How to Style Your Living Room on a Budget

When we moved in we had no furniture for the living room.

This is not an exaggeration, we had no furniture in this room for almost two months.

This empty slate was equally exciting and daunting. I loved that I could start from scratch, but it was a huge task.

Thankfully once we got started, things started to fall into place.

It Starts with a Sofa

The room started to take shape once we decided on a sofa. My fiance found some he liked, and when he showed me I liked it and decided to buy it.

I loved the look of white velvet. Our actual living room isn’t a room we spend a whole lot of time in. We have a converted garage room in the back where we spend more time when we just want to relax.

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The living room is more a room for hosting, and is the first thing you see when you walk into the house. So an expensive or comfortable sofa just was not a priority for this room

We were more focused on something that looked nice and fit our budget.

The Rug and Other Pieces

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Once I got the sofa, I started to figure out what I wanted the room to look like.

While listening to the Dear Alice podcast I heard them say that they like to start designing a room with the rug.

I loved that idea and it led me through a great design process. I found this rug on Wayfair that I knew I had to have as soon as I saw it. I loved all the colors it incorporated, yet it was still subtle.

The Chairs

The tough part was finding chairs. I was very picky, and was determined to find a chair $250 or less, which was proving to be a difficult challenge.

Then suddenly I found this chair online from Target. Not only was it the perfect color, but it was a recliner which is an amazing plus.

It was on sale for $200 so I bought one. When I got it I knew I needed another one. Unfortunately, it was no longer on sale and was now priced at $280.

I bought it for $200 once, and refused to pay that much again so I started searching. After a lot of research and digging, I found the same chair at GDF Studios. I was able to find a coupon code and got it for around the same price as the first chair I purchase.

The Bar and Desk

One idea that came to me while scrolling through Instagram was to create a bar with a wine cooler in the awkward corner of our living room.

For the full story and process, you can reference this blog post I wrote about it.

I bought this cabinet from Target, and a NewAir wine cooler that would fit inside of it.

On the other side of the bar is a chair I bought from Pier 1.

I originally purchased this chair for my office, but when I found another one I liked better I had to find a space for this chair.

It looks perfect in this space and worked out great in the end.

Everything Else

The sconces are from Overstock, and I fitted puck lights in them instead of hard wiring electrical.

The painting is a great find from Facebook Marketplace. I talked about it as well as some of my best tips for using the platform here.

Finally, I got the coffee table from Walmart. I loved the rug so much that I wanted something clear to be able to show it off. This one was perfect.

So, What do You Think?

What do you think so far? I am really happy with it. This and my home office are my two happy places around the house that I love to just hang out in. Hope you enjoyed!

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