Today I am sharing several living room decor ideas on a budget. I’ve implemented these budget-friendly ideas in my own home, and they are both practical and beautiful.
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We’ve been updating our home over the last seven years, since we moved in, and I am happy to say it’s finally looking how I envisioned it! Of course, my style has changed over the years, so I’m always adapting, but I’m so happy with how much our TLC has paid off.
When decorating our living room, I wanted to keep it budget-friendly but also make it beautiful. To do so, I worked on different areas in my living room at different times, overtime. Some of these living room decor ideas take a good amount of time to do, but they’re all very budget friendly! If you’re willing to put in the work, you can definitely achieve a high-end look for less.
LIVING ROOM DECOR IDEAS ON A BUDGET
1. WRAP VINTAGE BOOKS IN DOLLAR STORE PAPER
After we built our fireplace built ins and mantel in our living room, I wanted to decorate the bookshelves. I also wanted to keep it budget-friendly, so I came up with a plan to wrap vintage books in wrapping paper from the Dollar Store.
Books can be expensive, so I recommend asking your family and friends first if they have any books they’d be willing to part with. These books don’t have to be antiques, but it does help for them to be hardback books.
Hardback books are easier to wrap with wrapping paper than soft-back books, although you can definitely use some soft books in the mix. My shelves are mostly decorated with hardback books, but I do have some soft books that are laid down. Hardback books can stand up easily, so they’re definitely preferred.
If you don’t have a lot of books to use, you can also head to a thrift shop to grab some books.
I have two bookcases, so I needed TONS of books. This meant I also needed lots of wrapping paper. The good news is that you can buy white wrapping paper from The Dollar Store for just $1. I purchased several wrapping papers for this project, but it was still very cheap because they were each only $1.
You can also use a different color wrapping paper if you prefer, like black or brown.
Wrapping the books does take A LOT of time, but if you space it out and do a little bit at a time, you can get through it! That’s what I did, and while it was a tedious job, I’m so happy I did it.
Since styling my bookshelves with wrapped books, I haven’t ever changed up the decor. They easily work with each season, including Christmas!
For more about this project, read How to Style a Bookshelf: The No-Fail Way.
2. DISPLAY ANTIQUE CANDLESTICKS & TAPER CANDLES
Displaying antique candlesticks and taper candles is a pretty budget-friendly decor idea as long as you get your candlesticks at the thrift store.
If you buy brass candlesticks online, they can become a bit expensive depending where you buy them. Buying them at a thrift store or on Facebook Marketplace is always a good bet. You just have to check back often so you can find some!
White taper candles can be bought at dollar stores or Walmart. If you want taupe candles like mine, you’ll have to get those at another store. These are the best-priced taupe candles I’ve found.
Tip: use taupe taper candles as opposed to white taper candles if you have a white fireplace backing. The taupe tone stand out more against the white backing.
3. UP-CYCLE OLD WALL ART
I love the idea of up-cycling old wall art! I was eyeing this Pottery Barn print, but I wasn’t loving the price tag. That’s when I got the idea to make a dupe of it using an old painting that was sitting unused in our basement.
The old painting I had was HUGE and I knew it would be perfect for over our sofa.
To up-cycle it, I painted the frame white, add spackel to create dimension and then painted it. This was INCREDIBLY easy to make and I love how it turned out. I actually didn’t need to spend any money on this project because I had all the paint and supplies.
Even if you do need to buy the supplies to paint the painting, you can do it in a very budget-friendly way by buying the small, craft paints from Walmart. That’s where the some of the paints I used on this were from!
Read more on this project: How to Make an Easy DIY Wall Art Painting with Texture
4. MAKE A GALLERY WALL WITH BUDGET-FRIENDLY FRAMES
If you have a large wall in your living room and want to display a gallery wall, consider making a gallery wall with budget-friendly frames. This is a great living room decor idea on a budget if you don’t know what to do on a large, blank wall in your space.
We added a gallery wall to a blank wall in our living room, and we love how we were able to create a meaningful space on a budget.
We used these 11” x 14” frames and added 8” x 10” black and white family photos. I had our photos printed out at the local CVS.
Read more about this project: The Trick to Making an Even Gallery Wall
5. DECORATE YOUR COFFEE TABLE CHEAPLY
Decorating your coffee table can turn expensive quick, but if you focus on using particular budget-friendly items for your coffee table, you can still achieve a beautiful look!
For my coffee table, I usually use some type of the following combination: books wrapped with white wrapping paper (using the method above), candles (these are my favorite candles), and flowers in a vessel.
If I have fresh flowers on hand then I’ll use those, but if not, I display faux flowers or stems. I suggest investing in several faux eucalyptus stems because they can be used year round and they always look great! These faux eucalyptus stems are actually very affordable, and I have a TON of them.
Read more about affordable coffee table styling: How to Decorate a Coffee Table Cheaply (4 Ways)
6. PAINT A PIECE OF OLD FURNITURE
Furniture isn’t really decor but I wanted to add this to the living room decor ideas list because I think it’s a great way to add furniture to your living room without breaking the bank.
Years ago, I found some old side tables at a thrift store for just $12 each. I used chalk paint on them and added new hardware, which completely transformed the look of them.
They are still going strong today, and I have each of them next to a couch end.
Read more about this project: DIY Chalk Paint Furniture Tutorial for Beginners
7. SWAP OUT PILLOW COVERS
Swapping our pillow covers is an excellent idea for living room decor on a budget. Buying new throw pillows each season can become expensive, so a great solution is to buy pillow covers for your pillow inserts and swap them each season.
Some pillow covers are expensive, but I’ve found several that are beautiful and budget friendly.
I have these olive green pillow covers, these velvet pillow covers in the color jam, and these plush pillow covers in dark brown.
I hope you can implement some of these living room decor ideas on a budget in your home!
