Decorating on a Budget -3 Craigslist Tips to Find the Best Deals for Buyers

Sharing 3 of the Best Craigslist tips & search tricks for helping buyers on a budget score the best deals to decorate your home cheap & in style.

My Craigslist tips also work well for buyers searching on Ebay as well.

Decorating on a Budget – 3 Craigslist Tips to Find the Best Deal

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After buying a fixer upper we usually put any money we have left into renovations & have very little left over to furnish it.

On top of that a lot of furniture we had in one house doesn’t necessarily work in the next so we usually are left with rooms with big bare spots open where a couch or table should be.

So I turn to Craigslist, thrift stores, Ebay or the side of road for our furnishings.

We have furnished a large portion of our house this way with spending little to no money while adding lots of farmhouse style to our home decor.

Craigslist Tips ONE – How to Search…

Search by Brand Rather than the Name of the Furniture by Keeping the Search Relevant to Your Home Decor Style

I usually start by searching craigslist by my favorite brands like Pottery Barn or Restoration Hardware rather than by typing the type of furniture I am looking for.

This has led to me scoring furniture at a low price that I otherwise would have missed just by shopping my style.

It also has helped preventing me spending too much time looking at furniture that is probably not my style.

Craigslist Tips TWO – How Often To Search

When I’m in finding mode I check the site 3 times a day, once in the morning, once in the afternoon & once at night.

You never know when sellers will be posting their furnishings so you have to search often to score those AMAZING deals.

Craigslist Tips THREE – Move Quickly

If you want to find the best deals you have to be one of the first to contact the seller.

I also find that if I mention that I can come pick it up, will pay cash (Venmo etc.), & can come as soon as possible, it usually helps give me an edge over the competition!

Now… We haven’t hit the jackpot every time.

I once drove very pregnant to New Jersey for a PB rug that claimed it was from a smoke & pet free home.

We arrived only to find that the rug was in a damp basement and was covered in cat urine.

You have to be patient & willing to accept that you aren’t going to hit the jackpot every time.

We did get go to the beach that day so it was not a complete loss 🙂

A Few Examples of the Best Deals we found using my 3 Craigslist Tips.

I found our Restoration Hardware sofa on Craigslist for $200!

I found our dining room rug from Pottery Barn for $50!

Our Pottery Barn kitchen table & chairs were also found on Craigslist for $500!

We found our restoration coffee table for $200 on Craigslist!

We also picked up this RH leather chair & ottoman on Craigslist too.

And lastly we found our outdoor furniture from Restoration Hardware on Craigslist too!

We also found my daughter’s Restoration Hardware 4 poster bed on Ebay for a few hundred bucks & it was only 10 mins from our house!

What do you think about my 3 Craigslist tips?  Are you ready to give them a try?

by Tara Lehman

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