Decorate on a Budget

For many students, the start of a new school year brings the start of a new lease. Jesse and I have found ourselves in that exact situation. While I am perfectly content with my Bachelor’s degree, Jesse has chosen to be an overachiever and receive his Master and Doctorate’s degrees. Because I’m such a good wife (and because my schedule was free), I have tagged along with Jesse to this new city and have signed my name on the lease’s dotted line.

Source

A new apartment always brings new surprises. At my last place, I lived by myself in a one bedroom apartment. Upon arrival, I quickly realized I owned a lot of junk and not a lot of usable stuff. With my passion for design, I could not stand the bare apartment so on a broke-betty-budget, I set out to find beautiful and affordable furniture and accessories to make my apartment a little more enchanting.

My Vision. $200 should cover it.. right?

Now you have to be a very cautious buyer when on a budget because affordable often means poor quality or cheap. People often refer to Jesse as “The Incredible Hulk” because he is not a small (or graceful) guy. He has broken his fair share of items so, luckily for you, he has weeded out the good quality products from the poor ones. Trust me, if these products can handle The Incredible Hulk, they can handle just about anything!

Oopsie Daisies

Probably my all-time favorite store is IKEA. They are known for selling good quality products for a low price. I would recommend making this your first stop when beginning the decorating process but heads up: if you (or your roommate) cannot use a screwdriver, IKEA is not the store for you because everything is self-build. Many of their products are available online (here) but most can only be bought in store. Here are a few of the products that I personally own and love:

IKEA is a great place to shop when you have lots of time to kill but how about those of us that live far away from an IKEA (like me!) or just want to make a quick trip to pick up all the essentials? Enter Target, a girl’s best friend. While you are making your weekly Target trip, keep your eyes open for these beauties and make sure you always check the end caps for some awesome clearance finds. I’ve often found an item 75% off (perfect condition) and the same item is being sold elsewhere in the store at full price!

Where have you found the best deals when decorating your home? Are there any key furniture/decorative pieces you couldn’t live without?