We’ve downsized big time! In the past couple moves we’ve gone from 4500sqft. to 3500sqft. to now 1500sqft. (and I’m not counting the 600 sqft. apartment we stayed in for 2 months in NYC!) I love being an empty nester and getting rid of all the excess “stuff” we’ve been moving around throughout the years! It’s amazing how little you really need and it’s such a great feeling to unload and start fresh. That was my goal with that last move, lighten up and start fresh. But since we decided to just rent an apartment for a year before we decide where to settle, I didn’t want to spend a lot of money to decorate this place. I thought it would be a fun challenge to see if I could do a little budget decorating in the apartment living room and still make it look good without breaking the bank. Actually, I knew I could…I did have a successful Home Staging business for several years!
Before this last big move I came up with a brilliant way to get rid of most of my furniture and decor. I had a big party and gave everyone yellow stickies and a pen and told them to put their name on anything they wanted, then we talked garage sale prices for it. I was pretty much cleaned out except for a few things I didn’t want to sell. I started off in this apartment with the TV, table lamp, bar cabinet (not shown in the above picture), stick screen, some decorative items and 3 of the 5 toss pillows. So with that being said, it was time to get some furniture and put a room together.
The Rules:
I really only had 2 rules that I set for myself to follow:
1. Inexpensive (remember, I’m budget decorating here)
2. Quick delivery (it needed to be readily available – no waiting on special orders)
With those rules in mind I went to work decorating my apartment living room. The biggest challenge of this apartment was the odd shaped living room. Check out my post on how I made an awkward shape living room work here. The space isn’t very large, so I knew I needed smaller scale furniture.
First up was purchasing a sofa. I knew I wanted a tight back (no loose pillows), light neutral color and clean lines. Unfortunately, all the sofas I found that I liked were much more expensive than I wanted to spend for this project and were special order. Remember, I’m budget decorating here and that broke both rules. Not a good start. So I googled cheap sofas and found some local stores online. What I came up with is this sofa from Bob’s Discount Furniture.
One of my favorite sites to purchase items online is Overstock.com. I signed up for Club O (minimal price) quite a while ago so I got 5% rewards and free shipping when I was doing a remodel of our condo out in Hollywood. On top of that, I always seem to have a 10-15% coupon from them in my email. Here’s a little hint…put something in your cart, then leave it there. Before you know it you will have a coupon in your email, then purchase it. I’ve never paid full price! And I always use my Club O rewards dollars. From Overstock, I bought a gray upholstered chair, two wooden side chairs, tv console, gray sisal rug, and a floor lamp.
The other place I picked up some inexpensive items was the old standby, Ikea. I got some curtains, a coffee table, bookcase, and rug from them. I splurged just a bit with two pillows and a small side table from West Elm, however I did get a great sale price on the side table. The other side table next to the sofa was purchased at Ross.
Here’s a little collage of the items I bought:
Items Purchased/Prices
Here’s the itemized run down of what I bought (I’ve included links if it was still available online at time of this post):
From Bob’s Discount Furniture:
Colby Sofa $449.00 (plus tax and delivery)
From Overstock.com
(prices may include discounts I used):
Moretti Dark Grey Linen Modern Club Chair – $311.55
Lawrence Entertainment Center $440.99
Ella Tripod Syle Adjustable-Height With Bronze Finish Floor Lamp $98.99
Hand woven, Natural Fiber, Uni Grey Fine Sisal Rug (8×10) $212.39
Reaves Walnut Effect Mid-Century Modern Accent Chair (Set of 2) 170.99
From West Elm:
Pillow Covers $34.00 & $24.99
Martini side table Orig. Price $149, I got mine on sale (floor model) for $89
From Ikea:
Vittsjo Nesting Tables $59.99
Alvine Ruta Rug $249.00
Ritva Curtain Panels $24.99
Kvartal curtain rod $5.99
Kvartal ceiling fixture (4) $2.50 each
Kvartal glider and hook $2.00
From Ross:
Metal side table $29.99
Total: $2,213.86 (plus some tax that may not have been included)
You might look at the above and think my rugs and TV console aren’t very budget friendly. Yes, they were a little on the expensive side for this type of a project, but the quality is fantastic and well worth the money. I started with the rug from Ikea first as the inspiration for my colors, but felt it was a little too small so that’s why there’s a second rug. Typically, you’d only need one if you bought the right size, however, I’m liking the look with the two. The TV console is solid wood and a piece I’m sure I’ll keep around for a while. But if that’s over your budget, Ikea has a lot of really great less expensive options!
Have you had success at budget decorating? Please share!