You love your house and want to present it to your family and friends in the best possible light. You would love to fill each room with top-of-the-line designer home furnishings, but you are on a budget. What can you do? Here are a few simple suggestions that can help you get there.
First, don't count yourself out too fast. Designer furniture is usually quite stylish and well made, but what you are really paying for is the label. You could find equally well-made items that are very similar in style for a lot less money. You might not have "real designer" chairs or dressers, but chances are you'd be the only one who knew it.
If you're not comfortable with substitutes, then why not try shopping for designer home furnishings somewhere other than your neighborhood fine-furniture showroom? They will have the highest mark up, while off-price retailers will offer the same item for less. Of course, they won't have a nice show room. A better choice than either the deluxe showroom or the outlet store is the on-line store. On-line vendors don't have any store. Their low overhead and lack of sales staff means savings they can pass along to you.
If you've shopped everywhere and still can't find the designer pieces you want at prices you can afford, then try buying a few things at a time. Start with a couple of basic items. Don't let the salesman talk you into spending more than you can afford and avoid easy-payment plans that hit you with balloon interest later on. Then, when you can afford it, add more. It might take a while, but eventually you'll have the designer look you want and no big debt to ruin the fun.