Acquiring nice things cheap...

[peanut]

I like nice things. I'm the first to admit it. If I had my way, my home would look like one of those designer homes shown in the glossy home magazines. I tend towards the English country look. Which has lots of fabric. Which is good...because I can sew!

Here's my list of ways to acquire nice things cheaply. Can you add to it?

1) Make it yourself...be sure it's truly cheaper to make than to buy.

2) Buy it on sale.

3) Buy secondhand at consignment shops, thrift stores, garage sales or flea markets.

4) Help people move and enjoy their castoffs.

5) Refurbish into something you like. We rely a lot on this technique.

6) Shop auctions.

7) Trade goods and services.

8) Rent (eg. artwork)

9) Check discount stores like Liquidation World.

What are your ideas?

[Jerseygirl]

Let people know what you are looking for, often they know someone who is getting rid of, looking to sell, etc.

[alabamagirl]

When we were just starting off, when we could afford new furniture we bought real wood furniture at the unpainted furniture store and stained it ourselves. We saved a ton doing that and I actually enjoy working on projects with DH.

We are big DIYers. DH is very handy - we added a sunroom on our house and laid wood laminate floors and tiled floors ourselves.

[PrairieRose]

We love auctions too. I've gotten lots of good things for my home at auctions and also hand me down things that were wonderful. I also will tell someone "hey if you ever get tired of that _____ lemme know, I'll buy it from you" and have gotten some great things that way too.