Don’t Overlook the Details

What makes these rooms truly appealing often isn’t the furniture, but the funky accent pieces.  Let your own individuality shine by adding unique tchotchkes you or other family members may already have around the house.  Turn your own photos into masterpieces using photo editing software to antique them with a sepia or B&W tint.  Take the dust jackets off your hardcover books and stack them to create an interesting tablescape.  By using your own things you’ll be creating an even more personalized look than the faux-antique pieces peddled by Pottery Barn. 

If your basement isn’t stocked with Grandma’s kitchy castoffs, a steady supply of trinkets is available through eBay, thrift stores, and garage sales.  While shopping secondhand is nothing new to an experienced frugalista, knowing what to look for takes some practice and a discerning eye and an open mind.  What can you disassemble, paint, or use as a centerpiece?  Vases, ceramics, antique postcards, art prints, frames, and other items can often be found on the cheap on eBay, so be sure to take a look.

Where Can I Get It?

If you haven’t already, discover Ikea.  This Swedish mega-store is the decorating mom’s dream.  With everything from slipcovered sofas to kitchen gadgets – all with clever Swedish names - this store has it all.  You can even get 99 cent kids’ meals in their cafeteria and drop off the tykes in their playroom while you shop.  Don’t overlook their scratch-and-dent section, often located near the checkout.  One note of caution: in order to pass on great prices to their customers, most of their furniture requires assembly.  As your husband is swearing under his breath while assembling your LACK coffee table or ALVE desk, remind him how much money you saved. 

If you don’t live near Ikea, don’t give up your decorating dreams just yet.  Stores like Target also offer great home design on a budget.  Designers like Cynthia Rowley, Isaac Mizrahi and Michael Graves, make upscale pieces affordable for the masses. Don’t forget to comb their endcaps for markdowns bearing orange stickers.  Don’t be shy.  Ask the sales associate when the next round of markdowns will occur.  At most Target stores, it’s typically Thursday for housewares.  Often times the clearance items will ring up the sale price before they’re ticketed that way, so it pays to scan them yourself to find out.

Other retailers like Crate and Barrel, Pier One, TJ Maxx, and Marshall’s are all great places to look. But to a budget decorator, that’s obvious.  Don’t forget to look in out of the way places.  Your hardware store may have lower-priced lighting, fixtures, and shelving systems that look eerily similar to those 2-3 times the price at PB.  Baskets, candle accessories, frames, and florals can be found in the home decorating sections of craft stores like Michael’s and Joann Fabrics.  Lower prices combined with the 40-50% off coupons in their flyers can add up to big savings.  Your dollar store may have some surprises as well.  On a recent trip I scored a glass vase and decorative rocks – for $2. 

You’re Not Done Yet!

Even with a truckload of PB gear and a million-dollar house to put them in, it’s not going to look like it does in the catalog if it’s not arranged the right way.  Let the catalog be your guide.   Study the pages to see how shelves are arranged, what is placed on tables, and how wall displays are hung on the wall.   The difference lies in the details, so pay attention to them!

Everyone can take inspiration from PB and make their lives a little more beautiful without spending big bucks.  So, go ahead and indulge your decorating fetish.  Any mom can be a design star -- even with underwear on the floor.