I've previously discussed how to decorate your walls on a budget. We touched upon using personal photos, and how to frame them without spending a lot of money!

What if you want something other than photos and paintings on your wall? Well, I have some solutions for that too!

• Tapestries if used improperly can turn your home into a college dorm room, however if placed in strategic places they can provide a nice compliment to a room. The good thing about a tapestry is that it takes up a lot of wall space, so your once barren wall is now a mural-like piece of artwork. Tapestries are best used in bedrooms, where they are only seen by the person who sleeps there. They can brighten or darken a room to your liking! You can purchase tapestries for $15 or perhaps you have some laying around from your college days! You could even send in an impostor, at the end of the semester, to your nearest college asking for the unwanted tapestries!
• Random Wall Decor including clocks, masks, and signs can be used to help fill the void on the walls. Again, with a theme in mind, go out to yard sales and flea markets in search of extremely cheap items that would fit in perfectly with your idea. Perhaps you have a bar room you are looking to decorate. Go in search of beer signs, liquor signs or neon lights! If it is a bright room you are looking to fill, there are often times some wall hangings in the shape of the sun or animals. As long as you are open minded about where your new decorations are coming from, you can find piece after piece for under $5 each!
  

Furniture is expensive. There is no doubt about that. Furnishing a home is a gigantic expense, but if you're anything like me and need to save all the money you can, there are ways to get cheap and often times free furniture for your home!

Craigslist.com is the best place to find cheap and free furniture. Searching by city, you can do a search for the exact item you are looking for. Other people move and upgrade their furniture, and many times want nothing to do with getting rid of their used furniture, so they will advertise it online for free. This is where you come in! They may have a perfectly good couch that no longer matches their home, so grab a friend with a truck, drive over to their house and take it off their hands!

• Be sure to verify that the person you are getting this from is not a scam. If they give you a phone number and address, then they are probably legitimate. Give them a call and get a feel for them on the phone!
• If it's not a free item, don't be afraid to offer a lower price. The worst that can happen is that they say no, but if they say yes then you have just saved yourself even more money!
• If they aren't already there, ask for pictures! You want to at least see some kind of evidence of the condition of the piece of furniture.
  
• Ask questions. It is okay to ask the seller or giver questions about the furniture. As long as it isn't falling apart or infested with bugs, you can clean it or cover it!

Couches, chairs, tables, bookshelves, and much more can be found on Craigslist.com. Without fail, you will be able to furnish your entire house on this website for much less than a traditional store. Sure, the furniture may not be brand new, but put a little work into them and you will definitely have a nice looking, furnished place.

Like I mentioned before, yard sales and flea markets are a great place to find some home decorations.

Flea Markets

• Vendors will have tables full of old stuff that may be suitable to decorate your home.
  
• Without fail, there will be several tables and tents stacked with antiques that are screaming your name.
• Little figurines, statues, or ornaments will be scattered throughout, and with the variety of options, you cannot leave empty handed. It is true, that a lot of the stuff you will find is junk, but keep your eyes peeled for those few good pieces that can accent your home just the way you want it!
• If Craigslist.com sketches you out, you can also try to find furniture at a flea market. There will be a vendor or two with some smaller tables and book cases, but for the most part, flea market vendors want any easy pack up; and furniture does not allow for this.

Yard Sales

• If you are trying to decorate a new home, always be on the lookout for quality yard sales! If you need help determining which ones will be good, read my How To Have a Successful Yard Sale Hub.
• If you follow my yard sale guidelines, you will be able to find tons of inexpensive pieces to decorate with. Yard Sales are very similar to flea markets. You will have to travel a bit more because they will be spread out, but the concept is the same!
• The bonus to yard sales is that they will commonly have more furniture!

As long as you are not trying to make your home like bright, shiny, and new, you can use flea markets and yard sales to build character to your home. You will easily be able to save tons of money creating your themes. Take your time, plan it out, and always be on the lookout!