Top 10 Favorite Stores for Thrifty Decor

I get asked all the time for my top 10 favorite stores to shop for thrifty decor.  So I thought I would put together a list of my favorite stores:

Home Goods 

I don't know anyone who doesn't love this place, it is the best place to find inexpensive yet unique times.  The key to finding the best stuff before anyone else is to talk to the store employees and find out which day or days the new truck comes and is unloaded.  I found out my favorite store gets it's truck on Tuesdays and Fridays..  So Tuesday afternoon and evening is prime picking time, as well as Saturday morning.  So go ahead and befriend the employees!  My other piece of advice is if you see it buy it, or it might not be there the next time. 

Garden Ridge

When I first discovered this place I thought that it was a garden center, boy was I wrong.  They have tons of patio furniture cushions and garden decor but much, much more. There are rows and rows of pictures, mirrors, lamps, lamp shades, bedding, area rugs, and other home decor items at great prices. You do need to have a list of what you are looking for (of you will be over whelmed) and you might need to dig for that perfect item but it is well worth it for the price. 

Christmas Tree Shops

With a name like this you would think they only had Christmas items all year around, but they don't.  They have awesome home decor and seasonal holiday items for every holiday.  I have bought awesome Halloween, Thanksgiving, and 4th of July decor for out side of my house.  I always get compliments on the items I buy there.  I also bought 2 awesome night stands for my guest room for only $25 each, I just had to screw on the legs and presto I had new night stands.  Great place to find the unexpected. 

Big Lots

Another great store for home decor and holiday decor.  They have great prices on close outs from other stores.  I get most of my holiday decor from here, great selection of out door decor.  My husband and I bought our Broyhill bed room set at a local furniture store when they were closing out the heirloom cherry collection.  Unfortunately they didn't have another night stand we happened to go buy Big Lots that week and there it was for less than the other store.  We loved that collection so much we bought the coffee table and end tables to match at Big Lots all for a whopping $150. What a steal for 3 pieces of real wood furniture!!

Home Decorators

While this store is mainly online you can find some of their pieces at your local Home Depot Stores, Home Depot owns them.  Crazy I know!  I have loved this store since I can remember, we used to have a Home Depot Expo store in my home town when they closed they moved everything online plus more.   Great place to find inspiration and home decor.  I will let you in on a little secret if you see something you like you can wait for it to go on sale and get it for a steal!!! Or sign up for their coupons and shipping specials, I don't buy anything that I don't have a shipping special on.  We have bought furniture from their site for my husbands man room that we adore, but each piece was 75 lbs so thankful for my coupon or the shipping would have been an arm and a leg. 

Ross Stores

Not only is this a great place for clothes but home decor. They have a great selection of accent furniture, pictures, mirrors, and unique vases.  I have been shopping here since I moved into my first apartment.  In fact my husband loves to remind me of the time we went to the Ross Store in San Francisco while on vacation.  We needed to kill an hour before our dinner reservation when I noticed a great picture frame shaped like a window pane that holds 20 photos, 1 in each pane. My poor husband had to carry it 3 blocks on his head back to the hotel, to this day I never hear the end of it.  If you ever go to San Francisco please stop by there 4 story Ross Store.   I have never seen a better Ross in my life. 

Habitat for Humanity

What can I say about this place other than amazing.  Each store is unique as everything is donated by the community and the profits go to Habitat so they can build homes for much deserving families.  I have shopped at stores in Ca and now here in VA.  Both stores have great things but its first come first serve.  So if you see it, you like it, then buy it!!  They have great building materials that you can transform into anything, just like my laundry room sign. I have also bought amazing furniture there that I restored.  Great place especially if you are starting out and are looking for great furniture. 

Cost Plus World Market

I love this store for curtains and pictures for your walls. They have a great selection of pictures for every room in your house.  They curtain selection is equally great if you are looking for 84 inch or 95 inch curtains.  Plus they generally have coupons for 20% off online, via email or with my iphone app.  I have also bought a fabulous pair of towels for my powder room, they have some unusual patterns that are a little out of the box to help jazz up a boring powder room.

JCPenney

I love this place for its curtains.  If you are looking for curtains for any room at a great price this should be your first stop, especially for unique lengths like 108 inch.  We bought are living room curtains here last year for $25 a curtain, that was a great price for 108 inch thermal black out curtains.  I couldn't beat that price anywhere else, plus I had a coupon for more money off. 

Target

Who doesn't love this place?  They have great prices on everything for your home from bedding to picture frames.  My favorite home decor isle is the seasonal decor, this isle is usually located on an end cap of a major isle.  Great accent pieces in fabulous colors.  Keep your eye out for this isle as it changes often and you can score some great deals when they start marking things down.  I bought 2 purple bottle vases for my guest bedroom for under $5.  Someone returned them and they were sitting at an end cap at the back of the store on the bottom shelf when I spotted them. I had seen them weeks earlier for $15 each.  That reminds me walk the back of the home decor isles and look at the end caps for great clearance deals.  Don't be afraid to dig and look on the bottom shelves for great deals. 

These are just a few of my favorite stores.  I have others that I like to score a great deal at as well.  What stores do you love to find a good deal at?

Halloween Decorations for Under $50

While taking down my Halloween decorations this morning.  I realized that I never shared them with you.  With our move I didn't have a lot of time to put together too many Halloween decorations, but I did go to the store to find a few good pieces.  I gave my self $50 to spend for my holiday decorations.  I went to Michaels Crafts, TJ Maxx, and JoAnn Fabric for all my decor.  I also had some gargoyles from Target that we got last at the after Halloween sale. 

I got this pumpkin at Michaels, they had a 50% off sale.  He was under $5. 

Another shot.

The gargoyles we got for $5.99 each at Target last year. The monster hand was $3.99 at Michaels.

Another clearance item from Michaels, the sign was under $5.

More clearance items from Michaels. All under $5.

The pumpkin on the door was $10.99 from TJ Maxx.

Another angle.

I hope you liked my Halloween decorations this year.  Where did you find your Halloween decorations?  Did you find any good deals this year on Halloween decorations?

Can You Believe Fall Is Almost Here?

Wow, fall is coming soon.  It's Labor Day and we had wind, rain, and cold nights here in Northern California just a few days ago.  Just a few days earlier it was 100 degrees, it has been a strange weather year for sure.  With the changes in the temperature it has me in the mood to start thinking about and my fall decor.  Or maybe its because stores have all their fall items and even Christmas items out.  I can't even think about Christmas shopping yet.

In past years I haven't gone over board for fall decor because we lived in a condo and the HOA had strict rules on decorations.  I remember moving in 5 years ago and getting a letter about the pumpkin on my front door and how it broke the rules and regs in the community.  Fast forward to this year, we are in a home and I can't wait to decorate.  My husband even bought these really cool statues last year at Target for 90%, they were only $5.  I will say they weigh about 10-15 lbs each, but hey they were a steal of a deal.

Once we are a little closer to Halloween I plan on putting out our new Halloween and Fall decorations, so watch out for the upcoming posts.  To get some inspiration for decorations I can do after we move to our new home, I did a google search for some great ideas.  Here is what I found, hopefully they will inspire you as much as they have inspired me.

I like this idea, its very simple and easy to do.  Plus it won't take a lot of items to complete.  This would look great by our front door, or even on a table.

Look at all these leaves.  This door screams it's time for fall!  To put this look together you would need to purchase some leaf garland from your craft store or dollar store.  I have seen similar garland at our local dollar store, you.  This would be an item not to spend too much on as the leaves will get beat up a little bit by the elements.  Keep in mind you may not be able to use the garland year after year depending on where you live and the type of weather you receive.  What an impact these leaves make.

The bowl of mini pumpkins is so cute.  You will need a bowl, some foam, leaves (fake or real), mini pumpkins and berries to put this look together.   Its a simple way to put together a fall centerpiece.

Out of all the looks this is my favorite.  It is classy and simple.  I love this look!  It says fall but not too over the top.  I will be looking for a white pumpkin once we move to VA next week.

What is not to love about roses.  These beautiful yellow and orange roses are to die for.  I love the color variations.  This idea would be great on your Thanksgiving table.  You could put together this wonderful arrangement and take it to your next party as a hostess gift.  What hostess wouldn't love these flowers?

I like this look mainly because the dog is so cute!  I also love the stacked variety of pumpkins and gourds in the the background on the old chair.   Next time you pick up pumpkins look for them in a variety of colors, don't just get the standard orange.

I selected this one because the use of the bird cage.  I thought it was a great idea to use something that wasn't expected.   This look is very out of the box.

This look reminds me of my wreath that I use for the fall months.  I liked the use of the pumpkin hanging in the middle.  I might replace my ribbon this year and hang a pumpkin in the middle of my wreath.

This look inspired me because of the multiple layers in this display.  I like the use of different items, colors, and textures.  It really adds depth to this display.  It also showcases using existing landscaping and turning it into your fall holiday display.


I really hope that this photos I found online have inspired you as much as they have inspired me.  Please share withe me your favorite inspiration photos!