The Best of the Cottage: Furnish on the Cheap

Most certainly my favorite part of renovating the cottage was shopping for furniture to furnish the place.  A dream come true.  It would have been fabulous had the sky been the limit, but as it was we had a budget–a very small budget considering the rooms that needed furniture.  We wanted to keep it around $15,000, but the finally tally topped almost $17,000.  That’s 8 rooms, including the screen porch; and if you clump the three bathrooms as one room, then you have 9 rooms for almost $17,000.  Math Boy, that is an average of $1,888.89 per room.  We’re talking $17,000 includes everything from bedding to 6 new mattress sets to the silverware to the pots-n-pans to the dishes to the rugs to TVs to the towels to outdoor furniture to the grill.  This also includes fees for custom slipcovers and pillows. If it’s not attached to the house, it’s included.I did all the shopping and accounting, and I can hardly believe it.  But it goes to show that you can have a beautiful room, home, whatever on a budget.  A lot of patience, creativity, and resourcefulness can go a long way to make up for lack of cash.

First I assessed what I already had that could be used in the house.  Then I loosely formulated a look that I wanted–knowing I was at the mercy of what I could find cheaply.  I tried to find unique pieces that could hold their own–or had the potential of being something special.  I really wanted a bricklayer type coffee table for the living room.  At a consignment shop, I found a very traditional cherry wood table with brassy handles and faux lock; but after filling the holes from the hardware and applying a distressed paint finish, I have a reasonable knockoff.

I scoured antique malls, garage sales, Scott Market, Pottery Barn Outlet, Home  Goods, consignment shops, roadside stands–you name it.  I found some of the best things in junky stores I almost didn’t stop for.  Sometimes I was in the right place at the right time.  What if I hadn’t gone for a walk that morning and missed the garage sale with the $10 Pottery Barn sofa?  Now with a fresh white slipcover, it is as good as new.

The charmingly oddball cypress table was $35–a good example of a buy that almost wasn’t because I nearly blew off the store.  Always stop, is what I’ve learned.

The dining table was an old gunked-up picnic table found in a junk store for $30.  After a scouring and painting, you’d never know.  I scored the Thonet bentwood chairs at Scott Market for $20 each.  I would have loved it if they sported their original finish, but someone before me painted them black.  

The white cupboard was among my first purchases, from the Tabacco Barn. 

We all know how fabulous original art is and that it can be had for a bargain at your local antique mall.  Those poor artists–but at least their art lives on.  The colors and depth in the kitchen’s magnolia painting is worth every bit of the $50 I paid for it–yep, that’s more than the dining room table cost!

The blue chairs, in their awesomeness, were only $10 a pop at Scott Market. It pays to sweep through your local garden store end of season.  I picked up the all-weather wicker on clearance.

I love this bed and rug–both from Pottery Barn Outlet.  The huge rug is William-Sonoma Home, $90.
Vintage lamp meet vintage Scott Market dresser meet repurposed mirror.  Live happily ever after.

The IKEA sofa is one of only a few brand-new items we bought.  It pairs with a leather ottoman we bought at the Hickory Furniture Mart in Hickory, NC, years ago.  The TV cabinet, $99, and the lamps both came from Pottery Barn Outlet.  The console table is from Salvation Army.  Ever notice how many bird needlepoints there are at antique malls?  I decided to start my own collection. 
Mauve fabric covered this chair when I found it at the antique mall.  Now it wears a linen-esque I found for $9 a yard.  I’m not kidding when I say we’re doing this on the cheap!
As for bedding, I shopped IKEA, Target, and Home Goods; and I strutted myself and my purse stuffed with a years worth of coupons to Bed, Bath, and Beyond for various bathroom stuff.

That’s it, friends.  A year’s worth of sweat and toil and hunting and gathering is all rolled up here in one week of the best of the cottage.  Everything is simple-dimple in retrospect, right?  Thank you for reading here.  You know it makes my day.  Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

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There is more Best of the Cottage:

• Subway Tile 3 Ways
• Fakin’ It
• Wall Texture
• IKEA

For the complete before and afters of the cottage renovation, type cottage tour in the search box on the right.