If you’re not used to a frugal style of living, you can often think that it will be boring or tasteless. In reality, choosing to be frugal in life can be anything you want it to be – frugality affects your attitude towards spending, not your taste. If you have one set sense of style, everything you choose to do in life with alway fit within it – regardless of the budgets you give yourself. So, if you have an elegant taste, and want to ensure that you home forever looks fabulous, you can – but you can also do it with a thrifty mind.
Perhaps that idea interests you? If it does, then you’re certainly not alone. The ability to have a stylish and fun home, for a fraction of the price is something many of us wish for – but it’s not always that easy to achieve, unless you know how. By being tough on yourself, sticking to a few simple rules, and being patient, you can achieve a fabulous and frugal way of living.
Focus On Function
When you think about interior design, you can often focus primarily on fashion or appearance. Functionality probably does have some say in how you spend your money and what you spend it on, but it’s probably not the most important factor when really, it should be. As you fix up your home, the more emphasis you chose to place on function instead of fashion, the easier you will find it to be frugal. You’ll start to see the practical purchases count, and you’ll make sure your money stays away from frivolous fashions.
Prioritize
As you start to place more emphasis on being frugal, you need to also work on your ability to prioritize. Although in an ideal world, you’d be able to have everything you want for your home, but that’s not always the case. So, you have to choose. When you start to decide what to spend on and what to save on, you’ll be able to balance out the costs and get better value for money. You might want that state of the art cooker for the kitchen, but you might not need top of the line storage solutions when handy ikea alternatives work just as well. It’s all about balance.
Barter And Bid
Being frugal is about being conscious with your money. If you want to adopt a more frugal outlook when it comes to your decor, it’s important that you learn to make your money go further. A good way to do that is to barter where you can. eBay is often good for this. You’ll find one-of-a-kind pieces for your home, and often at a really good price. The bidding functionality also helps, as you can often steal a deal in the process.
Create A Color Palette
Sometimes, on your journey to achieving a fabulous home, you can often believe that expensive furniture is the way to get there. But that’s not always the case. You can actually create a similar look for a lot less by switching up your focus. Try to let your design speak for itself by working with color. You can say a lot with your decor theme, meaning that your furniture can be a lot more understated and still look exquisite.
Do It Yourself
DIY can go a long way. It can also save you a lot of money. Whether you want to repaint a room, fix up an old table, or put up a few pictures, you can really make a big impact with minimal cost – because you’re doing everything yourself. And, to make it even better, you can also achieve something of your very own. Yes, it might take a little longer to get done if you’re taking on the task yourself, but it can save you money and be highly rewarding.
Bag A Bargain
If you think you have to spend a lot of money on homewares for your home to look incredible, you’d be wrong. In fact, you can often spend next to nothing and still create a stylish space. The trick is to be smart with your shopping. Instead of picking up the first piece you see or accepting the retail price, shop around. Sites like www.dontpayfull.com often have coupons for stores and brands, and they can save you a lot of money on items that you were planning to buy anyway.
Become A Minimalist
Another misconception with stylish decor is that more is more. As with a lot of other things in life, less is often more. So much so, that the trend ‘minimalism’ is hugely popular right now. It can be completely chic to have a very bare and sparse space – which is excellent news when you’re trying to be frugal because you can often spend less. So rather than spend a lot of money on accessories, keep things very simple and understated. Not only will your home look and feel fabulous, it will be cost-efficient too.
Stick To A Theme
Sometimes, a theme can stop you from straying off track. When you have a lot of decorating to get done, you can often want to add in extras, when the room might not need it. But, when you have a theme, you have a sort of guideline to follow. It can often work really when in children’s bedrooms. You can pick a character or a key theme and design the room around that. You can also put your new DIY skills to the test and upcycle old items to fit in with the theme and save you money.
Enjoy It!
And lastly, you’re going to want to enjoy the whole process. Being frugal can actually be fun. Not only do you get to challenge yourself to create a gorgeous home for less, but the whole idea of bargain hunting can also be enjoyable too. So instead of letting a budget both you, see it as a game and work on making your home a beautiful place for a bargain price.