Thrifty sources for beautiful home decor

I don't have a lot of money, but I haven't let that stop me from decorating my home! There's a wealth of decor just lurking in places you may not have considered before.

Thrift stores:
The best thing about thrift stores is that the inventory is always changing. I have spent all day thrifting and not found a single thing. Then I've popped back in a few days later and found tons of great items! I've found items from Pottery Barn, Home Goods, Hobby Lobby, fine furniture stores and department stores. Many in new or perfect condition. It's not uncommon to find items new with tags here!

Garage sales:
Almost as good as thrift stores except requires a little more legwork. Map your day out and make sure you start early!! Bring cash and never be afraid to offer lower. There's a few items I make sure to have with me with I shop the yard sales:
Mocha Frappucinos!
Water!
A healthy snack like trail mix, or a fiber bar.
and best of all, a BFF who loves hitting those sales as much as you do!

Retail:
I never pay full price. Ever. If its not on clearance, or I don't have a coupon, it stays on the shelf. I cannot bring myself to pay full price for anything anymore. It's a sickness.
That being said, here's a few of my fave retail shopping spots.
Hobby Lobby
Joann's
Michaels
Home Goods
TJ max
Target
Dollar Tree (yes you read that right)


One of the best suggestions I can tell you for affordable home decor, is to find something you love in a catalog, or retail store and try to replicate for a fraction of the cost.
For example, the picture below is taken from Pottery Barn's site.
Here is how you replicate it for a fraction of the cost!
The large frame is 149.00$ at Pottery Barn. Large: 36" wide x 48" high

Every time I go to my local thrift stores there are huge picture frames. Most in perfect condition with hideous artwork! Ignore that magenta parrot and pay the 9.99 price tag and take that huge frame home.

The best thing about this project is you don't even need to dismantle the frame and remove the art work! So easy!

First tape off the frame using newspaper and painters tape. There are a few brands of spray paint that sell a chalk board spray. You can find it Lowes, Home Depot, and Walmart for less than 10$.

Evenly coat the glass with the chalk board spray and let each coat dry. When you think you have a nice thick even finish you can move on to the next step. (make sure the chalk board is dry first)

Now cover the glass that you have now spray painted with chalkboard paint with newspaper and tape it securely down with painters tape. Leaving only the frame exposed. Now grab your Krylon spray paint and head back outside. On the Pottery Barn site the frame is black, but you can do any color that will compliment your decor. Popular colors are distressed white, satin black, aqua, and red.

Spray the frame and allow it to dry and tada! Project replicated for less than 20$. Request catalogs to those stores you love, take your time and you can reproduce similar looks for a fraction of the price!

It doesn't have to be exspensive:Curbside finds

I've finally learned a little bit of money and a lot of patience goes a long long way in decor. If you are willing to wait for the best deal and understand the fact your home/room is going to be a work in progress, you can really accomplish a lot with little money.Sometimes the best items are free! Don't be afraid to shop garage sales, thrift shops and even curbsides on trash night!

One morning a few weeks ago I was taking bigger little kid off to school when I spied a glint of brass from a driveway not too far off. I slowed my truck to a crawl and oogled the box of brass rejects left at the curb. Aha! A brass chandelier with a lot of potential!I raced home, cleaned it up and took "before pictures". Then out to my chandy remodeling studio, aka the shepherds hook to spray paint!!
This color is actually a rustolium color but its very close to Krylons tropical blue.
The shades came from a thrift store for .59cents each! Total cost breakdown:
Spray paint: 2.95$
Shades: 3.54$
Chandelier: free----------------------
$6.49
It doesn't always have to come from a catalog to be chic.

Tools of the trade

I've been thinking about all the "tools" that I use on a frequent basis so I decided my first post should be about just that!
The must haves, the it would be nice to haves, and the ones you can get away with not having at all.

The must haves:
Paint:I have collected shoe boxes full of acrylic craft paints in every color, I seem to buy more each time I do a project. They range from .69 to 1.99$. Can't beat that! The colors are amazing and they blend well for custom colors. I highly advise building up a large collection for future projects!
I also use a ton of spray paint. Back in the day you couldn't spray paint much, but now they make a spray paint for everything. Wood, metal, plastic, high heat etc.
Most of the time you don't even need to sand or prime!I've spray painted furniture, wall art, plastic playhouses, brass chandeliers, wall outlet plates and switches, decor accessories, and even cabinet hardware. There is an endless amount of possibilities you can come up with when you have the right color spray paint!


I use the cheap .96 cent paint for some projects but I prefer Krylon paint for important projects. It's my standard go to paint. Not to mention all the awesome colors and finishes they have now!


Then of course there is wall paint. I tend to stick with a satin finish. I've tried most brands of paint out there and I am defiantly a Behr girl! I always seem to go back to Behr. They are reasonably priced, covers well and has a huge range of colors! That doesn't mean to imply I don't currently have 3 brand new quarts of Glidden paint in my craft closet right now. Ha!




Power Tools:
A cordless drill is a must have, it takes a third of the time of a manual screwdriver, and lets face it, I'm impatient. I want it done now!
We have a table saw, but I think this could be a tool you can do without.
We just recently (finally) bought a miter saw. In the past we have used a miter box, but I couldn't take anymore complaints from the handy man husband department. 120$ investment in a miter saw solved a lot of that. Trim projects now take less than half the time with better cuts. If you love trim like I do, a miter saw is a must have power tool.Misc must have tools:
A Hammer. Mine is old, maybe older than me. It's covered in rust and has a curved end instead of straight. I really need a new hammer. Maybe I can get a pink one just for me!
Measuring tape- preferably one that is not curled like mine and wont lay flat for anything

Stud finder- for making sure you can support that heavy shelf on the wall and you know, for finding studs...ha.

Laser level- for those of us obsessed with centered level objects.
Gorilla glue- super great strong glue, glue most anything
Hot glue and gun- enough said.
Caulk and gun- for filling holes, and finishing trim.
This is stuff I keep on hand ALL the time, don't even get me started on fabric!

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