Budget & Saving Design Ideas

Believe it or not, you can find a great-looking sofa for under $500.

Designer Marie Trohman discusses how she put her own spin on the space above her powder room's vanity.

The ultimate sidekick for stinky situations.

According to designers!

Sticking to a budget when you’re furnishing a space is tough, especially when the furniture that’s considered to be “cheap” these days really isn’t all that inexpensive. If you’d much rather spend your money on a modern Eames chair or a Moroccan rug instead of a couch or bed frame, you’ll have to make some compromises—and borrow heavily from your overall budget.

Get the best of the best without breaking the bank.

Because gorgeous lighting doesn't have to cost a fortune.

Love the smell of Anthropologie but don't want to spend big bucks?
Try these candles instead.

Part bargain seeking and part treasure hunting, shopping at your local thrift store is a great way to save money and find unique items that are otherwise unavailable in the current retail market. I’ve rounded up some tips for navigating the realm of thrifting and please leave your favorite tips in the comments!

You might ooh and aah over Jonah & Jodie’s “Enchanted Cottage” In Laurel Canyon, but then despair at phrases like “custom leathered finish” and “hand-chiseled limestone floors”. While I can’t find you a cheap “poured concrete bathtub that opens out to the koi pond”, there are ways to get the look… Akurum Kitchen Cabinets in Lidi White, IKEA, $28-$391 Stockholm Candelabra, IKEA, $29.

Working for a design blog means spending a lot of time looking at beautiful things you can’t afford. Often, the pieces that seem to crop up over and over again in stylish interiors — like the Eames Lounger or the Saarinen Tulip Table — are pretty pricey, and beyond the reach of the average apartment dweller. But lately, there’s one affordable piece that I’ve been seeing absolutely everywhere.

Smart decorators know that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to have a home that looks great. You just need a few tricks up your sleeve. 1. Spray paint. Spray paint is a design workhorse, and a great way to give something a new look without actually buying anything new. Use it to rescue finds from the thrift store, to customize IKEA pieces, or just to give something you already own a bit of an update.

Here are three ways you can add character and charm to your otherwise plain windows without breaking the bank, or the glass.

I asked my colleagues to tell me about the under $25 kitchen tools they use basically every day, and why they’ve made such a difference in managing duties in this space.

It's Green Week at Apartment Therapy and Earth Day, which means it's time for a reminder that online no-buy groups are a great, sustainable, and community-oriented way to furnish your home.

From peel-and-stick wallpaper to recycled tile, here are seven tips for DIYing on a budget.

Proof that you don’t have to compromise style for savings.

Portioning out soups and sauces just got that much easier.

Even the reddest red sauce is no match for this.

And save time and money in the process.

Because style doesn't have to cost a fortune.

On a budget? Nothing here is over $30!

Designers say this rookie mistake could really cost you.

Spent your room's total budget on that super comfortable new sofa with little left for accents? We've got you covered with an affordable assortment of great-looking side tables.

Turn a frappé into a ritual, rather than a luxury.

Sometimes buying the name-brand orange juice is the smart choice.

Why pick between being eco-conscious and thrifty when you can do both?

And again!

These traditional sofas, loveseats, and sleeper sofas are ideal for when you're just starting out.

And probably costing you so much money.

Go shopping in your pantry, closet, wherever!

From furniture to accessories for a finishing touch, these are our favorite 25 cheap finds, all under $50.

It's sure to sell out.

Step up your style on a budget.

If there's anything I learned from my piano fiasco, it's caveat emptor, or "Let the buyer beware."

image:415c2e7e33ce9d98b1087d352c8378b162311b6e w:540 s:"fit" class_name:"mt-image-center" show_pin_button:"true" show_image_credits:"true" Growing up, the only type of couches my family owned were futons. I thought they were the coolest — you could change the covers, they expanded for sleepovers, and they seemed much more modern than an overstuffed sofa. Nowadays futons are more often associated with dorm rooms than cool furniture.

Whether you snag a set of linen sheets is up to you, and how you like your bed to feel. But it may help to know what it is that makes linen sheets so expensive.

If you can’t have your dream kitchen, you might as well have your dream *tiny* kitchen, right?

There’s something undeniably appealing about bed-in-a-bag style duvet and comforter sets. Everything arrives in one convenient package and you have a beautiful bed in a matter of minutes, without having to worry about matching your sheets to your shams. Our favorite bedding bundles come in a range of price points and offer a variety of components—some cover everything from the bedskirt to the throw pillows, while others are more basic duvet-and-sham duos.

An amazing thing happened in June 2008 — an IKEA opened two miles from my home. Oh, and my son was born. Before this a trip to IKEA meant descending into the bowels of Port Authority in Manhattan, boarding a standing room only shuttle bus to a New Jersey IKEA and then deciding whether to spend more money than you spent on purchases to arrange home delivery of your items or to limit yourself to what you could wrangle home on the bus and subway. It was a dark time.

Don't leave your floating sofa in a lurch.

The semi-nomadic life of a renter can make it hard to make a commitment—to furniture, to art, to a real set of knives. And yet, there are some items worth investing in, even if you don’t know where you’ll be living a couple years from now. These are things you’ll want to take with you, even if it means buying some bubble wrap and renting a U-Haul on moving day.

Arc lamps not only make a stylish statement in a room, but they can greatly enhance your lighting situation by acting as a stand-in for an overhead or pendant lamp. You don’t have to be limited to centering your furniture below existing light fixtures and, if you decide to rearrange, just relocate your lamp and you’re good to go. Arc lamps share a basic shape, but vary quite a bit in size, span, shade and, of course, price.

PSA: Decorating your home doesn't have to cost you a small fortune.

Changing one’s workspace from a regular desk to a standing desk can be a big challenge, but I made the switch over a year ago and haven’t looked back. Attractive and affordable standing desks can be hard to find, but this DIY version from IKEA fits the bill nicely.

Like a sofa for your dining room: We are huge fans of shaking things up when it comes to furniture choices, especially if it adds enormous style points to a room and is multifunctional to boot! If you’re looking to break out of the vanilla table + chair mold in your breakfast nook or eating area, want to up the cozy factor or simply are just short on space (it can double as a love seat for you or guests when not feasting!) consider the dining settee your new best (furniture) friend.

I’m sure we’ve all been there: hanging around some bargain in a big-box store wondering “will this actually look good in the room, or will it look… you know…. cheap?” But there’s no reason why a reduction in cost should result in a reduction in style. Here are 10 IKEA rug bargains, priced from $2.99 – $129, all looking stylish in situ. 1. The TÅRNBY rug ($99) in Samantha Rose’s Daydream Nursery (top two pictures).

After years of thrifting, and knowing myself, I’ve figured out when it makes sense to head to Goodwill, and when I should just stay home. If you aren’t a diehard go-every-day-as-if-it’s-a-religion kind of shopper, then choose your strategy carefully and save yourself a world of hassle and time. Right Before Halloween: There’s just no point.