7 Rustic frugal home decorating ideas

Over the years, I’ve discovered numerous tricks for decorating our home. Don’t worry if you are not that crafty you can get inspiration everywhere.

Here are my favorites:

1. Pinterest is my first stop for frugal home decoration tips. I get the idea, then (if it is a big project) I present it to my husband, then we draw up plans, brainstorm, measure and finally make it. We usually don’t try to replicate, rather alter the original idea to fit into our home.
2. I love to read other Home Decor and DIY blogs. There are so many talented bloggers who share their work with you and their tutorials are easy to follow even for beginners.
3. Get ideas from home decor magazines while waiting in line at the grocery store. When you get home google it, I’m positive you will find a tutorial and you are on your way to create a new decoration.

Now if you are ready to see some of our work on a dime keep scrolling down.

1. Let Nature into Your Home

My husband loves to work with wood, but raw wood material can get very pricey where we live. Luckily we found a beautiful piece drift wood on the beach. It was super heavy and we struggled to take it home, but at the end it was all worth it. We got our first rustic home decor piece for FREE!

If you are worried about bugs and creatures getting into drift wood there is a process how to clean them. After cleaning we sealed it with Fast-Drying Polyurethane. The shelf is a real wood as well. For a rustic look we finished with plants and LED strip lights in the back of the drift woods.

2. Reading nook from re-purposed futon

We had an old futon on our terrace that we almost threw out, but luckily I saw some cute pictures on Pinterest and the idea was born. I really wanted to have a reading nook by the window to enjoy a cup of coffee with the view in the mornings. We disassembled the futon, sanded it, resealed it and got some 5 inch cushion. Then easily sewed a cover with repurposed material and a zipper..

3. Upcycle pallets

We already had the cushions to make a nice living room set, but we needed a base for it. Luckily there were some pallets lying around at my job. We took them home. All they needed was sanding and sealing.

My tip: try to get pallets already heat treated to avoid termites and other creatures. Usually Pharmaceuticals and other companies with clean room environment have treated pallets.

4. Storm shutters from left over wood

Since we work with wood a lot we do have left overs and they can pile up pretty fast. They are just junk and I had enough. I wanted to clean our yard and get rid of them, but then our frugal minds kicked in and we decided to make storm shutters out of them. We saved thousands of dollars with this move.

If you don’t live in the hurricane zone you can still make decorative barn style shutters for indoor or outdoor home decor.

5. Beanbags and floor pillows

I think we can easily say all of us have old sweaters, blankets, curtains hidden somewhere in the house. Most of the time I feel really attached to the material or the print and I just can’t throw them out. So I decided to invest in a sewing machine. It was around $200, but I figured all the projects I want to make would be worth the investment. If you don’t have a sewing machine there are a lot of ideas from fellow bloggers who create these without sewing.

6. Transform old scarf into a Boho curtain

If you like the boho, hippie, gypsy home decor you’re gonna be happy to make this curtain.  It is a 30 minute project with sewing machine, but fear not you can easily make this by hand too.

I have a tip for you though… If your scarfs, materials are to transparent and you want to have a little bit more privacy or shade, you can use a cheap curtain and just sew the scarfs on it. Bonus point the curtain already has the holes.

7.Use blackout curtains

Our windows face to the East, which is perfect to see the sunrise, but it can easily hurt your wallet in the summer months when you try to cut back on the electricity bill. I measured our curtains and bought blackout material. Attached it with velcro strips to my curtains. It really does make a huge difference. Blocking the morning sun out and keeps the rooms much much cooler.

I hope you enjoyed and ready to make your own frugal home decor. For more tips and tricks check out my other budget friendly home decor projects.