How to Update Your Home Decor on A Budget

When we moved into our new home a little over a year and a half ago, I was in my third trimester of pregnancy and NOT in the mood to decorate – especially since we’d just spent our last pennies on our home’s down payment and saving up for our new baby. We pulled together the bare minimum of furnishings we’d need before the baby came and decided we’d rather have semi-empty rooms that a home filled with pieces that we just didn’t love.
Over the past year, we’ve slowly but surely been filling in the holes in our decor and making our house a true home – on a major budget! Today I’m thrilled to share some of the progress we made along with four money-saving home decor tips we’ve learned along the way. Keep reading to learn how to update your home decor on a budget!
How to Update Your Home Decor on A Budget
Tip #1: Look in the kids’ section of furniture stores.

When you’re decorating several rooms in your home, furniture bills can add up very quickly. One easy way to score high-quality furniture for less is to look in the kids’ section of your favorite furniture stores. Oftentimes the designs and sizes work just as well in rooms not intended to be kids’ rooms, and they’re frequently a fraction of the price of furniture designed for adults.
When we were having trouble finding the perfect dresser for our master bedroom, I headed to the kids’ section at City Furniture and stumbled upon this gem of a dresser shown in the photo above. The size and design are absolutely perfect for our bedroom, and it literally cost 50% less than the “adult” dresser we’d been considering. We saved so much money that we were actually able to add on this matching media stand (I’ll share a photo with you soon!) to fit into a nook in our master bedroom to hold our TV and provide extra storage. Both pieces are great quality and look fabulous in our room. Such a score!
Similarly, I bought last year to provide extra storage in my home office, and it’s absolutely beautiful and extremely functional. But guess what? It’s actually a piece of furniture designed for a baby nursery. You’d never know it was intended to be a kids’ piece by the design, so why not take advantage of the HUGE savings?
Click to Shop This Room
White Dresser c/o (we also have the coordinating media stand c/o – not pictured)Blue and White Vase
Marble and Wood Cake Stand
Medium Pink and Cream Vase c/o (also comes in a smaller version)
Large Pink and Cream Vase c/o
Distressed Blue and White Frame
Small Mercury Glass Candle c/o(I got this candle at City Furniture but can’t find it online. Linked the identical candle.)
Large Mercury Glass Candle (I got this candle at City Furniture but can’t find it online. Linked an almost identical candle.)
Tip #2: Get creative with your furniture choices.


Large furniture pieces are always going to be more expensive than smaller items so don’t be afraid to get creative with your furniture pairings to save money! You might remember that I used to have a love seat on one of the walls in my home office (see the full tour of how my office used to look here – new tour coming soon), but we recently gave it to a family member because it just wasn’t meshing with overall aesthetic of our home. It was a leftover piece from our old apartment, and it never really fit the space perfectly.
When we were looking to find a replacement love seat, the prices were just a tad high for our budget. Instead of giving up on the room refresh altogether, my husband and I decided to get a little creative. Instead of filling the space with a love seat, we decided to look for two affordable accent chairs instead. We found these gorgeous wood and linen accent chairs and accent pillows at City Furniture and immediately knew they needed to come home with us. They filled the wall perfectly, and we simply moved our favorite blanket and two favorite throw blankets ( + ) into the room to complete the design. We’re still adding a few items to the wall in this office sitting area, but I’ll share updated photos with you guys as soon as it’s finished!
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Wood and Linen Accent Chairs c/o (also available in another color combo)Accent Pillow c/o
(Very similar baskets and – choose the larger versions)
Faux Fur Blanket c/o
Tip #3: A little extra work can save you a lot of money.



Thankfully all of the furniture shown in today’s post came fully assembled (thank goodness for City Furniture’s AWESOME delivery team), but this bad boy of a chandelier came in a box with lengthy instructions. Normally I dread assembling home decor pieces, but in this case, I was thrilled because we had saved SO much money. Here’s the deal: sometimes it’s worth doing a little bit of extra work to score massive savings. This chandelier was hundreds of dollars less than some of the other lighting fixtures we’d considered for above our kitchen table (up to 50% less than some), so believe me, we were smiling during every step of the assembly process.
We’d wanted a dramatic wooden bead chandelier for this space for over a year, but there was absolutely no way I could spend a massive amount of money on one light fixture when we still needed to decorate multiple rooms in our home. If we didn’t find this gorgeous beaded chandelier and spent a little bit of time assembling it, this space would still be an empty, and let’s face it, boring room. Now it’s a major talking-piece in our home and adds so much personality to the space! If you need to save some extra money, don’t be afraid to put in a little work. Order a pizza, put on a movie, and it will finished before you know it!
Click to Shop This Room
Wooden Bead Chandelier c/oLight Wood Round Table (exact version sold out, similar versions available here, , , , here, here, here, here, here (also in a smaller size here)
Light Wood and Beige Linen Chairs (also available in grey and teal)
Blue and White Vase
Marble and Wood Cake Stand
Large Mercury Glass Candle (I got this candle at City Furniture but can’t find it online. Linked an almost identical candle.)
Gold and Marble Decorative Tray (also available in black marble)
4. Invest in accessories that will work in multiple areas of your home.

You may or may not have noticed that nearly every photo in this post features the some of the same home decor accessories. When I’m shopping for home accessories, I purposely choose items that can work in a variety of spots in my home. I need to be able to justify the price of each and every home decor accessory, and knowing that I can move pieces around really adds value in my eyes. Plus, if you’re able to move around your home accessories, you can get away with a LOT less items – a great way to save money as you’re decorating!
For example, I love how beautiful this blue and white vase looks on the server in our dining room shown above, but it’s just not functional in that spot year-round. Because the design and colors blend in perfectly with every room in our home, I know that I can easily move it to my office, bedroom, bathroom, dining room, or kitchen too. It works as a decor piece on a bookshelf or as a functional vase to house seasonal flowers. Similarly, this dainty marble and wood cake stand looks great just about anywhere I put it. It can obviously be used as a cake stand, but it’s also a beautiful way to display candles, art, jewelry, and more.
If you don’t have the budget to purchase tons of home decor accessories for each and every room in your home (honestly, who does?), consider choosing versatile pieces that can be moved around your home as needed. Plus, you can satisfy your itch to redecorate by moving the pieces into a different configuration instead of investing in a whole new lot of accessories!
Click to Shop This Room
Dark Wood and Gold Cabinet c/oGold and Marble Decorative Tray (also available in black marble)
Decorative Water Glasses (ours are family heirlooms, but these are very similar)
Cream and Black Marbled Bowls
Blue and White Vase
Marble and Light Wood Cake Stand
Large Mercury Glass Candle (I got this candle at City Furniture but can’t find it online. Linked an almost identical candle.)

I’ll be sharing quite a few more home decor updates in the coming months, and I cannot wait to share the progress we’ve made. If you’re looking for affordable home decor inspiration, don’t forget to follow along on Instagram and Pinterest to be alerted of new posts. Right now, I’m aiming to finish our home office, master bedroom, and guest bedroom re-dos, and I’ll finally be sharing Summer’s nursery as well. Leave a comment, send me a DM on social media, or shoot me an email (ashleybrookenicholas@gmail.com) if you have any home decor requests in particular!
Items Featured in Today’s Post
Kitchen Table Area:Wooden Bead Chandelier c/o
Light Wood Round Table (exact version sold out, similar versions available , , , here, here, here, here, here (also in a smaller size here)
Light Wood and Beige Linen Chairs (also available in grey and teal)
Blue and White Vase
Marble and Wood Cake Stand
Large Mercury Glass Candle (I got this candle at City Furniture but can’t find it online. Linked an almost identical candle.)
Gold and Marble Decorative Tray (also available in black marble)
Office Sitting Area:
Wood and Linen Accent Chairs c/o (also available in another color combo)
Accent Pillow c/o
(Very similar baskets and – choose the larger versions)
Cream Throw Blanket
c/o
Dresser Area:
White Dresser c/o (we also have the coordinating media stand c/o)
Blue and White Vase
Marble and Wood Cake Stand
Small Mercury Glass Candle c/o (I got this candle at City Furniture but can’t find it online. Linked the same candle.)
Large Mercury Glass Candle (I got this candle at City Furniture but can’t find it online. Linked an almost identical candle.)
Medium Pink and Cream Vase c/o (also comes in a smaller version)
Large Pink and Cream Vase c/o
Distressed Blue and White Frame
Dining Room Server Area:
Dark Wood and Gold Cabinet c/o
Gold and Marble Decorative Tray (also available in black marble)
Decorative Water Glasses (ours are family heirlooms, but these are very similar)
Cream and Black Marbled Bowls
Blue and White Vase
Marble and Light Wood Cake Stand
Large Mercury Glass Candle (I got this candle at City Furniture but can’t find it online. Linked an almost identical candle.)
All items marked c/o were kindly provided for consideration. Some links in this post are affiliate links, which means I earn a commission if a purchase is made after clicking through the link. As always, I truly value your trust and only recommend companies and products that I genuinely love.