After replacing one of the few non-thrifted pieces of furniture in my home, my chesterfield sofa, with one I found on Facebook Marketplace, I got to thinking, "Just about everything in this space is thrifted now... I wonder how much I spent on this room?"
Let's break down my living room and figure out the grand total of this thrifted space and see how long it took to curate.
Side Note: It's been a few years since purchasing some of these items so they're estimated/rounded/remembered to the best of my ability.
On this wall, we have the new (to me) pink, plaid sofa, two end tables, the coffee table, and a collection of botanical prints hung in the frames of old windows. All of the furniture was found through Facebook Marketplace. The items on the coffee table, end tables, and the pillows on the couch were all thrift finds. The windows belonged to my uncle. He was replacing them at one of his properties and gave me the old ones so those were free. The botanical prints were purchased from a boutique I used to work at several years ago.
Sofa: $75
Pillows: $10
End Tables: $40
Coffee Table: $30
Windows: $0
Botanical Prints: $20
Small Decor:
- coffee table decor: $10
- end table decor: $22
-Books: will be calculated later
Total: $207
This side of the room houses the mermaid window with vintage branches on either side. I actually bartered with someone on Facebook Marketplace for the window. They had a large collection of windows from a historic home that they gave me in exchange for upcycling three of the windows for them. So while it did cost me labor, for the purpose of this article, we'll classify that as free. On this wall, I also have an antique filing cabinet stacked on top of a vintage chest as well as an armchair, easel, and artwork.
Mermaid Window: $0
Large Branch: $40
Small Branch: $10
Chest: $75
Filing Cabinet: $10
Arm Chair: $40
Pillow *not thrifted: $12
Easel: $10
Parrot Art: $6
Faux Amaryllises: $14
Amaryllis Sculpture *not thrifted: $15
Total: $232
This final wall contains a vintage display case filled to the brim with old books. I'll be making a rough estimate for all the books in this room at $1 each. Some were less, some were more, but let's just assume for simplicity's sake that it'll all even out. I also have a set of curtains here that my mom made which hung in my room when I was growing up so those will be considered free. The curtain pulls, however, were from an estate sale. I'll also include the light fixture with this wall.
Now, here's the tricky part... do we include the TV? It's used primarily by Nathan and the kids and maybe shouldn't count as decor, except for the fact that I told Nathan when he bought our TV that it needed to look good, not like a massive black void on the wall so we got a frame TV. We also built the frame ourselves which I feel like should count so...I'm gonna go ahead and count it, but I'm not happy with what this is going to do to my numbers.
Display Case: $50
Glass Bowl: $7
Faux Flowers *not thrifted: $20
77 Books: $77
Curtains: $0
Curtain Pulls: $10
Light Fixture: $5
Frame TV: $1580
Frame: $50
Total: $1,799
The grand total for what this room cost to create comes to about $2,238 ($658 without the TV) which I'd say isn't too bad! Shopping Marketplace and thrift stores is a great way to curate a beautiful space without a big price tag and you often end up with really unique pieces and a room that feels personalized to you and your style.
The biggest downside to decorating this way, is that it can take a long time to finish a space. Even though this room is complete, I wouldn't say it's finished because it's constantly evolving as I find new pieces to incorporate or swap out.
Looking at what's currently in this room, the item I've had the longest (that I personally purchased, not inherited) is probably the large floral branch which was bought in 2019 or the botanical prints (and windows) which were purchased in 2018 and used in different rooms until 2021 when they were moved to this room. It's taken roughly five years to collect and curate this space, but to me, it's such a fun process that I don't mind the wait and I'm excited to see what my living room will look like in another five years.
