How I Furnished My House For Under $3000

I have always been cheap. Umm, let's rephrase that...I have always been thrifty :) Ever since I was young, I learned to save up money for what I wanted and learned very quickly how far money didn't go. My mom used to give me an allowance. Every week, I would get my age in money if I did my chores. It was a great deal, but it quickly went to clothes because my mom also had a thing that I had to buy my own clothes or wear the ones she buys and chooses. I love my mom, but she had the absolute worst taste in clothing for me. Horrible. So, I learned that I needed to save my money and spend my money very wisely. I realized quickly to never pay retail for anything. Fast forward to my teens, and I started working at Dillards. This really made me realize the huge markup on everything. Like  thousands of percentages markup. Serious. I would wait for something to go to the lowest clearance possible, wait for an extra discount day, and then buy it with my employee discount. I would get something that retails for $400 for about $50. If I wasn't ruined already from never buying anything retail, this did it. It also gave me a threshold for the amount I would pay for certain things.

Nothing has changed now that I'm older. I probably have more refined tastes, but I still search for the deal. My clothes never come from a department store, in fact, I never step foot in malls anymore. They make me cringe :) That's not to say you can't find good deals there, I just can't stand them. I have learned a ton through the years when buying furnishings for my house also. Where to shop and to wait. You can't curate a whole home worth of furniture overnight, if you do, it might cost a little more than if you waited to buy the perfect pieces as time allowed.

You can make a house beautiful without spending a ton of money, and here's how I did it.

#1. Find the stores that fit your aesthetic, and shop their clearance. Target is my favorite, and their clearance is just amazing. You have to shop the end caps weekly, but can usually find a worthwhile deal. Especially online.

#2. Shop sales and promo codes. Wait for the promotions to come on the item you most want. Target online is once again awesome for this. I also saved about $300 on my sectional waiting for a weekend sale from a local furniture store.

#3. Shop furniture warehouses and clearance centers for large pieces of furniture. I got my couch for $90 at a clearance center! (Many of you have asked about what store, it was RC Willey's clearance center).

#4. Shop discount retailers such as Home Goods, Ross, and Gordmans.

#5. Keep an open mind to free things from family and friends. Most of my stuff is from family or friends just giving things away.

#6. Ask for big items for Christmas/birthdays. My family is awesome at going in together on stuff that I want for my house. I make sure the items that I don't really want to spend money on by myself go on my Christmas and birthday lists :)

#7. Shop thrift stores and yard sales. I actually don't do this often, hardly at all, but you can get some great deals sometimes! My mother-in-law bought a nice fire pit with 4 chairs for $5 at a yard sale!! Serious!

#8. If you can build it or make it, do it. This will save you so much money!

#9. I'm lucky enough to have great sponsors and get some of my stuff for free! (I've gotten some emails about this, but really, the only things that came from sponsors in my home was the bed frame and bed in our little girls room and my mattress. We already have a twin mattress and a queen mattress, so that is negligible, and the bed frame is only about $115 on Amazon :) Oh, and the metal chairs in my little ones room also, which are about $120 online for two. )

Okay, now that you know my shopping secrets, here's the breakdown on my house furnishings. And to be clear, this does not include any of the decor, just furniture. I do have a little break down for the decor pieces at the end though.

My house is 3500 square feet with about 2000 square feet of livable space. It's 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a front room, a living room and dining room.

Entry way:

Bench: $99, Home Goods
Stool: $25, Clearance, Home Goods

 Side table: $25 Clearance, Hobby Lobby

Living Room:

Card Catalog: $100, Hobby Lobby
TV console: $100, Walmart

 Sectional: $650, Sale (RC Willey)
Ottoman: $30, Online sale (from RC Willey. They used to do a Whacky Wednesday sale and you get get some crazy good deals!)

Sofa table: Free from friend, refurbished
(The storage boxes were $10 a piece from Ross, not included in the total)

 Chair: $140, Sale Target online
Table: $25, Clearance Hobby Lobby

Dining Room:

 Table: Free from family
5 Chairs: 2 as a gift, 3 for $70. $210 from Ikea
Bench: $99 Ross

Buffet: Christmas gift, free (did pay $48 on the pulls though)
Corner cabinet, not pictured: free

Front living room:

 Couch: $90, Warehouse sale from RC Willey's clearance center
 Accent cabinet: $118, Sale Target online

Tree stump coffee table: $12 (handmade)
2 side chairs: $10 (yard sale finds, refinished)
Console table: $20ish (handmade) 

Armoire: Free from work

Master Bedroom:

 Headboard: $40, handmade
Nightstands: $53 for one, free for the other
Storage table: $15ish, Handmade
Bench: $100 Sale Target
Dresser (not pictured): Free from family

Bedroom:

Bed frame and mattress: Free from sponsor (can get it online for $115)
Nightstand: Free from family
Chair: Free, Mother's Day Gift

Small Dresser: Free from neighbor

Dresser: Free, my old dresser growing up
Table: $20 Ikea
Chairs: Free from sponsors ($120 on amazon for two)

Nursery:

Crib: $100, used from old nursery
Side tables: $40 ($20 each from Ikea)

Dresser: $145 Sale Target online
Chair: $125 Sale Target online

Storage table: Free, from friend

Grande Total: Just under $2500
(if you add the sponsor items, it comes under $2750)

Decor pieces
Rugs
Living room: $200,Amazon (link)
Front room: free birthday gift, (link)
Master bedroom: $200, Home Depot
Dining Room: Free, gift (Ikea)
Girls Bedroom: $50 Sale Target
Nursery: Gift, (link)

Lamps
Bedroom: $60
Living room: $75
Entry: $30
Front room: $30
Nursery: $80
Girls room: $30

Curtains
 Favorite place for curtains is Ikea. All my curtains are from Ikea, they come in 106 inches which is what I use. I found most of mine for $20 a pair years ago. I think they are a little more expensive now.

Frames
From Ikea also. Large frames are about $7 and small frames are about $3/4.

Wall Decor
Most from Target and Home Goods.

Pillows
I find most of my inserts from Ikea, and sew my own covers. All the rest are either on sale from Target or from Home Goods


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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”