Let Me Count The Ways... $163 for all the furniture and decorations in my entire living room!

Filling a living room with furniture and decor for $163 sounds like a job for... The Masked Mommy! Now, lets see if I can name my prices faster than a speeding bullet ;-)

(Just so you guys don't think I'm cheating by skipping this picture, these purple curtains were sewn by my mom years ago for my college dorm room, the pillow was from my bed as a little girl, and the quilt was sewn and given to me by my mother-in-law, and is placed strategically to hide the hole in our couch ;-)

I don't have everything set up how I want it yet in our farmhouse, so these pictures are from the townhouse before we moved.

• 1. Computer armoire- Found it on Craigslist for $25. This was an amazing find!
• 2. Pie Stand- Christmas present from my mom. Random, but pretty. $0
• 3. Vases- I threw these myself in ceramics class. $0 (or price of tuition I suppose ;-)
• 4. F.R.I.E.N.D.S. frame- I made this myself from paper mache. I make lots of things from paper mache. $0
• 5. St. Joseph Picture- Conformation present for my husband from his mother. $0
• 6. Chairs- I got 4 of these chairs along with their matching table at a yard sale and paid $25 for the set. The dining room table that came with these is now our coffee table.
• 7. Purple Wreath- I'm sure you're all thinking this wreath is super tacky, but I LOVE it! I overpaid for it at a yard sale. It was $8.
• 8. Table- This was abandoned in a rental house we used to live in. $0
• 9. Table Cloth- Burlington Coat Factory, bay-bee! $3!
• 10. Checker board- Christmas gift. $0
• 11. St. Cecilia picture- Rummaged from my parent's attic. $0
• 12. Bookshelf- Curb find. $0

• 13. Frames- Birthday gift. I filled them myself with wedding pictures printed from my home computer. $0
• 14. Lamps- Last Christmas we got this set of 4 matching lamps. It was awesome because we were relying on overhead lights before then, and you all know what the Nester thinks about overhead lighting ;-). $0
• 15. Wall Stickers- From the Dollar Tree. I love their wall stickers because we are renters, so our walls are always white and I can't stencil anything on them. These add a lot of character. $1
• 16. Child's rocking chair- I got this at a yard sale for $1! When I asked how much it was, I couldn't believe the guy only wanted a dollar. It really never hurts to ask :-)
• 17. Coffee table- Remember those chairs I talked about on the other side of the room? This is the dining room table that came with them at that yard sale. We got a bigger table for our dining room, so we converted this one to a coffee table. You can see my post about that here. This is included above in the $25 we paid for the table with the chairs.
• 18. Clock- I got this clock at Big Lots for $4! It was on clearance because the faceplate was all scratched up, so I just brought it home and popped off the face cover with a butter knife, and voila! I love this clock! (I never go into a store without checking out their clearance).
• 19. Couch- These we got for free from Craigslist. When we moved we had no couch at all, so I just watched Craigslist until I found something suitable for free. There was a big hole in one of the arms, but I just keep a folded quilt over it and no one ever knows. $0
• 20. TV Armoire- $50 at a yard sale. I had been watching craigslist for a deal, and nearly wet my pants when I pulled up and saw this at a yard sale! But I somehow managed to keep my cool and talked the lady down from $75. I love being able to close the cabinet and not see any TV or movie clutter!
• 21. End Table- I almost forgot about this little guy. He was another curb find. You know, when you see something you want sitting out on the curb, it's only embarrassing to take it for as long as it takes you to pull over and shove it in your car. Then you're free, and you have something awesome forever! $0
• 22. Flowers- I got these at a yard sale for $1.

• 23. Mirror- Wedding present. $0
• 24. Purple Vases- These were a present from my mom to use in my wedding. They were on mega clearance at Hobby Lobby because they had cracks, but I just turn the bad side to the back. $0
• 25. The Baskets- Dun dun duh!!! These are the most overpriced items in my living room. These were bought after a search for used baskets that turned up dry. I bought them half off at Michael's for $15 each, so that comes to a total of $45! (drop head in shame). It's more than I usually spend on anything, but I do really love them. These were bought after my husband graduated from college and we actually had some extra money.

So there you go! $163 for every piece of furniture and decoration in my entire living room.

My husband only graduated from college 1 year ago, so we were really poor the first 4 yearsof our marriage. The last year my husband was in college (2008) he made only $11,000 and supported our growing family of 3, so learning to tightwad was a necessity for me. Practically everything in our home is used, and we still spend according to similar standards even though he has a real job now. When he first graduated, the 2 armoires were my furniture splurge for the living room. I checked craigslist and watched at thrift stores for about 2 months before I acquired them both at the price I desired. I believe the secret behind finding every good deal is the patience to wait for the right price.

Thanks for stopping by! Can't wait to see what everyone else has posted! Check out the Price my Space party here. :-)