How to Furnish Your Home with Under $300

If you've recently purchased an apartment or house lease or maybe even purchased a new home, then most likely it is unfurnished. Not only do you now have to pay your monthly rent or mortgage in addition to your other monthly bills, you now have the added expense of furnishing your home. Moreover, most brand new furniture from department stores will cost you several hundreds dollars per piece. Here's how to furnish your new place with under $300.

-Buy your major furniture pieces from discount furniture stores. Check your local thrift stores, discount furniture stores, and antique shops. All of these places will sometimes have barely used furniture or even brand new furniture for less than half their original prices. Often you can find odd and rare pieces for great prices that would cost quite a pretty penny if purchased brand new. Plus, you can purchase some pieces that may not be in the best shape and clean them up, repaint them, or reupholster them. For instance, when I moved into my new apartment I visited a local antique shop and purchased a cute little rattan and cushion couch and chaise lounge set that included several small, matching pillows for $130. All it needed was to be dusted and cleaned and it appeared brand new.

-Look online. Site such as craigslist.com and freecycle.com often are great places to find second-hand furniture that, once again, may not have seen much use and, in some cases, are actually brand new. Just check your city and state, click on the furniture section, and see what's been posted. I would note, though, that items on craigslist.com especially tend to go fast, so check for deals daily and try to be the first one to pounce on the item. There are many great, cheap deals you can find on such sites as these. For instance, I saw an ad on craigslist.com for a glass wrought-iron marble coffee table in my area for $30. In great condition and a very rare looking piece, this table could have sold for much, much more than that. However, many people will sell their old furniture cheap just to get rid of it quickly rather than having to make storage space for it.

-Purchase your small home décor items at discount stores such as Family Dollar and Dollar General. Stores like these often sell cute home furnishing items like candelabras, wall furnishings, and even curtains for cheaper prices than other chain stores. Dollar tree in particular is a great place to buy picture frames, candles, baskets, and much more.

Just using a few of these smart, economical, budget-friendly tips will add up to help save you massive amounts of money in furnishing your new place. I did all of these things and furnished my new house apartment's bedroom, living room, dining room, and sunroom for under $300 with nice stuff. Seriously! If you follow these three steps, you can do like I did and furnish your home for under $300 with no one the wiser.