How to Furnish an Entire House for Less than $5,000

Ladies,

With very little money, the skillful homemaking wife produces an abundance for the home through her faith, her problem solving, her diligence, her creativity, and her intention.

With God All Things Are Possible

I furnished my home for well under $5,000. God gives us wisdom to be able to make good decisions and He gives us strength to do our work. But he also gives us answers when we pray for our needs or even our desires.

I Prayed for my Sofas

I saw the set on Craigslist. A deep forest green in Chenille like fabric, one a full-size sofa, the other a love seat. The sleek rounded lines of the back and arms were just beautiful. But the color. It was exactly what I had dreamed of having in an elegant and cozy living room. It was surreal it was so exact to what I had wanted to find, but that is how God works – he works specifically in our lives. He knows. And He has done it countless times in my life. But we had not found a rental house yet. I was so disappointed as my husband told me there was no way we could buy them now because we had nowhere to put them. He was right. We were living in an RV while we hunted for a house. I prayed that if God was willing, He would let that beautiful green set be mine and that we would find a house soon.

Two weeks later, we laid eyes on our sweet little country rental house ad online. After a month-long search, it fell into place as the gift from God that it was. The landlord was kind, the house was clean and on over an acre of property. And the sofa set? Still available for sale. I called on it and before long we were off on the hour and a half drive to pick them up. Not only did we get the set, but it was for the grand total of only $150….and he had a large comfy armchair that he gave to us for free as well! “Thank you for your service” he said to my military veteran husband. We were willing to drive rather far, we were willing to load it all up in our truck by ourselves. But God gave us that set. The Lord answered our prayer for a house and for the sofa set and an extra armchair.

We live in an era of abundance

In the day and age of abundant donations coming out of an era of mass production and a wealthy nation post WWII, there are copious amounts of household goods to be found at low prices. Thrift shops dot the landscape, garage sales are constant during good weather as the even more affordable option. In this era of abundance like never before, we can not only find enough furniture to furnish an entire house for only a couple thousand dollars, but we can dress beautifully, decorate beautifully, and it all has to do with whether we realize how blessed we are to have access to such things.

After 20 years of moving across the United States, one thing is for sure: there is no shortage of people getting rid of good quality items. Many times, people give things away just because giving something away is the easiest and quickest option for them to get rid of stuff. Other times, a seller will deeply discount items to get a buyer quickly. Often, the low price means the buyer is responsible to move the item/s. This is commonplace with heavy items especially, such as the solid wood dresser bought off Craigslist for $200.

Quality Furnishings at Deep Discount are Everywhere

Anyone can find a good deal on secondhand quality furniture but not everyone has the tenacity to look consistently, be willing to wake up earlier and go to estate sales and garage sales, be willing to drive a few hours out of their way or be able to lift and move heavy pieces themselves. From East to West there are quality furnishings at deep discount.

Sew Thrifted Bed Sheets

As for other furnishings, instead of buying very expensive dust ruffles for the beds, I sewed some out of thrifted textiles.

Pick Out the Gems from the Junk

Quality furniture pieces end up mixed in with junk at secondhand shops and garage sales and even photographed very poorly for craigslist or facebook marketplace. It is important to have a trained eye for style and quality so you can see through the junk, bad environment or bad photos to the gems. This comes from years of reading decor magazines, learning about the history of furniture styles and exposing yourself to high end furnishings to recognize them when you see them.

Lamps, Mirrors & Wall Art

I find the most beautiful secondhand lamps, mirrors & wall art. Not to mention how many people have even offered these things to me for free upon them decluttering their homes or moving! These items are astonishingly expensive retail with lamps in the hundreds and mirrors especially being even thousands of dollars the bigger in size they go. Finding these pieces for a song second hand is commonplace but what is not commonplace is how often the good ones end up there. So, they are on my thrifting radar since I know how much they cost retail.

The Bedroom Cost of Furniture

Each of the three bedrooms in the house had a bed frame bought from Amazon. Two queen mattresses were free as they were given to us, and one was purchased brand new on sale 8 years ago. I dressed each bed in thrifted, gifted, sewn, and purchased bedding. Some sheet sets were thrifted, some quilts were given to me for free, one of the most beautiful bed sets I ever owned was purchased at Walmart. I sewed my dust ruffles with thrifted fabric.

Two bedrooms got thrifted matching nightstands. One bedroom, which was smaller got a dresser on one side of the bed.

Matching Dresser Set

This matching dresser set had a tall chest of drawers that went in the guest bedroom and the shorter dresser was used as a side table near the bed in the smallest bedroom. The wood was heavy with beautiful carving detail along the edges and every drawer functioned fabulously.

The Dining Set

This dining set had a leaf that extended the table to seat 6. This beautiful table and chairs were sold on Craigslist for the small price of $75. The heavy solid wood Pier One set had curved legs and carved detail on the backs of the chairs.

I brought in my $40 parson chair set that was thrifted for the ends of the table when extended.

The Math

My three-bedroom two-bathroom house was furnished for a few thousand dollars at most. While nothing has been totaled exactly, I pointed out the largest, most expensive items my rooms and the total is far less than the thousands one might expect to spend. Even rounding up on the little decor items it is still under five grand total. As you can see, the total is far below the actual value of the items. As I tell people, the beauty of your house has more to do with your taste and your ability to pair things together in a nice way.

Be a Resourceful Wife

I prayed for my needs and even my desires. So, it’s not to say that I can take credit for getting what I wanted because I just looked and worked for it. God gets the credit for His gifts to me. His gifts include the wisdom and diligence to “look well to the ways of my household” and while looking well to a household includes emotionally and spiritually, it also counts for the tangible things we buy for it which is perfectly detailed in Proverbs chapter 31. The passage covers all manner of a woman of valor from her faith and reliance on God, to practicing her faith by being wise and discerning, hardworking and willing to work.

Here are more tips on interior decorating in your best authentic style!