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4 Frugal Ways to Furnish a New Home

Aaron Stroud‘s story is a slice of the Grand Life Adventure, family style. He went from being “a carefree college student” to instant fatherhood with a ready-made family — and all that entails. What this man doesn’t know about a thrifty home life… well, I’m naming him an official Domestik Dad. Read on for Aaron’s first guest post. ~Jen

4 Frugal Ways to Furnish a New Home

Aaron Stroud

Buying your first house is a wonderful experience. Most of us immediately begin personalizing with paint and new furnishings. These personal touches are important, but they can bring stress when bought with credit.

When my wife and I bought our house, we had little money left over and a lot of space to fill. We agreed that it didn’t make sense to borrow money for furniture, paint, or decorations.

So we dedicated cash each month for furniture and my wife agreed that we could delay painting for a year.

How we stretched small amounts of cash for nice furniture

First, we kept a lot of our old stuff. We decided it made more sense to keep old dressers, shelves, and storage bins so we could focus our purchases on the places where we spend the most time: the dining room, living room, and office.

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Real-World Renovation: Brick to Chic Family Room Makeover

Renovation adventures make for lively reading — it’s all the fun of a full-blown home makeover, only someone else does the work and pays the bills!

The family behind Daily Home Renovation Tips sounds a bit like they’ve ended up in the plot of a movie! Just think about it: a major home renovation, semi-DIY style…

One problem….it needed a lot of work. How much work? Let’s just say that after 6 months our renovation continues!

Cheers to the anonymous homeowners for sharing their frustrations and, er, “learning experience” with others who are walking the same road! But we can learn from looking at the success stories, too — the family room makeover, for example, is inspiring:

family room fireplace makeover

So, what happened here?

From a cold pale blue room dominated by a floor-to-ceiling dark brick fireplace, they created a warm and inviting, yet sophisticated, family retreat in up-to-date earth tones.
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