Home Decor on a Budget Part 2: Family Room Decor

This is my family room. This one photo has been seen by over 140,000 people (on instagram alone), reposted, pinned, saved & liked 1,000's of times, and on and on. I don't say that to brag - I say that to give validity to the art of thrifting and DIY home decor.

This room cost me less than $1,000 to furnish, and here is how:

I married young, and had 8 kids during the first 12 years of marriage. My home was always a mess and full of hand me down furniture - not to mention it was a gutted church (literally down to the studs with rain coming through the roof) when I moved in as a newlywed at 18 years old.

In my 30's we finally started finishing rooms, but didn't have much money to furnish them. So, my husband and I began thrifting, visiting garage sales, frequenting estate sales & browsing Craigslist in order to furnish (and finish) our home.

It didn't take long before we were hooked and our family room was the first common room that we finished. There was a beat up oversized leather sectional on cream carpet with sage green walls in here prior to it's current made over state. I wasn't sure how to dispose of the couch, so my son and I took it apart cutting off the fabric, burning the wood and saving all the foam and stuffing for re-use.


All the throw pillows in this room - and the floor cushion were made with the stuffing and cushions we salvaged from that ginormous couch. Talk about a savings - fabric can be found on sale cheap - sewing cost me nothing, and the typically expensive cushion and batting was free. I think I spent a total of $50 on all the pillows & floor cushion in this room.

The first piece of furniture I purchased? That hanging macrame table in the corner for $15 at a local thrift shop. Like many of my thrift store purchases - I wasn't sure if I loved or hated it, but I had to have it. And ended up basing this entire rooms decor on it.

I knew I wanted black leather mid century chair in here and a black leather tufted couch to offset the feminine lines of the macrame. So I watched craigslist for 3 months before finding them, and spent more than I usually would.  But still less than new furniture and I know it will last because it already has. Old furniture is made so much better than anything affordable these days.


Anyway - I spent a total of $500 on both.

The rattan & glass end tables (barely visible in most of these pics) were another thrift shop find $40 for both. The curtains were $10 for the sheer panels at ROSS, $10 for the rod at ROSS, and I used asian themed quilt scraps from my grandmother's sewing room to ad color and pattern to the bottom of them. The rug was another ROSS find for $15. And the two folding stools were $10 each on clearance at Target (normally $50).

The record player and holder were freebies. And the guitars that fill the walls were previously cluttering closets, and bedrooms - now they are accessible and pretty.

The other half of the room was every bit as fun to decorate - it is geared towards our kids. The Encyclopedia set & shelf were $10 at an estate sale during their half price day (more about that later) the chaise lounge $10 at a thrift shop. Globe $5, baskets $5-$15 each at an estate sale. Lamp $15 at an estate sale. And the plants.....well, I buy a lot of plants full price, but the two pictured here - one was gifted by my mom when she moved and had to downsize - the other was $5 at at thrift shop, yes sometimes smaller thriftshops have plants that were donated from estates.


Oh - and that clock! $5 at an estate sale....yes it works.

Now the art of thrifting is something that takes time. You have to be okay with a room taking weeks and sometimes months before it is complete. But the good news about that is: you are less likely to go into debt furnishing your home. If it takes weeks and months, you are spreading out the costs (which are so much less used than new anyway) over a longer period of time - interest free!

If you are new to thrifting here are my tips for you!

• Pinterest & Instagram - use them to create moodboards on what you want your room to feel like.
• Go every weekend - some weeks you will find nothing, other weeks you will be so thrilled with the great deals you found you will want to shout from the mountain tops
• Sign up for mailing lists from estate sale companies - and go on the second day!! normally everything under $50 is 1/2 price the second day - and larger items are reduced and available to make an offer on.
• Frequent all the local thrift shops weekly - stuff changes. AND learn what days they offer discounts. Yes thrift shops offer discounts too - most of my thrifted furniture I found, and then came back to purchase on the 50% off furniture day.
• Don't be afraid to go into a small run down home estate sale - the truth of the matter is, I've found better stuff for better prices at the places that don't look as great from the outside - don't judge a book by its cover, I guess.
• But mostly - just have fun! the thrill of the hunt is maybe, just maybe, the best part of thrifting anyway.

Happy thrifting and furnishing until next time!

I do believe Life is All Surreal

MJB