I bet you have stood at the grocery store check out and looked longingly at the gorgeous homes on magazine covers and pondered, “I wish my house looked that good”.
Having a beautiful and well-maintained home should not mean you have to take a second mortgage. There are lots of ways to maximize your home improvement dollar and your decorating dime. You have to know where to shop, how to get coupons and think outside the box.
For local home décor items, there are some fantastic shops that offer trendy, unique and affordable fare. In Lansdale, you can find a fabulous selection of vintage pieces at The Shabby Attic. The owner/designer, Karin Wolfle, offers a collection of classic, vintage and trendy styles in furniture and accessories. She will also custom paint furniture, kitchen cabinets and murals, too.
Second hand or consignment shops in your local area can offer a wide array of pieces from chairs to mirrors and more. Of course, if you are a real bargain hunter with DIY skills like me, thrift stores and Craigslist can really stretch your dollar. Why make your home look like it came from a catalog when it can be a visual story of your family’s interests, hobbies and travels. Eclectic looks are a lot more fun!
Of course, Home Goods is a great resource to find inexpensive accent pieces, wall art, linens and rugs. The furniture may not be the quality solid wood pieces of the higher end furniture stores, but you cannot beat its prices for the trendy items.
Unfortunately, there are no coupons for Home Goods but you’ll find good deals without. If you do plan to redo a big room or buy a new home, use the Home Goods credit card that rewards you $10 for every $200 spent. Only do this if you can afford to pay it off at the end of the month! The idea here is to save money, not pay interest charges.
When shopping at consignment or discount stores, remember to ask about a return policy, in case your new treasure doesn’t look as good in your home as you had hoped.
You’ll need the tools of the trade to make your design dreams come true. When you have to have the right stuff where can you get the best tools for less? My favorite place is Home Depot. I find my local store to have very educated staff and competitive prices. But another store worthy of your tool time is Harbor Freight. Shop online or at your local stores. They have a big selection of basic tools and have been around the home repair scene for a long time offering quality for less.
The lure of online shopping for the home is just too easy and addictive. But there are so many retailers that you can become overwhelmed by the selection you find. The trick here is to find the piece you love, at the price you want, right? Instead of sorting through pages of online coupons, try this reliable and plentiful resource, Rather-Be Shopping. This site has proven coupons from over 750 retailers. It includes stores like Overstock for housewares and furniture as well as Harbor Freight for tools and Best Buy for appliances.
RBS offers you a custom coupon service where you choose your favorite categories and stores. They then send you alerts when the coupons you really want are posted. This saves your time and money so you can invest more of both in your home. Who doesn’t love that?
