How to Decorate a Living Room on a Budget

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Hi friends! Today I’m sharing ways to decorate a living room on a budget.

If you’ve done a pinterest search lately, you’ve seen perfect, STUNNING homes immaculately decorated. And trying to glean living room ideas from any of it can be so overwhelming.

It can be deflating to compare our ordinary homes with what we see on social media. It’s easy to think, “Well I will never have the money to make a home look like that” or “I wouldn’t even know where to start.” Believe me, you are not alone.

Maybe you’re like me and love to make your home beautiful, but have very little budget to work with or honest that much time to do so.

Our budget has really stretched my creative muscles over the years when it comes to decorating our home. But it has absolutely helped me to come up with ways to make our home beautiful while spending little to no money.

So let’s get into it!

WAYS TO DECORATE A LIVING ROOM ON A BUDGET:

Keep in mind, you do not need to be an interior designer to make these changes! You do not need a big budget, AT ALL. Just a can-do attitude and willingness to shake some things up within your home.

1. Declutter and minimize.

This is a big one! A really big one, especially for small spaces. And it’s one of the best ways to start.

I tried to decorate our home for years without minimizing what we had, and the look that I wanted just kept eluding me.

The truth of it is that it’s hard to keep a home looking beautiful when clutter continually resurfaces. Our home has never felt more beautiful than it does now that I’ve minimized and decluttered.

I took a few weeks a couple of years ago to go through our home, room by room, and donate what we didn’t use, no longer brought us joy, or was honestly just a duplicate. Pots/pans, books, clothing, shoes, decor, etc. It was bags upon bags of stuff.

And even though it was hidden in closets, pantries, etc., it all continually managed to make its way all over our home or take up valuable space we needed for things we actually use and need.

Minimizing (and finding valuable storage space) was the best decision I have made for keeping our home beautiful and made a huge difference in the feel of our home (AND mama’s sanity!)

2. Deep clean furniture and area rugs.

This idea for decorating a living room on a budget might seem unexpcted, but if your couches and rugs are dirty, it will detract from your beautiful decor. This is the easiest way to make a huge impact.

Our homes are so much more about the feeling that we get being in them than any decor.

After you’ve minimized, give your furniture a deep clean in your living space! It will feel like a clean canvas and give you inspiration to bring life to your space.

Here’s a post on my favorite way to easily deep clean our furniture.

3. Rearrange your furniture.

I think as humans, our eyes crave new scenery, and something as simple as furniture arrangement can bring us joy and change the look of a room. I can’t explain the science of it, but I do know that when I change things up in our home, I often feel more at peace.

If you’re no longer loving your living space, try shaking it up by simply rearranging your main furniture pieces for a new look! This is a great, low budget way to make a big change.

4. Swap out furniture, decor, wall art, rugs, and throw pillows from other rooms.

This seems simple, but it’s not something I think of often. You do have other furniture and decor in your home!

how to decorate a living room on a budget

Consider bringing an accent chair in from another room. Maybe bring in a painting you have in the hallway. Move a gallery wall, side tables, table lamps, piece of artwork, smaller rugs.

Even down to the smallest details! This is endless, and gives you freedom to work with what you already own.

You could even consider changing your color scheme this way by bringing in colors from other rooms.

5. Bring in fresh flowers or greenery from outside.

Fresh flowers or greenery will brighten any space, every time. It just brings new life!

I love to decorate with natural elements, and this is a completely free way to do it. If you don’t have any flowers available to you, cut a small tree branch or bring in bush trimmings.

6. Consider repurposing things you already own.

This might take a little more creativity and muscle, but it’s usually very worth it. I’ve done this with so many things around our home that I’ve lost count!

Do you have any old cans of spray paint around? Use it to spray an old vase you no longer love, or a photo frame you’re throwing out.

Here’s a post that shows you how I took a vase we already owned and made this beauty below!

If you need some ideas on how to use what you already own, here’s a post on Repurposed Home Decor.

7. Drape throw blankets that you already on on furniture to add coziness.

This gives your blankets a space and also adds comfort and beauty to your home. Bam! Done.

8. Utilize free printables.

I love using vintage art to decorate our home with, and lucky for me, there are so many resources for free printables available on pinterest!

I share a round-up of some of my favorite free vintage printables in this post!

9. Use leftover paint to give a room a fresh coat of paint!

We did this in our small, downstairs bathroom. The fresh paint and pop of color makes a world of difference!

This wasn’t a free project, as we replaced the vanity, mirror, light, etc. However, if you have leftover paint and a small bathroom, it’s a great place to start!

Here’s the post on our whole bathroom makeover.

10. Sell something you have on Marketplace and buy something else for the same value.

I frequently swap out decor this way. It’s a great way to decorate without spending any extra!

Have a couch or chair you no longer love? Sell it and find another for the same price! Dining table? Marketplace! The sky is the limit.

11. Open the blinds and curtains and let natural light in!

As much as you can, let the warmth of natural light fill your home. This is such an easy way to make a huge impact in the look and feel of your home. I truly think people just forget to open blinds and curtains in the morning, but it is worth adding to your morning schedule! Opening our curtains is one of the first things I do after grabbing my coffee in the morning. The sunshine just makes our living room look and feel so inviting.

My favorite time of day in our home is sunset when the light is pouring through the windows of our living room. It provides a warmth and coziness that we would not have if we kept our windows blocked.

12. Shop Facebook Marketplace and thrift stores!

NOT FREE, but you can absolutely find free items for your living area and affordable living room decor this way!

We have found almost everything inside of our home on marketplace and thrift stores. The reasonable prices just cannot be beat. I’ve even scored a kitchen table completely free!

And believe me, just because these finds are cheap do not mean they cannot have an expensive look. I have fooled many people for MANY years with my thrift purchases 😉

I hope this list of simple ways AND affordable ways to decorate a living room on a budget gives you some great ideas for your own home!

Until next time,