s/o August Challenge: budgeting for projects?

[sweetptater]

I need SO much for our new house. Well, I say new but we've been here over a year and a half. It just feels like we've just moved in since most of the walls and shelves are bare, I have 3 bedrooms with hardwood floors that desperately need area rugs, I need some decorative storage to catch the closet/drawer overflow, not to mention all of the furniture we still need (coffee and end tables for the living room to name a few). Nothing is pulled together or even close to being done, but I'm having a really hard time spending the money to do it. Right now I'm just buying things as I come across them (or talking myself out of buying them as the case may be), but it seems like that's a good way to spend a lot of money with not a lot to show for it. 

Do you budget for decorating a room or starting a new project? Or do you just have a plan in mind and spend whatever you need to in order to get the room done?  

[Deleted]

A bit of both?
If I run across something like a sofa or dresser that I love and know will complete a room I'm willing to spend more/give up other things to make it happen.
When it comes to décor stuff like toss pillows, ottomans, picture frames, it's budget/use what I have/steal it from my Mom all the way.

I guess my whole life is about budget when it comes to my house. I just can't drop 10K on a dining set because I love it. So while I don't have a set amount per room/project, I also know my limits, kwim?

ETA: I also buy stuff as I see it. It's been 8 years and I still have empty spaces to fill. I hate, hate, hate clutter for the sake of pretty though, so that's most of my problem.

[munkii]

Everything Dairy said.

[sweetptater]

Jul 18, 2013 9:03:40 GMT -5 nursecramer said:

I try to be patient and just buy things as I find them, I don't necessarily go out looking for them. When I see something that fits, I buy it. Nearly everything we have from CL or yard sales or thrift stores or hand-me-downs, so that helps stay within the budget, too.

I try to be patient, but it's hard when the house doesn't feel like a home because it's so sparse! I feel like I need to win the lottery so that I can go on a spending spree. Since that's obviously not going to happen, I've been scouring yard sales and thrift stores but I have yet to find anything good. I also have a hard time seeing past the wear and tear of a thrift store or yard sale find, so that doesn't help.

[sweetptater]

Jul 18, 2013 9:03:09 GMT -5 @justdairy said:

A bit of both?
If I run across something like a sofa or dresser that I love and know will complete a room I'm willing to spend more/give up other things to make it happen.
When it comes to décor stuff like toss pillows, ottomans, picture frames, it's budget/use what I have/steal it from my Mom all the way.

I guess my whole life is about budget when it comes to my house. I just can't drop 10K on a dining set because I love it. So while I don't have a set amount per room/project, I also know my limits, kwim?

ETA: I also buy stuff as I see it. It's been 8 years and I still have empty spaces to fill. I hate, hate, hate clutter for the sake of pretty though, so that's most of my problem.

See bold: My grandma calls our decorating style "Early American Garage Sale" because the majority of the furniture and décor that we have are hand-me-downs.

I totally hear you on the clutter too. DH thinks we need to go to Hobby Lobby and just fill a cart with random stuff to decorate with. I refuse to buy that kind of stuff just for the sake of filling spaces.

[ktzmoh]

Our house was/is so bare too. But we are trying so hard to stay sort of close to fiscal responsibility. We tend to focus on one room at a time and do little by little, spending mainly from our usual discretionary budget. I'll be totally honest and say that we do use credit cards for bigger purchases if it's a good deal or if it's something that doesn't come around often. And we do lots of DIY and we tend to acquire things as we find them.

We just really don't have a budget to go out on a shopping spree and "do" a room in obs swoop. But also, I don't actually think I'd like to do it that way. I don't want to decorate a room with whatever happens to be at the usual roundup of stores right now. I want to wait for the right things to find us. Just try to remember its a marathon, not a sprint.

[pitterwoo]

I don't like my spaces to filled up, so I might be comfortable with a less decorated space than others.

I've always gotten things over time and never been able to just do a whole room or house at once. It's fine, but a good idea to have a feel for the style and colors of the final product in mind so you don't end up with a hodgepodge.

Funnily, because of needing to take my time, I've actually completely redecorated a room more than once in my head so that the final room is much different than what I would have done on day one if money was no object. I think my rooms have really benefited from that in the end.

[darkling_glory]

I like the room by room approach. I make lists of things I want to do/buy for each room, and then I can finish off one room at a time.

Currently, I only have two finished rooms and they're both bathrooms! Haha! But I know what I'd like to buy for other rooms.