Family Room: Designed On A Budget

In the spirit of the holiday shopping season, I thought I would share some of the costs of my newly renovated Family Room. This room was designed on a budget using a few new items, some items I already had, and a couple of things I got for free. Here’s a break down what it actually cost to finish off this space, and on a budget.

First things first, I wanted to speak about the larger costs of this renovation. Because we have been renovating the entire house over the past 18 months, not every cost of this project can be broken down by room. For example, we pay all of the trades at once. This includes rewiring the house, all new plumbing, drywall, refinishing the floors and so on; therefore those costs are not included here. I hire the professionals to do all of the big ticket items and then I take it from there. This is usually done in order to save money. Plus, I’m usually just about out of money by the time I get around to the fun stuff like decorating.

But the truth is while I love to get a few new items to freshen up a space, it’s the sentimental items I like to incorporate the most. I think your home should reflect your family’s story. So, any time I can incorporate those, it makes the space a little more special to me. Plus I move quite often so I’m certainly not able to buy new furniture every time. I reuse a lot, toss what I don’t love, and purchase a few new items from time to time. Okay, so now let’s break down everything. Here we go….

New Purchases:

• Blue Velvet Couch: Since I knew this was going to be the focal point of the room, I was willing to spend a little extra here. I’m still pretty cheap at times so when I was able to find it on sale for $272.99 from Wayfair I thought it was a steal. Plus it’s a sleeper sofa so provides extra bedding when needed. (Update: The one I purchased is no longer available but here’s a similar one.)
• Hot Pink Fringe Pillow: Not sure why I wanted hot pink pillows but these were on sale at Target for around $17 each. (Update: Here’s a similar pillow.)

• Black and White Diamond Rug: $90 from Rugs USA – This was on sale so I took a chance on it and feel like I won big. I knew I wanted the contrast of black and white in this room and feel like it strikes just the balance I wanted.
• Brass Vintage Lamp: Around $30 from Wal-Mart.
• Dog Print: You know those little ads that show up on your Instagram feed? Well apparently they’re mind readers and when this cute dog print showed up, I made an impulse purchase without thinking. It came from Smallwood on sale for $25.
• Miscellaneous Items: From there I purchased just a few other items that I don’t have exact prices on – wood for the picture ledges (~$50), new prints of family pictures (~$30), and a plant for the fireplace.

What I Already Had:

As I mentioned before, I’m a big fan of sentimental pieces or just items that I flat out love. No way I’m tossing those out just for the sake of buying something new. So in this space, here’s what I was able to reuse:

• Picture Frames: I invested in really great picture frames for a gallery wall at my last house so I already had plenty of these in storage.
• Large print of Lake Lure: I actually took this picture myself right before a storm.
• Games and puzzles. Who knew I had so many of these stored away?
• Small bowls from my travels around the world. The two on the side table holding game pieces are from the Maldives and Malaysia.
• Plenty of books, magazines, baskets, and small display items.
• Scalloped mirror (my favorite!) and dog print.
• And last but not least, my favorite item….the vintage table which belonged to my Papa.

And here’s what I somehow scored for free:

• Ikea ottoman found on the side of the road in downtown Spartanburg (and I’m not kidding!). Great shape with a machine washable cover so I can clean and bleach as needed.
• Linen doors (free because my sweet parents got them for me).
• Salvage doors under stairs. I found these in the basement of another project.
• Scrap wood for corner shelves that I had in my hoarding shed.
• Aged wood saved from demo at my house for the dog niche.
• Vintage dental molding left over from a previous renovation.
• Mantel and surround. Former clients had no use for it so I held onto it and it was a perfect fit. The metal insert was salvaged from a fireplace I had to take out of another room in the house.
• Attic Door. Who knows where that came from but it also was in my hoarding shed.

So that’s about it. I hope this goes to show that you don’t have to spend a fortune to make a room look great. Use what you have, boldly display the items you love most, and bargain hunt for the rest.

Oh and be sure t, click here if you missed this renovation.

Have a great weekend!