When times get tough it’s time to get creative. Just because you don’t have a huge decorating budget doesn’t mean you can’t create a home that looks both stylish and beautiful. You will just have to spend time and energy looking for the best deals, rather than just mindlessly spending dollars on whatever the stores tell you are the next trendy pieces.

One of the best places to find great deals on quality home décor items is at yard sales. In general decorative pieces don’t suffer from as much wear and tear over time as functional items do. Just looking at something and enjoying its beauty doesn’t cause it to degrade or fall apart. However, people like to cycle the style of their homes and give their spaces a fresh look every once in a while. In doing so they will often discard attractive pieces that still look brand new, but which they have simply grown weary with over time.

This fickle nature is your key to picking up decorative bargains at yard sales. This is especially true since styles cycle in and out of vogue, allowing you to pick up vintage pieces that other people are practically throwing away.

Yard sales are generally held on weekends in the late spring, through summer, to the early fall, depending on how long your areas “outdoor weather” lasts. One simple trick is to go searching for yard sales in your neighborhood early in the morning on Saturday to find the greatest selection. This allows you to pick over the entire lot before anyone else has a chance to spy out the best items. On the other hand if you are more interested in getting the best price, go late in the day on Sunday when people will be desperate to get rid of whatever hasn’t sold. This will make it much easier to bargain with them.

Another great place to find inexpensive used items is online. EBay is an auction site which offers millions of products from thousands of vendors. While bidding on eBay can be extremely competitive, with decorative items that don’t necessarily have a set retail price, you can sometimes sneak away with a huge deal by playing the auction system.

An even more frugal alternative to eBay is CraigsList. On Criagslist you can find thousands of classified ads, posted for free, with people offering a wide variety of services and products. Often you will be able to find decorative pieces for the home for a fraction of what they are worth. Some people even offer larger items for free, as long as you are willing to go and haul it off yourself.

The secret to used furniture is to be discerning. You don’t want to just snatch up the cheapest piece of junk you can find and stick it like clutter into your home. Instead take your time, shop around, and get a sense for what’s out there. Make sure that you only purchase impeccable pieces, and do your research so that you know the value of the items you are viewing.

The internet can also be an invaluable money saving tool if you do decide to shop in retail stores. If you have a web enabled phone you shouldn’t ever make a purchase without first checking the price against that being offered for the same item in online stores. There are even apps available which will scan the barcode of an item, and then search the web for any stores online, or in your area, carrying the same product at a better price.

Even if you don’t have a fancy phone you can just use a piece of paper to record the price and model of any item you are interested in purchasing. Make sure you write down the whole name, as some vendors may describe it using a slightly different description. Then go home, and go online to see if you can find the same piece for less money. If you can’t, your search may still turn up something similar that is a little less expensive.

There are a variety of ways to stretch your decorating dollars. You just have to be creative, discerning, and patient. It may take more time and energy, but that investment will result in a beautiful home that you will be proud to live in.

This article was provided courtesy of PebbleZ.com – the natural stone home decorating store. The actual text of the article was written by style philosopher and author Joey Pebble.