We know every remote corner of your room is dear to you! But the living room is particularly important. We spend most of the day here. When guests arrive, we let them sit here.  

So, how we decorate our living room matters. However, most of us freak out when it comes to DIY decor. Mostly, we are concerned about the lack of fine ideas. Not all of us can afford fine interior decorators. Secondly, we draw back, thinking that fine decor will be costly.  

Don’t stress. Let me help you. I will share dedicated living room ideas that come well within your budget. I will share ideas for small living rooms with a TV and dining table. At the same time, you will find budget apartment living room ideas on my blog.  

I selected all affordable items for my living room ideas when running on a tight budget. But I was picky. I chose styles that delivered style as well.  

Ideas that don’t cost a penny!! 

There are living room ideas that you can implement for free. I will share some ideas here. Let’s say I don’t have a flat $400-500 budget to buy artisanal or chic DIY living room decor. What will I do?  

1. Try out natural products for uplifting my dorm room scene  

2. Try rearranging living room furniture.

3. Use leftover paints for a collage look on the walls.

4. Try personalized living room ideas like self-drawn paintings on the walls.

Natural elements can add an edge to your living room.  

• Cost required: $0 

• Products to choose from: low-maintenance plants (viz., Vines and locks, learn bonsai, etc.) 

• Actions needed: regular maintenance, cleaning, watering and trimming.

Plants always add an artisanal beauty to my room. Since day 1, I wanted to decorate plants in my living room interior. That’s why I avoid shades of green, pastel, or dark colors like navy or royal blue on the living room walls.  

I often look out for unique leafy plants or vibrant foliage that will add spark to my living room. Frequently, people comment on my profile- “I don’t have many modern living room ideas.” I tell them- “You don’t need any actually.”.  

Try the most straightforward hacks, like placing potted plants on your coffee or center table. In the last 5 years or so, I couldn’t find a better element as my living room centerpiece. What else can you do? 

We can also hang plants in the empty corners of your living room. If your room lacks enough sunlight, it might be an issue. Without sunlight, leaves will decolor, the tender twigs will droop, and the plants won’t live long.  

Living room ideas by rearranging furniture simply 

• Costs required: $0 

• Products to choose from: In-house furniture for rearrangement  

• Actions needed: put a color coating on weary furniture. Or change current positions.  

Often, you don’t need any costly showpiece or similar things to lighten up your living room. Instead, cheap tricks can work better. Wondering what could be the tricks? 

You already know that after reading the heading. Yes. By rearranging your furniture, you can only add an artistic edge to your living room. Still clueless? Let me explain.  

Start with a deep cleansing. Explore the remotest corners to find every piece of redundant furniture. Remember that the modern, minimalist living room ideas do not call for much furniture.  

One or two pieces in your living room are enough.  

The next step is arranging an abstract or classic grouping of your furniture. When I could not afford much furniture, I proudly flaunted a blank canvas. Then, I bought a small couch with two chairs and clustered it into a classic grouping.  

But remember I had to apply small living room ideas for an 8×12 room.  

What difference did I make? I bought covers of the same color. I also purchased a center table of a compatible size. Therefore, the furniture setting did not seem abstract or asymmetric.  

Often, classic furniture like tables or cabinets have worn off colors. Try to get a DIY painting or gloss done. Such living room paint ideas are pretty easy. You can easily do the work yourself. If not, watch tutorials or YouTube videos. I bet you’ll find it super easy.  

Use your leftover paints.  

• Costs required: $0 

• Products to choose from: Any leftover paint  

• Actions needed: put a color coating on weary furniture. Use stencils and leftover paints for wall coloring. 

We all have some leftover paints from our last paintwork. Let’s build unique living room ideas using them.  

For living room ideas Pinterest is one prime source I often explore for living room ideas. There, I found several quick hacks for textured painting as an amateur. You can use dice to leave imprints on a canvas of solid paint. You can also do a half-half paint. For example, you can paint one half of the wall white and the other half pastel green or steel grey.  

I tried the same idea in my room, too. I found that stencils are better. There are whole wall stencils under $50 on Amazon, eBay, etc. Anybody can do an artisanal painting using those.  

Other uses of leftover paints 

Now, you can use leftover paints to give your living room furniture a characteristic look. Let’s imagine I don’t want to spend too much on new living room decor. What’s my loophole?  

You can buy sofas and chairs from the flea market for $100 to $500.  

After that, your creativity starts. You can chuck off the already worn-off paints from the furniture you bought. For that, you can use basic sandpaper. Yes, it will take some time and serious effort, so if you are someone who likes lying around, you’d better get some help! 

Once done, you can now color your furniture as you feel. The brush strokes will be nothing professional. I admit. But there are easy hacks that can solve such problems. The best thing to do is apply a varnish coat on your paint.  

It will add a layer to the paint, which will then seem evenly spread. You can also apply a raisin finish to the furniture. However, raisin polish will be costlier.  

Budget-friendly additions to your living room 

I’m sorry if you are hoping for a TV, PlayStation, or bar cellar arrangement idea for your living room from this blog. Here, I will focus only on budget ideas. So, we can hope to add finesse to the room with decor hacks.  

Pocket-friendly aesthetic living room lighting ideas 

Under $100, we certainly cannot add utilities to the room. So, how do you decorate the living room with simple things? You can try changing the room’s ambiance with artisanal lighting.  

That’s easy. No costly additions or buying extravagant lights. You can simply add tall DIY wooden lamps in your living room corner. You will get many such lamps under $50 from Amazon.  

While checking out other listings on Amazon, I came across chandeliers (single pieces) under $20 and $30 there, too. I also found lighting hacks under $10, such as RGB strips for your TV cabinet or ceiling corners.  

Trust me, nothing adds an edge to your living room decor like distinguished lighting. You will see your living room has turned into a Pinterest wallpaper! 

DIY TV cabinet with a gourmet look 

Some of you said a TV is not complementary in the living room. I support all pro-minimalist ideas. I am one such person myself. Yet, I don’t mind having a TV in my living room.  

I can frame many unique living room ideas with the TV as a centerpiece. How about a DIY TV cabinet? 

You will get such cabinets from IKEA for under $100 quickly. Some designs are under $60, too. It will add a basic but clean visual appeal to your room. I also have a DIY TV cabinet in my room. I applied stick-ons on the cabinet.  

Now it looks more elegant than my cellar and wardrobe too. But I invested $30 in a simple DIY cabinet from IKEA. With that, I bought stick-ons worth $5 for my furniture. The rest was my blood and sweat.  

Miscellaneous items under $100 

Some may still say- “My living room still seems incomplete.” For them, there are some suggestions under $100: 

• Try applying 6×7 rugs and carpets. You will get one under $30 from Amazon. More importantly, smaller rugs cost even less. Try those if you want.  

• Buy artifacts like wall hangings from Urban Outfitters, Amazon.com, or your nearby retailer. You can also search the flea markets for cheaper options.  

• Throw vibrant color curtains at all your windows and doors. First, you can try rayon and polyester curtains that cost less.  

• eBay has wall decor templates for photo ideas. So, buy one for as low as $15 to $30 now. And build a living room interior design photo gallery using the same.  

Revamp your living room TODAY!! 

I am sure my ideas will help. Don’t forget to reach out and say how you made your living room better using my ideas. There are millions of living room ideas, yet we all have budget ideas. 

You can complete your living room decor for under $1000 (including a sofa, TV, and a cellar) if you follow my ideas religiously. You might like extravagant designs, but my ideas are unique and simple! 

But remember that the gravity of your living room decor does not rest on the furniture you buy or flaunt. To a great extent, it depends on your room’s color and furniture arrangement. You can try coloring the walls slate and steel gray to give an extra edge. Often, cute living room ideas with a pink theme can also work out.  

All in all, it completely depends on your personality and how it influences your choices when decorating your living room! 

Be creative. Choose your living room wall design carefully. Let me know how it went! 

Also read

• Dorm room furniture That Will Give You Diva Feel!
• Small dorm room ideas: Revamp your space within $100
• These 2 Minutes Dorm Room Storage Ideas Can Change Your Life!!!