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When furnishing your home, utility must come first. Your furnishings need to make your house comfortable and help you stay organized. Most homeowners also feel that their furniture should have aesthetic appeal and convey a sense of personal style. Luckily, it's possible to satisfy both of these requirements, even when working under a stringent budget.

Furnishing a home on a budget begins with careful planning. Decide what types of furniture you absolutely must have before you ever set foot in a furniture store or visit a shopping website. By making a list of necessary pieces, you can avoid blowing your budget on desired, but not vital, items like an extra coffee table or chair.

When considering what you need to buy, make sure to take stock of what you already have. If possible, consider rearranging furniture in your home instead of purchasing new; maybe that rarely used chair in the basement can become your new sewing chair in the office. It's also nice to take pictures of the pieces you already own so that you can buy matching or coordinating items.

Make sure your list includes maximum and minimum dimensions for all the pieces you intend to purchase. An entertainment center isn't a good value if your TV won't fit inside, but on the other hand, if the unit itself won't fit in your bedroom, it won't do much good either! By keeping track of the appropriate size range for each item, you can ensure that the furniture you buy will fit both your home and your possessions.

Once you know what items you need, see what you can find for free. Websites like freecycle.com provide people with a way to give and receive used items. People who are moving or redecorating may want to get rid of old furniture, and someone else's "trash" may be a real treasure.

If you enjoy painting, reupholstering, or refinishing furniture, you may be able to cheaply and easily convert a shabby old piece into a stylish new one. Sewing slip covers for upholstered items is another way to disguise a piece that may not be that attractive on its own. However, repairing and decorating furniture is not for everyone. If you don't have the time or the inclination to fix up old pieces, then make sure whatever you buy (or get for free) is in the condition you need it to be in.

Now that you have optimized the use of pieces you already have and gotten what you can for free, it's time to take your furniture shopping to the next level- thrift stores and used furniture stores. Some shoppers reason that it's impossible

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