1/26 - The cheapest you have furnished a room

[Deleted]

I want to furnish my basement for a rec room for when I have the foster kids. Right now it's my excericise room and laundry room. So I'm watching kiji and my favourite second hand places. So far no OMG kinda deals. I am going to try to do it for $200 max.

What is the cheapest you have furnished a room? And liked the result, not what you lived with as a college student.

[Waffle]

Since, I'm a newly recovering train wreck , I'm sorry to say that I have never furnished a room really cheaply. I did replace my 6 dining room chairs for $60 (bought them at an auction).

What's kiji? Do they have farm or estate auctions in your area? Sometimes furniture goes real cheap at estate auctions.

[Sharon]

Watch for bed bugs if you go with used furniture.

[Waffle]

good point Sharon.

I tend to buy non upholsted used furniture. wood - wicker - metal , etc. I should have mentioned that.

[Deleted]

Kijiji is like Craigs list, but better in my area. I have never had a problem with bugs with any second hand furniture I have gotten. But I don't buy used mattresses. And the couches I have gotten have been with the higher end places, not Sally Ann or Vallue Village.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

And the couches I have gotten have been with the higher end places, not Sally Ann or Vallue Village.

I'd still be leery about that. There are some very high end stores in NY that are dealing with bedbug problems, it's not relegated to the low end places.

[kimber45]

Most of our furniture is hand me downs or stuff we bought at auction sales. Our most expensive purchase was a new refrigerator $800, but hopefully will last for many years. Our second most expensive was a new king size mattress $600

[Deleted]

WTG insurancegal! I did a good job purging when I moved so I don't have any furniture to move around. I love your idea of bar stools as end tables!!

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

(blush) I don't think I've furnished a room inexpensively. (sheepish grin)

That being said, I do like to shop for things on clearance, on closeout, and on sale ... and I'm willing to wait for what I consider to be a good deal and which I really love.

[Deleted]

My answer has to be my bedroom. I found a bedroom set I just LOVE for $400 and that included a new mattress, a cheap mattress but a new one. I actually find it really comfortable.

[chiver78]

I cheated a little here, but I earned those American Express points, dammit!

my dining room has been furnished with:

$80 brand new chandelier and dimmer switch
$150 6' wide framed print, which gets crazy oohs and aahs
$250 Pottery Barn solid wood dining room set - 80" table and 6 chairs - this amount was for shipping only, actual purchase cost was covered by gift cards purchased with AmEx rewards points.

[rumples]

Post-college? Not very...

I did work HR in retail just after college, though, in a department store that had the last-chance/scratch-and-dent furniture clearance store in the basement. We got a lot of good deals on some really good quality furniture, but it still wasn't as inexpensive as you're looking for.

[rumples]

Oh... as an aside, later... we switched DH's office into a bedroom for our nephew this past summer (he was staying in the guestroom-become-his-bedroom prior to this) and it cost us close to $1K .... $250 at Ikea for 3 bookcases and a framed picture, $300 for an extra-long twin mattress, and the rest for the supplies to build a bed frame, paint to paint his existing nightstand and dresser that he brought with him as well as said bed frame, paint for the walls, window treatments, closet hardware and storage supplies - the room is probably 10x10 with an average size closet. Granted... we didn't shop out great deals or anything like that. We just used places where the regular prices are fairly low - Ikea and Smith&Noble of note.

Do you have Freecycle in your area? If so, you might be able to get some decent furniture that you could slipcover or possibly a table/chair set for games and such. I've also seen older TV sets lately, area rugs, etc.

[toservewithlove]

I totally agree with everyone that suggested auctions. I've seen amazing deals on good stuff. I still have my college furniture, but I don't think it's that bad. (Just graduated last year and I'm no longer in my 20's) Patience is really important. You have to be willing to stop by a few duds to find one that has something you want, but it pays off. I've concluded that often times items at a garage sale are things someone didn't want because they were well used or outdated. Items at an auction were completely usable and used until some type of major life event that caused them to no longer need the items. I once bought a perfectly good 9 year old 25" tv for $10. The guy who bought the entertainment center paid $5 for it. I only had a car and had no way to haul it. I donated the tv to some young intellectually disabled gentlemen I worked with at the time. My own living room consists of a couch bought at a yard sale for $40 (I was excited to move out and didn't know I could get nicer ones for the same money or less), a glider chair bought for $5 at a sale, and a clearanced $40 entertainment center that had been $150 full price at Wal-Mart. End table and lamp were $5 each. Coffee table and recliner were hand me downs from family.

Don't forget paint can make a big impact for little money.

[motherto2]

I guess I really never gave it much thought, but I tend to work a room over time, not put it all together at once. I always ponder what I want, and then when I decide what I would like to put in a particular room I start my internet searches to find out what's out there and what the prices are. My son's room consists of a twin bed that was given to me (DD has the matching one in her room) that originally belonged to my maiden great great aunts that were passed to my grandparents and then to me. He has an armoire that I bought unfinished for about $70 and finished it myself. He has a silver metal shelf that is really for a garage or storage area. About $30-40. And this last summer he and his buds took a sleeper love seat I had bought years ago from my office room and moved it upstairs to his room. His bedside table is one of a set I bought for almost nothing over ten years ago, and it has a wicker basket underneath. His wall hangings consist of shadow box that was made for my grandfather's military career, pics of family members in the service (both passed and living), a memorial he put together about one of my cousins that passed as a young child, and various flags, and other war momentos. He's my history major that plans on joining the marines after graduation from military college. I guess the only things that were purchased specifically for his room was the armoire and silver shelving system. Cost - roughly $100

[Deleted]

motherto2 that sounds sharp!

Congrats on the couch pat. Don't you love those finds?

[rubyslippers]

A few years ago we revamped a guest bedroom and bathroom for under $200.00. The bathroom got new wallpaper, clearanced for $2.99 a roll, floor clearanced for $50.00 and a sink for around $50.00. I got new linens using JCPenny coupons so those were free. We spent money on paint for the bedroom and I found amazing accessories at garage sales. We got an old wooden headboard free and DH fixed and painted it to look new. A wooden rocking chair was found at a garage sale and painted and covered for very little. I was pleased by the outcome and I got many compliments on it.

[Deleted]

See!!! That's what I'm talking about! I exalt you Ruby!

[kadee]

Here's a couple of ideas too...take an old single bed & add something as a back to make a sort of day bed. Don't forget that kids like bean-bag chairs. Lots of piles of big pillows so they can arrange them any way they want. (Make the pillows...cheaper)

[texaspn]

Our guest bedroom includes a queen size bed (formerly ours), two bedside chests that our daughter was discarding (free), new bedding including padded mattress pad, about $150, two lamps we had no other place for, my late mother-in-law's chest, refinished lovingly by DH, a lovely Queen Anne chair bought from neighbors for about $25 (perfect condition), and two prints bought at a garage sale ($5). We've been using this for at least ten years and it is holding up well.

[rubyslippers]

Thanks, Laterbloomer. I love to decorate on a frugal budget. It makes the hunt exciting and rewarding! I've watched enough decorating shows in my lifetime to get a feel for what I like and can afford.

[dancinmama]

I can't say that I've furnished ANY room cheaply. My trick is to buy really good quality, on sale (which is still relatively expensive) and buy classic pieces that will stand the test of time.

We have had a lot of our furniture for over 25 years: master bedroom, guest bedroom, and dining room. Sofas are something that need to be replaced more frequently. Right now I have a plum colored sectional that we have had for about 12 years and it still looks pretty new.

[naturallyfrugal]

Is the room to be used primarily by children/tweens/teens? I ask because you can probably go a little cooler/funkier if a young person is going to be in the room most of the time and that may give you more flexibility in mixing and matching items.

I know some people haven't had much luck with IKEA, but I love it for rooms like that. My son's TV room/playroom is primarily from IKEA and it looks cute and fun. The furniture has held up really well, particularly since we've moved twice (1 cross country then from one state to another) since purchasing everything. We have the Ektorp sofa in navy, lime green shag rug, LACK small coffee table, TV stand, and side table.

Target has nice prices on table lamps and floor lamps - recently got a floor lamp for the playroom for $15 (clearance).

I also LOVE Home Goods - I just bought a solid wood side table for $15 (clearance); I liked it when I first saw it, but didn't want to pay the original $100 price.

[Deleted]

I expect to send the kid and her friends down there and save the living room for me and my friends. Not that either space will be off limits to the other group.

Loving the ideas and texaspn that room sounds really nice. Exalt!

[shelly527in]

I bought a 10 month old recliner for $100 from a lady at church. It had been her late mothers. I then bought a cute Victorian-type small couch and two chairs from a flea market type store for $185. While there I found two end tables (the mid-century two tier type for $45 for the pair. My TV stand was $40 I believe. My best find was at the flea market store for my kitchen.....a Hoosier cabinet...$200 and in very good shape. Similar ones on Ebay were $400 and up!

[Deleted]

Happy, happy, joy, joy! I just got a sofa bed free from freecycle!!! So couch and coffee table free!

[wackyaunt]

For DS's apartment: Couch free--fabric still in great condition, had to replace crushed cushions so cost was $50; recliner free--slip covered to match couch $40; coffee table free--rescued from neighbor on trash day, refurbished for under $20; dining room table and chairs--free, absolutely nothing wrong with it, owner just tired of it and wanted new. How? we put the word out to family/friends. It took a couple of months to gather it all up, but couldn't beat the price. Once we had the couch, we annouced color scheme (blue and burgundy plaid) to friends/family. He bought his entertainment center; he wanted to make sure it worked well for all of his electronics. <sigh> A boy and his toys!