Where To Splurge & Save For Your Home Decor

Apr. 7

After going through months of trial & error, rearranging rooms, moving decor around and replacing broken pieces of furniture, I’ve come to figure out what are a few pieces that I wish I would’ve splurged on, and some I wish I would’ve saved my pennies on. This all being said, I’m by no means throwing money around like it’s nothing — I was, and still am on a budget, so all of these tips and tricks I’m going to share today are also completely budget-friendly. So, let’s jump into all of the things I’ve learned!

Corner of a couch with a blanket and pillow placed on it.

Where to Splurge

After learning some tough lessons the hard way, there’s some pieces that I can confirm you should absolutely spend the money on. Here are some of my tips you can apply to your home when looking to furnish and/or decorate it:

EVERYDAY PIECES OF FURNITURE

Without a doubt, your everyday pieces of furniture should absolutely not be something you skimp out on. I’m talking your mattress, bed frame, office chair (if you work from home), dining chairs and couch. This is where my hard-learned experience comes in — I bought a cheap couch, and it broke within 8 months to the point we couldn’t use it. We’ve since replaced it with a much nicer, but more expensive couch & don’t regret the upgrade one bit.

Bed with a large print above the headboard.

ANY WEIGHT-BARING ITEMS

Your dresser, a stand for a large tv, storage for a ton of dish-ware. If you’ve got heavy items, especially things you don’t want falling over or breaking, I’d highly suggest splurging a bit on the piece. Another tip is to always put the heaviest items on the bottom shelf, and as you work your way up, get lighter. This will help stabilize your furniture, but if you want extra protection, you can purchase kits to secure the piece to the wall.

YOUR DAILY DISHWARE

When I say to splurge on dishes, I don’t mean run out to the store and buy yourself a 12-person table setting of fine china, but I also don’t mean you need to spend an arm & a leg on dishes either. Spending a good amount on them them though is something I would recommend. You use them daily, and of course, you don’t want to be eating off anything too cheaply made (it could have chemicals in it that we don’t want in our systems!). My personal favourite is Fable’s dishes since they are a good price without being too expensive, but also fantastic quality.

Where to Save

Though I do have to say, I’m quick to spend good money on items if I feel like it’s worth it, I’ve always been a big fan of stores like HomeSense to save some money on pieces throughout my home. Here are some places I recommend you save your money:

DECOR & WALL ART

Decor such as faux flowers, vases, frames, decorative books, baskets, decorative pillows, blankets & seasonal/holiday decor can all be purchased for really affordable prices while still being extremely stylish & trendy! Some places I love to look for these items are Ikea, Michaels, HomeSense and if you’re into thrifting, thrift stores & antique stores. Wall art is another thing you can get affordably by going through websites that sell digital files & getting them printed cheaply at Staples (read my blog about printing & framing digital art affordably here). You can always splurge on nice wall art down the road!

LIGHTING

No, I’m not saying you should get some poorly made lighting pieces, but you can absolutely get amazing pieces for lighting your home for a great price. Again, Ikea & HomeSense are my favourite places to get these items including floor lamps, table lamps & even ceiling lights. There’s no need to go to hardware stores and pay double the price for what you could find at these stores.

I hope this blog post helped at least one person figure out what they should spend and what they should save on. I wish I would’ve listened to the advice I was getting when I bought a cheap couch, but luckily I was able to get my money back to help put it towards a new couch. Moral of the story — don’t cheap out on your couch!