can see it behind the black table) that although I originally wanted to throw out because its not made very well or even (sorry Neil). But I learned to love it for its charm and rustic appearance. Plus he made it so its worth something to me.

There you have it a few tips and tricks to get frugal furniture and make your home look warm and cozy. Stay tuned for tomorrows post about how to get inexpensive art.

This was part of the Homestead Barn Hop, Craft-O-Maniac Craft link party

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