New living room, tight budget
We moved about a year ago and faced a common design challenge: how do I tie the living room together on a budget? We brought our furniture from our condo but, as you can imagine, all worked great in a smaller space. My husband is more frugal than I am and his knee-jerk reaction was, “That it is a perfectly good couch. It’s only 4 years old.” Ughhh, that’s not my point of view but I get it.
At Christmas, we had both of our families over. We watched a movie together and had folks squished on the couch and the rest sat on the floor. The visual of everyone crammed in like sardines strengthened my case for more seating. He finally agreed to buy a new couch but was still reluctant to get a new rug and ottoman. We decided to put the old couch down in the basement (where it also doesn’t fit but I’ll fight that battle later) and we’d get rid of the even older one we’ve had since our first apartment. We waited until a holiday weekend to take advantage of a 25% off promo, so it felt like a small victory for him.
When the new couch arrived, it was clear the rug and the ottoman no longer worked. Not just from a size perspective but also because of the new couch’s fabric and the wall color. I know my husband could see that, too, but he had made it clear new purchases was a no-go for this year. They say marriage is all about compromising, I suppose. I was at least happy we could have more friends over and we’d chip away at the other pieces over time.
The point being is sometimes you have to make decor changes in small steps. Not everyone has a generous budget where you can just splurge on a whole new room. For some of us, budgeting a few thousand dollars is what you have to work with. If you’re in a similar boat, I highly recommend that you spend the majority of your budget on seating. You will never regret putting your money there. It’s what creates the experience people will have in your room. The rug, the ottoman (or coffee table), the art work - are all important and believe me, I want those as badly as I want a new couch. But the seating is the most critical piece. Once that is all set, it makes it that much clearer what other pieces you do need. However, I don’t believe in stretching the remaining budget to purchase inexpensive pieces at Homegoods, IKEA, or other bargain stores to simply finish the project. If you’re going to create a beautiful living room, do it right. Wait until you have the funds to get great, long lasting pieces. You do not want a crappy, cheap rug that you inevitably will replace in a few years. That’s not actually saving money. Wait until you can get the high-pile wool rug that will last a long time and actually holds up well to life with kids and pets.
If you have to do something, play around with the room arrangement to see if that helps at all. A go-to trick is floating the seating by pulling furniture off of walls to make the furniture in the room feel more proportional to one another. Another option is to get temporary pieces from your local Buy Nothing Facebook group. You aren’t spending money and you’re rescuing pieces from the landfill. A win-win! Last, but certainly not least, is paint the room. That will always help freshen up a room without costing a lot, especially if you’re up for doing it yourself.
I don’t love my living room but c’est la vie. I’m happy that it can at least accommodate more friends now. I worry people will judge my lackluster room but then I remember: anyone who judges me like that aren’t really my friends. My friends are happy to be there, sharing a glass of wine, and swapping ‘mom life’ stories. That is what makes me feel happy at home. If you want help with a similar project, we’d love to connect and learn more!
