How To Furnish and Decorate Your Home on a Tight Budget

With all the home improvement TV shows and decor inspiration on Pinterest these days, it can be hard to not want to furnish and decorate your home just like your “dream home” Pinterest board. But to make those “dream home” inspirations a reality, it can cost an absolute fortune. To combat this, I’ve adopted a “less is more” mentality. Eliminate the clutter and use decor and furniture that can fit all seasons of life.

When Luke and I got married, we were fresh out of college with student loans and a tight budget. We didn’t have a lot of money to spare, but of course the homemaker in me still wanted to make our new apartment a welcoming home.

So how did I decorate and furnish my apartment on a tight budget?

Simple. I used furniture and decor I already had, DIY’d pieces from Goodwill, Craigslist, the dollar store, and even items left on the side of the road. I shopped major sales at stores like Marshall’s, T.J. Maxx, HomeGoods, and Walmart. And finally I utilized Amazon to get the best deals on items that I couldn’t find elsewhere for a better price.

Additionally, I was quite fortunate to have just had my wedding before moving into our apartment together. I was able to keep some of the decor from my wedding to use as decor in my apartment.

Let’s take a look at exactly how I furnished and decorated our apartment for two on a budget of $1,000…

*READ THIS*

Below I’ve included pictures of all the rooms in my apartment. I’ll share with you exactly how I furnished/decorated them and how much money I spent. I’m sharing this information as inspiration so you can get ideas of how you can furnish and decorate your home on a budget as well.

For the “try these budget options” that I share below, simply click on the picture if you’re interested in viewing the item, reading more about it, purchasing, etc. All items will have 100% free shipping if they qualify for Amazon Prime. Don’t have Amazon Prime yet? You can try Amazon Prime completely free for a 30 day trial. Click here to sign up for your Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial. Enjoy 🙂

Now let’s get to it!

This page contains affiliate links. If you want more information, please visit my disclosure page. 

The Living Room

Couch: $100

We bought our couch for $100 on Facebook Marketplace from a super sweet husband and wife who no longer needed it. We gladly took it off their hands. They even delivered for free!

Recommendation – Search through “Facebook Marketplace”, “Buy, Sell, Trade” groups on Facebook specific to your area, or Craigslist. It will save you a fortune instead of buying new.

End Tables: $60 for two

We bought our end tables from Target and assembled them ourselves. They are cheap wood but look great and I LOVE the storage bins in the bottom.

try these budget options –

(available in 4 colors)

Lamps: $40 for two

Our lamps were on sale for a great deal from either Marshall’s or Homegood’s (I don’t remember which). Tall living room lamps can cost a lot of money so this was a great steal.

try these budget options –

Two 24″ Table Lamps –

1 Floor Lamp and 2 Table lamps –

Throw Pillows: $35 for all four pillows

I bought the two flowered pillows on sale at Marshall’s for $10 each and both grey pillows in a 2 pack from Walmart for $15.

try these budget options –

set of two:

set of two: (7 colors available)

\

 

Coffee Table: $50 from garage sale

My mom helped Luke and I out a great deal with finding bargain items for our apartment. She found us our coffee table at a local garage sale for a great steal. I love that our coffee table has 5 drawers in it. They will be perfect when we have kids one day and can store their toys and other junk in them 😉

try these budget options –

(more colors available)

Fake Flowers + Vases: $6 total for 3 vases and 3 bunches of flowers

Recommendation – Buy vases and fake flowers from any type of dollar store or Walmart. I checked Amazon and they are much more expensive in comparison to buying at Walmart or a dollar store.

Curtains: $15 total for 1 rod and 2 curtain panels

I bought the curtain rod for $5 and the curtains for $5 each at Walmart. These are solely for decor purposes as they are very sheer. Our apartment came with blinds installed on all the windows so we didn’t need light blocking curtains.

try these budget options –

The Dining Area

Light Oak Wood Kitchen Table and Chairs: $120

We bought our table and chairs as a set for $120 from a seller on the app OfferUp. A pretty great deal for real wood furniture.

try these budget options –

Chalkboard (above eating table): Free from wedding

We bought an ugly picture on sale from Marshall’s for our wedding (to use for our hot chocolate bar menu) and painted over the picture with chalkboard paint. We kept the wooden frame it’s original color. Painting a picture with chalk paint is a perfect, budget way to make your own huge chalkboard!

try these budget options –

(adhesive chalkboard paper for the wall)

The Kitchen

Bulb Lights: Free

We got our bulb lights on our wedding gift registry. I love having lights around the kitchen window. It makes our kitchen glow and adds a beautiful ambiance when I’m cooking.

try these budget options –

25 ft white lights-

25 ft black lights –

Little Chalkboard (Above Oven): $3

I bought the cute little chalkboard from the Target Dollar Spot. It’s the perfect size to hang anywhere.

try these budget options –

 

“Eat, Drink, and Be Cozy” Wooden Frame: Free

My talented friend K.C. painted the wooden frame in our kitchen. I absolutely love it. It’s always been one of my favorite decor pieces in our apartment.

try these budget options –

 

Dish Towels: Free

I received about 15 dish towels on our wedding registry which was great because you can never have enough.

try these budget options –

 

The Bedroom

 

King Size Bed – $200

Our bed is on the floor with no bed frame. We have it on top of two twin size boxspring mattresses Luke had since college. Did I mention this is a frugal furniture post? 😉 We bought the King size mattress for $200 off Amazon and WE LOVE IT. Best deal you can find for a quality and comfortable King size mattress.

This mattress below is the exact King size mattress we bought for $200. So far we are 100% satisfied with it and extremely happy with our decision to go budget instead of buying the $2000+ mattresses we were testing out at the mattress stores.

My dresser: $10

We picked it up at a dumpster and fixed it up by hand sanding and painting it. ($10 for sand paper and spray paint)

try these budget options –

Luke’s Solid Oak Dresser: $50

We bought Luke’s dresser off Craigslist for $50. A great deal because that thing is HEAVY solid wood and in great condition.

try these budget options –

 

Bedside Tables in Bedroom: $25 for both

We  bought my bedside table off the app “OfferUp” for $15. It’s so cute I was so happy with my find. We bought Luke’s bedside table at Goodwill for $10 which was another great steal.

try these budget options –

(pair of 2)

(pair of 2)

Bedroom Lamps: $5 for both 

 Luke’s was bought at a garage sale for $5 and mine is from my childhood bedroom.

try these budget options –

(pair of 2)

(pair of 2)

(pair of 2)

Picture Frames in our Bedroom: $32 for all frames + big quote picture

The large quote frame was bought at Marshall’s for $20. The frames on either side are printed freebies off line and the picture frames were bought on sale for $2 at Walmart. The picture frames on the bedside tables bought at Marshall’s at 2 for $8.

Try these budget options –

(10 frames, various sizes)

(2 frames)

(5 ready to paint DIY frames)

 

Floor Length Curtains: FREE

I bought the two curtain panels for my college bedroom several years ago and we kept them for our bedroom.

Try these budget options –

(12 colors available)

(2 panels)

The Entertainment Center + Bookshelf

Luke built both our bookshelf and entertainment center for free with leftover materials from his cabinet job he was working at the time.

Bookshelf: FREE – built by my husband 🙂

try these budget options –

(4 colors / 2 styles)

TV stand: FREE – built by my husband 🙂

try these budget options –

Bulb Lights: $15 from Amazon

try these budget options –

25 ft white lights-

25 ft black lights –

TV: FREE

Our TV is Luke’s that he bought his freshman year of college. He bought it majorly discounted at a black Friday sale so even then it was a great deal. 🙂

The Fireplace/Mantel

Fireplace Decor: $27

A lot of the cute decor you see on our mantel we got to keep from our wedding. SCORE! The M&L, chalkboard box, and the lanterns were wedding decor. The banner was leftover decor from my bridal shower that I got to keep. My mom helped out a ton with the lanterns for our wedding by finding great sales and even purchasing a few at Goodwill.  I DIY’d the grey mirror by buying an ugly old mirror from a thrift store for 5 bucks and painting it grey. The vase and fake flowers were $2 from our local dollar store. The picture frame on the left side was a wedding gift. And the big clock at the top I found at Marshall’s for $20!

Lanterns: FREE from Wedding Decor 

try these budget options –

Mirror on Mantel: $5 to DIY

 I bought an old mirror from Goodwill for $5 and spray painted it grey to be the focal point of our fireplace mantel. (can of spray paint – $5) Mirrors can be SPENDY so I suggest trying out a DIY option like I did from a thrift store or be picky and wait for a sale.

Large Wall Clock: $20

try these budget options –

 

The Entry Way

Entry Way Bench, Mirror, and throw blanket: $15 for everything

The entry way bench and mirror are from a garage sale for $15 bucks total. The throw blanket was on our wedding registry and the pillow was a Christmas gift this past year.

Throw Blankets:

try these budget options – 

 

The Bathroom

Shower Curtain: FREE from wedding registry

try these budget options – 

Cabinet Organizer: $50 from Walmart

try these budget options – 

mini crates: $2 each from Walmart

try these budget options – 

bath rug: FREE from wedding registry

try these budget options –

(6 colors available)

“Be Still and Know That I Am God” wood sign: $15 off Amazon (purchased while still in college so it wasn’t included in our apartment budget)

try these budget options – 

 

And that’s a wrap!

Now you have some fresh ideas on how to decorate and furnish your apartment or house on a budget. Go hit up those garage sales, DIY your bargain finds, shop the best sales, and say hello to your beautifully furnished apartment on a dime.

Follow me on Instagram & Facebook

Resources That I Love:

Ibotta: Ibotta is an awesome cash back app that you can use on your smart phone to earn cash back rewards simply for grocery shopping! It includes many popular stores such as Amazon, Walmart, Target, Costco, Fred Meyer, Thrive Market, and much more. When you download the app, use my referral code here to earn your first $10, and start inviting your friends to start earning huge bonuses!

Ebates: Ebates is phenomenal because you get major cash back just for shopping. Here’s how it works: When you want to shop, go to Ebates.com, search for the store you want to shop at, click the “shop now” button, and shop online as you would normally. Once you are ready to checkout, you’ll make your purchase, and a percentage of the purchase shows up in your Ebates account. For example, if Ebates is offering 10% cash back for shopping at Target and you buy something for $500, you’ll get $50 in cash back. Amazing right?! Use my link here to sign u for Ebates and start earning money simply for buying your everyday needs. BONUS: By using my link, you’ll earn $10 back when you spend $15.

TIP: Download the free and easy to use cash back button on Ebates.com so any time you go to an online website that offers cash back through Ebates, you can click the button to automatically get cash back from your order.

MyPoints:  MyPoints is a rewards program that gives you points for reading e-mails, shopping, taking surveys, doing web searches, and more. Once you earn a certain amount of points, you can redeem them for a gift card of your choice to over 75 merchants. They also offer free access to coupons to hundreds of different merchants daily. I’ve already earned a $25 AMC gift card and a $50 Amazon gift card in 2 months just by using Mypoints 5-10 minutes per day before I roll out of bed. Sign up and start earning here.     

Groupon: Groupon is a deal-of-the-day recommendation service for anything from restaurants to vacations to electronics. Every 24 hours, Groupon broadcasts an electronic coupon for a restaurant or store in your city, recommending that local service while also offering you a 40% to 60% discount if you purchase that service. I use Groupon AT LEAST a few times a month if not more. I just had my oil changed at Jiffy Lube for $20 when it would’ve cost me $60 without the deal. Groupon has saved me thousands of dollars over the years. I never go anywhere without checking Groupon first. Use my link to save $10 on your next purchase with Groupon!