How to Refresh Your Dining Room Decor on a Budget {and a Tuesday Morning Giveaway}

As I’ve gone through the process of transforming my home from my previous, more neutral style to my current bright and fun style, my dining room has always been sort of a problem.  I have other rooms that need more attention, so I’ve just sort of left it alone, piecing together things here or there to give it some personality. It’s become more or less an after thought.   Since I’ve not dedicated my time to fully redoing this room, I’ve never wanted to spend much money in there.  Like most people, I’m on a budget.

Since I am on a budget, one of my go-to stores for discount decor has always been Tuesday Morning (remember when I talked about my bedroom?).  I think they have really great products for the home at lower prices than I find elsewhere.  Today, I’m partnering with them to give you some strategies for refreshing your dining room decor on a budget.  And guess what?  There is no DIY involved.

Before we get started with the strategies, I thought I’d share before and after shots with you.  I think that will make it easier to understand my thought processes.  Here is the before:

It looks nice, but it doesn’t coordinate very well.  The rug, which was previously in my living room, is too large for the space.  The books in the china cabinet was a fun idea that I’ve grown tired of.  I also think that the centerpiece on the table is overwhelming.

Now, here are the after shots with all of my budget-wise changes:

I’m so much happier with this look!  I think it coordinates better with the rest of my home.

So, how can you do an easy, budget-friendly dining room refresh like this in your own home?  Follow along for some simple strategies.

Determine Your Budget

This may seem like a no-brainer to some of you, but I know that it’s always a hard place to start.  Everyone has a different financial situation, so everyone has a different budget.  For some of you, that budget may be $2,000.  For others of you, that budget may be $0.  Luckily, I can help you work with budgets, no matter the size (or lack there of).

In full disclosure, I was given a $250 gift card from Tuesday Morning, so that will be the budget I am working with for this room.  If I was not given that gift card and was doing this myself, my budget would have smaller.

Shop Your House

Before you spend a dime of your budget, shop your house to see what you can spare to bring into your dining room.  This allows you to know exactly what you already have so that it’s easier to figure out how to spend your precious dollars.

I knew right away that I would be keeping my dining room table, chairs and matching china hutch.  The antique grandfather clock that I moved from my parents’ house last summer would also be staying in the room.

I decided to bring in the chair I recently painted for Zack’s room, since it will be a while before I get his room ready for the final touches.

I also brought in some other little accessories, such as plants, vintage ceramics, my cuckoo clock, some candle sticks, and wooden plates and bowls.  I used these mostly to accessorize the china cabinet.

    

Visit a Discount Store

With a budget in mind and a better idea of what you already have to use, head to a deep discount decor store, like Tuesday Morning.  Since the prices are affordable and the quality of the items is really good, I was able to bring home a good amount of new decor.  I also love how the tags on their items show their prices compared to what a similar item would cost you elsewhere, and I’ve found that the savings is usually 50% or more!

The first thing that I grabbed was this woven 5×7 rug (which was $149, compared to $300 elsewhere).  It had the perfect mix of blues to tie my blue dining room into the other rooms in my home.  And unlike my previous rug, it’s the perfect size for under my table.  This rug cost over half of my budget, but it completely changed the look of the room.  It’s wise to spend your budget where you’ll get the biggest impact.

I was also able to bring home some smaller decor pieces.  My favorites were a wire hurricane vase (I paid $19.99, compared to $40 elsewhere) and a wooden owl statuette (I paid $24.99, compared to $59.99 elsewhere).

I didn’t have a large pillar candle to put in the hurricane, so I added a handful of taper candles that I had instead.  I just adore this look!

Since this was my dining room, I was also able to take advantage of the good prices that Tuesday Morning has on their dining pieces.  I bought 4 sets of plates in green, white, turquoise and cobalt blue for just $6.88 a set (compared to $30 elsewhere).  I topped each stack of plates with little bowls that I found when I was shopping my house.

I also found a cute little red ceramic berry basket that I got for $3.99 (compared to $12.99 elsewhere).

In the china cabinet, there is also a little white ceramic serving tray with a painted bamboo border I got at Tuesday Morning.  It cost me $7.99 (compared to $26 elsewhere).  I think it is a fun touch and a great base for displaying some of my colorful Fiesta collection.

For other items that I spied at Tuesday Morning, check out my pins to the Home Decor on a Budget board on Tuesday Morning’s Pinterest page.

Repurpose Familiar Items

A good budget room refresh usually has a number of items that have been repurposed from their intended uses, and my dining room is no different.  This is an easy way to bring some character into your room.

One of the things I did was to leave all of the books in the room, but I haphazardly stacked them around the grandfather clock.  The clock no longer looks like a lonely island on a blank wall, and I didn’t have to come up with a place to store the books after removing them from the china cabinet.

I also like to turn bowls upside down to use them as platforms.  I gave the owl on my table some extra hight with a small wooden bowl.  You would never know that I did that unless you saw the tablescape from the back, and even then the wood bowl blends nicely with the rest of the owl.

I did the same thing with the red berry basket that would have otherwise been swallowed by the scale of the china cabinet.

Now that you have four strategies in place for tackling a room refresh on a budget – Determine Your Budget, Shop Your House, Visit a Discount Store, and Repurpose Familiar Items – you are ready to hit the ground running.  And to give your budget a little extra padding, Tuesday Morning is offering a $50 giftcard to one lucky winner!

To be entered to win, please use the Rafflecopter form below.  This giveaway will run through Friday, August 22nd and is open to US residents, 18 and older.  Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
This post is sponsored by Tuesday Morning.  I have been compensated for my post, but all opinions are my own.