Three Cheap, Chic and Cozy Ideas for Your Home

(Last Updated On: October 24, 2021)

My home is my haven, my refuge at the end of the day, my happy place. As a single woman, I’ve furnished and decorated my condo to my liking, within my budget. And the budget isn’t huge, even though I own an interior decorating business and do well for myself.

I just don’t like to spend a lot of money on furniture. So I search for the pieces I love, then use angles, lighting and color to create a chic and cozy home.

A significant part of my business involves Home Staging. I specialize in vacant home staging, so I put furniture and accessories into empty homes to help them sell quicker. It’s a lot of work…nothing like the shows you see on TV…but very rewarding. And, I know a LOT about arranging furniture.

So for you, my friend, I will share my favorite three cheap, chic and cozy ideas for your home, so you too can create a home to love.

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Here are the Cheap, Chic and Cozy Ideas for Your Home

1) Create Some Angles with Your Furniture

If every piece is pushed up against the wall, your room may end up feeling flat and uninspired, and well…not too cozy. I use this technique often when staging homes and it is amazing how the vibe of a space changes when the furniture is pulled away from the walls.

You’ll find most of the opportunities to use angles in the living area, but take a close look at the dining room, den/office and bedroom, too.

It doesn’t cost one penny to change up the angles and flow of your room, so that satisfies the ‘cheap’ requirement!

Here’s how to work some angles into your space:

• First, remove all of the small stuff from the room you’re going to rearrange. Take it out…the lamps, nic-nacs, end tables…everything except the big pieces.
• Now, consider the function of the room, who uses it regularly and how the traffic flows. You don’t want to interrupt any of those things. And, you will not be happy with the results if you do. So give that some thought.

Almost every room I have arranged has offered at least one opportunity, usually more, to create a cozy and inviting feeling with angles.

 

You don’t have to go crazy and angle everything; start out with the largest piece and experiment a bit. I have found that even the slightest angle can make a huge difference in the vibe of the space.

You’ll find some Living Room photos below to use as inspiration. You’ll see that in some rooms the sofas are ‘floating’ in the space and the accent chairs are placed at angles toward the sofa.In others, such as the living room on the right shown above, the sofa is actually tucked into the corner of the room, and the other pieces are gathered around it.

Your living area may not be quite as spacious as this one, but you’ll get the general idea of what I mean by ‘angling’.

TIP: As you experiment with creating angles in your space, make sure that the pieces angle toward each other naturally. Think about your family or guests sitting down to have a conversation or watch TV. Are they able to easily look at each other? If so, you’ve done a good job with the angles!

If you want to learn more about arranging the furniture in your home, take a minute to read up on my ebook, Love Your Home…it’s a wonderful guide that I created using my 20+ years as an Interior Decorator,  and is packed full of tips, advice and instruction for you!

Once you’re satisfied with the largest pieces, bring in the smaller items to finish the space. I have some more ideas for you in that regard, so take a peek at the photos below and then move on to #2.

 

 

 

2) Use Lighting to Cozy Up a Space

It always amazes me how turning on a lamp will change the vibe in a room, giving it a more welcoming and cozy feel. There are a few things you can do to maximize this effect:

First, use more than one lighting source, preferably a table or floor lamp. Overhead lighting is great, but doesn’t really do anything to cozy up a space. Place your lighting in 2 to 3 areas of the room, like a triangle, to create that warm, ambiant lighting throughout the space.

Look for creative and chic ways to add a table lamp. Here are a few examples from one of my favorite stores, Target. Whether you shop online or in store, you might be surprised at what you can find there for your home, with very reasonable prices. The wood base lamp shown above is from Target. Here are a few other examples of lamps that are at $50 or below from Target:

 

 

This Cohasset Dipped Ceramic Table Lamp comes in the blush color shown as well as shades of blue. I love the color blocking effect on the base.

 

 

 

 

 

I use this Delevan Tripod Table Lamp in my home staging projects with a contemporary vibe, and I love it. While I’m partial to the black base, it is also offered in nickel, brass and clear finishes, which give it a really different look

 

 

 

 

 

The Geneva Glass Globe Task Lamp is so cool! I love the chic feel, the shape, brass accents and the overall simplicity of the style.

 

 

 

 

Use these table lamps as inspiration for your own home. Everyone has their own taste, style and budget preferences.  But here is the key to this ‘cheap, chic and cozy idea’ for your home: table or floor lamp lighting adds ambiance and warmth to a room, every time.

Need a little something fun to set that table lamp on? These are just a few suggestions that are all under $100, and petite enough to fit into just about any space that needs some lighting.

 

Learn more about the:

1. Lanham Accent Table
2. Mirrored Accent Table
3. Live Edge Accent Table

No matter your decorating style preferences, you can have fun with small pieces like these. Take a style risk and use a unique little accent table, something that you would typically never choose. You may be surprised at how much you love the look!

There’s one more in our three cheap, chic and cozy ideas for your home, and that is…

 

3) Add Accents of Color or Texture

You know what I love about color? It adds so much to a space and doesn’t have to cost much at all!

A pop of color will add personality, style and even warmth to your room. Sometimes you can discover little treasures that are already waiting for you right in your own home, you just have to look for them.

Or, a quick online search or drive to your local Target, HomeGoods, Kirklands or similar will usually yield the perfect accessory.

Here are some simple things you can do to add color and/or texture:

• accent pillows
• canvas art
• area or scatter rugs
• collectables
• greenery (no…I don’t mean the tangled web of fake ivy plopped above the kitchen cabinets)

 

I love to scope out examples for you, to help inspire you with your own home:

Accent Pillows and casual Greenery are a wonderful way to freshen up your home! These are just a few finds from Kirklands to get you going:

 

 

I love bolster pillows…they fit so well with square pillows of varying sizes. The tassels on this navy striped bolster are casually adorable, too!

 

 

 

 

 

There is something about a faux fur pillow that I find really cool…I use them quite often on home staging projects. This soft blush faux fur pillow is such a lovely color, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now here is a bright pop of color! The maribella colorful succulent pillow will certainly grab attention, in a good way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m always partial to a piano as I’ve played for many years. Even so…how cool is the abstract look of this piano canvas art print with the brushed edges? I love it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The name of this beautiful canvas art is Paris Morning Mist. Ethereal and mysterious, the soft colors are subtle yet they draw the eye in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rustic, bright and beautiful floral canvas art print will brighten up any space! It’s a good size, too at 40 x 26.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Lavender Centerpiece is courtesy of our friends at Kirklands. It’s a good size for  table top at 27 x 12 x 10, and makes me feel like the lovely garden has been brought indoors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Natural look to these fern stems in a glass bottle planter, and the chicken wire gives the piece a homey feel. If you enjoy a casual style this might work really well for you

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boston ferns look great in any style of home, in just about any room. You can’t go wrong, particularly when there’s no watering involved 🙂

 

 

 

 

These cheap, chic and cozy ideas should help you create a place that you love to come home to, just like I do.

Here are two final photos for you to see. They are both very good examples of what we’ve been discussing. See how the art, pillows, rugs, lighting and furniture placement (even the slight angle inward of the orange chairs makes a difference) all contribute to a cozy and welcoming space!

What are your decorating frustrations? Questions? Suggestions for readers? Let us know what you think!

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