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Budget home decorating – furnish your entire house for under £150!

Kamal Khurana 5th Sep 2020 15 Comments

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Need to furnish a whole house for cheap?

Desperate to furnish your new apartment on a low budget?

Read on to discover how you can furnish an entire home for less than £150 — or even for free!

Whether you are renting a property or buying a new home, prices are through the roof these days. So, anything you can save on home furnishings is much-needed money towards that dream home.

In this article, we give you tips that could save you thousands of pounds. The house we will furnish in this article has every household essential that you would need to live comfortably, right down to your bathroom bin and table lamp.

If you are bargain-savvy and not overly picky, you can probably furnish the majority of your house for free. Although, there are some items that everybody will want new.

 

Grab the freebies

Budget home decorating - furnish your entire house for under £150!

People often give away furniture for free as it saves them the job of getting rid of it.

You can find all kinds of furniture online, from big items to small furnishings, for free every day. Or, if you are happy to spend, you routinely find giveaway prices on items. Here are some of the best places to look.

Gumtree

It’s a fantastic place to start when looking for free stuff. You can snatch up dining room tables, beds, futons, sofas — basically anything and everything can be found on this site. All for just the inconvenience of having to pick up the items yourself, which if you don’t have a car may be a bit tricky, but still well worth the effort.

Facebook Marketplace

With the added bonus of being able to verify sellers on Facebook, this digital marketplace is a fantastic way to find free stuff in your area. Easy to use and navigate, it is very similar to Gumtree and is a brilliant place to find bargains. 

Freecycle

Join your local Freecycle group. This is a grassroots global organisation that joins together people who have free things to give away, with those wanting free stuff. The idea being if we swap and share then we aren’t filling landfills up with unwanted items.

Freeloved

This listings website has an entire section dedicated to free, preloved stuff. There are plenty of bargains to be found here too. 

Free Stuff

Dedicated to free stuff near you, this classified site does exactly what it says on the tin — list stuff for free. Again

Swapz

Swapz is the UK’s biggest, most established and original marketplace where you can swap, trade, sell and deal with like-minded people both locally and nationwide. 

 

CHEAP PLACES ON THE HIGH STREET

Budget home decorating - furnish your entire house for under £150!

Argos

With some great deal on home bargains, Argos should not be overlooked if you are looking to furnish your home on a budget. 

Ikea

You might have to assemble the furniture yourself, but the Swedish retailer always guarantees good quality and affordable prices.

Wilko

This jack-of-all-trades store is a great place to pick up bargains for your home, especially items like plates, pots, pans, and utensils.

 

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT

Visit your council website or give them a call asking about furniture recycling schemes. There are loads all over the UK, like Four Square in Edinburgh, which may offer free furniture removal as part of a recycling scheme.

Contact Furniture Re-use Network to have your used furniture donated to poor families who could not otherwise furnish their homes. The donation centres are spread out across all of the UK.  If you’re in Northern Ireland go to Homeless Northern Ireland for details on how you can help.

 

OTHER WAYS TO SAVE

  • Host a swap party with your friends and neighbours
  • Stop and shop at yard sales and car boot sales
  • Use second hand shops like Oxfam
  • Shop online for used goods at eBay
  • Traditional classified ads offer great deals
  • Explore affordable mattresses online

What’s important is that you don’t buy into some ridiculous idea that you have to spend a fortune for your place to look great. Shop smartly and your digs will look classic and you’ll have extra cash.  Spend everything on your house and it better look great, because you can’t afford to go anywhere else. This way you can enjoy yourself and rest in your home sweet home.

You don’t always have to get your decorations from other people, and sometimes it’s worth giving things a go yourself. You can make decorations out of your own pictures, and it wouldn’t be too expensive to get some picture frames to help hang them up around the home! It saves you from having to invest in something else, and it brings your home a more personal touch.

 

The MoneyMagpie home

Budget home decorating - furnish your entire house for under £150!

BEDROOM ITEMS  Cost Where to find it
Double bed with mattress Free Gumtree
Bedside table x 2 £18 IKEA
Curtains £13 IKEA
Wardrobe (beech) Free Gumtree
Table lamp x 2 £5.50 IKEA
Chest of drawers & sofa bed Free Gumtree
Duet cover & pillowcases £4.80 Argos

 

 

LIVING ROOM ITEMS    
     
3-seater sofa Free Gumtree
Mirror 7ft x 4ft Free Gumtree
Art prints From £3.49 The Range
Functional Dinner Set  £7 Wilko
Lounge curtains £7.99 Ebay
Coffee table Free Facebook Marketplace

 

BATHROOM ITEMS    
     
3-piece bathroom set £2.50 Argos
Bath mat £1.25 IKEA
Shower curtain £0.98 Amazon
Towel set £1.79 Amazon

 

KITCHEN ITEMS    
     
IKEA kitchen cabinet doors Free Gumtree
Saucepan set £12 Wilko
16-piece cutlery set £5.00 Wilko
Roll top plastic bin  £6.00 Wilko
3-piece kitchen utensil set £1.25 IKEA
Cordless kettle £6.00 Wilko
2-slice toaster £6.00 Wilko

 

TOTAL: £102.55  

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Partition Boards
Partition Boards
1 year ago

Nice article, thank you for sharing…

Elisa
Elisa
3 years ago

Hello!
Thank you for the advice especially because I moved to the new house like few days ago and I’m actually sleeping on the mattress 😀

Annie
Admin
3 years ago
Reply to  Elisa

Been there, done that! I hope you enjoy your new home 🙂

Jasmine Birtles

Your money-making expert. Financial journalist, TV and radio personality.

Jasmine Birtles

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