From time to time your living room needs a refresh, but it doesn’t have to break the bank. This blog post will take you through all the best living room decor ideas on a budget to make your space cute and cozy!
Your living room should be looked at as one of the most relaxing spaces in your home. It should be cozy, inviting, and warm, but you shouldn’t have to break the bank to get there.
In this blog post, we’ll take you through our favorite tips and tricks on how to refresh your living room decor on a budget.
If you enjoyed this post, then you should also take a look at this one, which is all about creating storage space in your home on a budget.
This blog post is all about living room decor on a budget.
Cozy Living Room Decor On A Budget
1. Rearrange your current furniture/decor
This may be the cheapest tip of them all because it’s free! If you want a truly money-free tip to refresh your living room, then look into rearranging the furniture and decor items that you currently have. It’s okay if you don’t know exactly what you should do – experiment a little!
You could try angling your seating or repositioning any rugs to define the space. Maybe you have some decor in another room that you could bring into your living room and vice versa. Feel free to make a few swaps and see how it feels. Sometimes, the smallest changes make the biggest difference.
2. Keep it neutral
This may seem boring, but we promise it’s an underrated tip when you don’t want to spend a lot of money in the future. Keeping with a neutral theme helps in the long-term because these colors are typically timeless and they serve as a great base to any room.
It allows you to be flexible with updates with cheap accessories. It’s also less stressful because matching every particular color you choose can be hard if they’re not neutral.
3. Add one new accent piece of furniture
If you don’t have the budget to get a whole new furniture set, then choose one new accent piece instead. This is a great way to add something new to your space without spending a bunch of money. Good examples of this are one nice sofa chair, a coffee table, or even a decorative piece like decor trays. Whatever fits in with your color scheme, vibe, AND your budget.
4. Go secondhand
Let’s say that you want to invest in some good, sturdier pieces, but don’t want to pay the hefty prices that go along with them. We would suggest that looking for secondhand furniture is your best bet. Check estate sales, Facebook marketplace, and other venues for good quality pieces that you won’t have to pay a huge amount for.
Unfortunately, if you want to stick to a smaller budget, you probably won’t be finding any brand new quality pieces. They truly don’t make things how they used to, at least at a lower price.
5. Change out small pieces only
If your budget truly can’t handle buying any new furniture at all, then that’s no problem. Your next best step would be to focus on changing out smaller pieces, such as curtains, throw blankets, and pillows. There’s bound to be something within your decor that you could either afford to change.
Walmart and Home Depot have some great options for curtains, even blackout curtains. For pillows, we would recommend getting a standard-sized pillow that you can switch out different covers for, such as these. They come in all different colors, and it’s so easy to switch them out for different times of the year, especially holidays.
6. Grab a new rug
Depending on what style and size rug you want, a new rug would be a perfect way to refresh your space while making it feel cozier. Rugs can definitely get a little expensive, especially when you want a larger one. If your rug budget can go up to $200-300, then people swear by Home Goods.
People tend to have good luck there with rugs as large as 10×14 and they’re great quality. Sometimes it’s a hit or miss on colors, but there’s generally good feedback. If you’re a member, Costco also has great, quality rugs that would run a little cheaper. If you need your prices to be lower than that, for quality, I would suggest secondhand rugs or IKEA.
7. Add a mirror
Mirrors are a great piece that can upgrade your living room decor without breaking the bank. They also give the illusion that your space is bigger than it really is. This is a great way to refresh your living room as it will give it a more polished and refined look.
Depending on the best location and how much space you have, a full length mirror is a beautiful addition. If you don’t have the space, you can opt for a smaller mirror that could easily be placed on the wall or above a mantle.
8. Create your own wall art
Why grab an expensive print at your local home goods store when you could create your own? Artists deserve everything they get paid, but if professional art is not in your budget, you can also do it yourself. And this doesn’t mean that you should pick up a paint brush.
There are plenty of easier options if you’re not the most artistically inclined person. A great idea is some pressed flower or plant art or create a design with Washi tape.
9. Buy some cheap prints
If you don’t have the time for a DIY project, you can still get some gorgeous prints off of Etsy. There’s a lot of small creators on there that sell their own art, where you can just download a print they’ve done themselves. Be sure that you’re not buying something from someone who has ripped off an artist, though!
10. Paint your walls
There’s nothing like a fresh coat of paint to make your space feel brand new. Depending on the size of your living room, though, paint can really add up. If you’re not super particular about the color that you want to paint your space, another way to save money is by using mistinted paint. This is paint that has either been returned or paint that was not correctly mixed by an employee. Not all stores will have this, but you could check it out at your local hardware store.
11. Focus on an accent wall
Speaking of painting your walls, another way to save money and still get that nice refresh you want is by painting just an accent wall. In the living room, it’s typically the wall that you would want people to focus on when they enter the room. Most people tend to put their accent walls right behind their tv.
If you want to get a little spicier, you could paint half the wall and then install some beadboard on the bottom. You can get some peel-and-stick beadboard or you could apply real beadboard with a nail gun. Grab some plywood to make some “trim”, and you got yourself a gorgeous new accent wall. All of these items can be found at your local chain hardware store, like Home Depot or Lowe’s.
12. Liven up the space, literally
If there’s one way to breathe life into a space, it’s by adding actual life. Grab some greenery to freshen up your living room, which is also easy to do on a budget. If you’re looking for real plants, there are plenty of affordable potted plants or DIY planters at your local hardware store. Maybe you don’t have the greenest thumb, and that’s okay. Fake plants can work just as well, and are often more pet-friendly.
13. Change up your flooring
Another great option to refresh your living room on a budget is to use peel-and-stick tiles for your floor. These are such great options for someone who is either renting and looking to not break the bank. There are a lot of great options online, including this one. A word of advice – if there’s the possibility of anyone or any pet tracking a lot of snow or water into this area, it may not be the best idea. This can lead to moisture getting in-between the tiles and your real floor, and can cause mold to grow.
