The Budget-Friendly Secrets Of Home Decor 

If you're looking to turn your passion into a business on RU-vid, make sure to join us on Thursday, July 21 for The Entrepreneur Bootcamp hosted by TFD co founders, Chelsea & Lauren! Here's an exclusive discount: www.eventbrite.com/e/371206828617/?discount=RU-vidVIP

What a fun collab! Obviously I’m a huge fan of TFD so I got on a plane as soon as I was asked!! 🛫 Also thanks for all the lovely comments on this video! I appreciate every one! 🤗

I plan all my homes using a spreadsheet. Invisible grid, 1x1 cells representing 6 inches.

Yessss! Good to see you on TFC Nick!

"your background is boring and ugly and never changes" oh okay *sets zoom background to the bouncing dvd logo screen*

Yes! I love Nick’s channel! This collab is everything!

Nick and Chelsea 💘 Still remember that Live when I saw a “Nick” asked something and some people were like: Nick Lewis?!? Nick!!! 🥹😱😭 Yeah I did that too! 😅 Can’t believe it, that this collaboration has been made for us today 😍

This is fun cause the only reason I do anything around the house is to build skills. I have the room and inclination to try highschool shop class again at my own speed…and I get some cool stuff and more experiences. I enjoy the practice. Thanks for this mash up.

Love Nick, and especially how he can be humorous and respectful at the same time. He doesn't thrown nasty shade, even if it's not his thing. Have always appreciated that, while still helping us learn more about the right questions to ask before making a big interior decision. (P.S. I know i have issues...my screened porch has lobsters in it...and I"m in Iowa. Unauthentically provides me joy. There's that.)

Great video! For 2023, it’s hard to nail down specific predictions for the housing market is because it’s not yet clear how quickly or how much the Federal Reserve can bring down inflation and borrowing costs without tanking buyer demand for everything from homes to cars.

Something to remember is so long as the core construction of the furniture is high quality the aesthetic condition is not that important. Real wood can be reconditioned, refinished and repaired. Real leather is much the same. If you find a piece while thrifting that you love the "bones" of but the finish is trashed flip it over, pull out drawers and examine how it's put together. If it's rock solid and only a little worn look into restoration and repair.

90% of my furniture is ikea and it's lasted me close to 10 years. If you take care of your stuff it will last. And I have taken apart and moved some of it as well and it doesn't fall apart. I think a lot of people just beat the crap out of their stuff and expect it to last forever.

Talking about exposing your home, I work in engineering and most people I work with are more well off than me because of my age. The place I live/grew up housing has gone up by 100% in three years. We started working from home at the beginning of the pandemic and my desk was in my bedroom. I would get so annoyed when all these rich white men in their fancy home offices would call me out like “Come one turn your camera on”. I don’t want people I work with and/or clients seeing inside of my bedroom, leave me alone or pay me enough to have a fancy home office. I want the privacy of my bedroom.

101:08 - Oh my gosh, I've never heard anybody else talk about a Household Atrocity! (Chelsea didn't call it that, but my family does.) For us, the advice comes from an old Miss Manners column where she says, to paraphrase "Not everything in a house should be in perfect taste, because a house in perfect taste is tasteless." Thus, my mom started the tradition of giving newlyweds in the family a Household Atrocity - think a loon-shaped cookie jar with unsettling red eyes or a gaudy pitcher covered in climbing ceramic monkeys. It simply appears in the gift pile with no indication of which relative bought it. The thing usually meets an untimely demise during a move a few years down the line. (Rest in pieces, maroon circus monkey pitcher.) You don't have to take it as far as we do, but it's a good reminder that your space is for you, and that nothing is supposed to be perfect. You deserve to have things that you love, even if some of them don't match anything else.

As someone who was recently homeless and is now getting back of their feet, the amount of things you can just find people giving away on the side of the road is staggering. Someone down the road from me had a coffee table with a free sign in their drive, and the only thing wrong with it was that a wheel had come off. It wasn't even missing, they gave it to me when I took the table. And as soon as I got home I took the other 3 wheels off because they weren't necessary for the functionality of the table either, and not I have a lovely glass topped coffee table.

One thing though, H&M, Zara, etc, weren't there to fit the need of people to change outfit and wardrobe more often. They shaped the media and they CREATED that need. Fast fashion wouldn't exist if not for them. They are not a necessary evil that filled a gap, they created the gap and filled it. And considering what their practices are doing to the earth, I guess you could frankly say they're evil :)

I love this topic so much! Especially because when decorating your home, it should feel like your home (not someone else's)! One of my favorite ways to do that is take time and find those unique pieces at flea markets and yard sales and slowly integrate them into your home. I've always found those pieces are usually built to last and they have an extra sense of something special to them. 😄

Green is my favorite color! I plan to do green cabinets for our kitchen renovation. When I purchased my house 3 years ago I went out of my way not to use green, because family and friends said everything I own is green. Now our house is mostly blue and I wish I just let myself have the colors I love regardless of comments and trends!

Love Nick Lewis, so happy to see him on this video!

Something I haven't seen discussed in regards to limited budget is that even if someone finds a great used piece of furniture for a low price, the cost of transporting it might be too much. Not everyone has a big vehicle, or any vehicle, or even drives. IKEA, Target, and Walmart usually have free delivery.

It’s always tough to find sustainable and sturdy furniture but at a midrange price. Seems like there’s nothing between a $300 bed and a $1500 one nowadays. Price isn’t even a guarantee of quality cause you got west elm using particle board MDF for even some of their 1k+ pieces.

Not me sitting in my in my in laws house with the Tuscan dining room AND a bowl of seashells in the bathroom😭 I love that you’re putting words to this because I’ve always felt like this kind of decor lacks personality. But they enjoy it so I’m not gonna bash it, it is just not for me!

I live outside the US and use social media sparingly. The more videos of TFD I see, the more grateful I am to be completely out of the loop when it comes to trends (until I hear them referenced here)!

Thanks so much for inviting Nick on the channel! He’s truly the only interior design RU-vidr I follow for all the reasons mentioned in this episode (focusing on classic, lasting style choices). Great job to both Chelsea and Nick!

I have been buying "scratch and dent" and floor models, along with used, for decades, with the effect of some of my rooms looking like those in Downton Abbey. My friends used to make fun of me, but now everyone wants my stuff. I am just grateful that I am done shopping for furniture, until I move and may need things for a differently sized space. There is so much crap out there, at RH prices, that won't last through several holiday dinners or kids jumping on the sofa, or even an overnight guest. Vintage, antique, and used are almost always better than new, except for mattresses.

What a surprise I am a subscriber of both your channels!!! For me I apply the same principles in interior design and decor as fashion. Ie: invest in your basics, think about comfort, buy quality 2nd hand over cheap new material, when you buy something new, make sure it works with what you have already, know your measurements (for the space as know your body shape for clothing), etc..,etc...

So happy to see this collaboration! Two great RU-vidrs together! I’m a new homeowner as well, so I’m consuming a lot of design content as I put these new spaces together. But I’m definitely choosing things that make ME happy in MY home - not trends. I would, however, take note of home trends if I was prepping my house to sell.

The effect that one's home has on their stress level is super important to consider. I had to sell my three bedroom house and downsize to a one-bedroom rental and so I have my entire house filled with boxes. I'm working and going to school full-time, so it's been hard for me to carve out the time to fully unpack and renovate. I'm so exhausted and I feel like whatever free time I have needs to go to homework and resting. It's left my house as a somewhat cluttered mess. It's a whole bunch of added stress.

OMG! This is the crossover I didn’t know I needed!!!!!😰❤️🔥🔥

Genuinely so excited to see Nick! I could just listen to him chatter about design all day. The style defined series was amazing for narrowing down what I like. Ironically I low key hate MCM but still love the channel.

I really love the Konmarie method of decluttering and appreciating your stuff. Having a decluttered lifestyle is like 95% of your space aesthetic.

My worlds are colliding over here! Two very sassy RU-vidrs sitting down to talk about interior design is making me the happiest woman in my town right now 🥳

I watched the office hour where Chelsea discovered Nick's channel and he joked that he'd head over to New York asap to chat with her, so seeing this now just makes my heart so happy!

I saw the thumbnail and clicked thinking it was a Nick video. I’m not disappointed in what I got though!

Two of the best unproblematic faves in the same room! Was so excited back in the day when Nick popped up in the live stream, stoked that the meeting came to fruition

Better a piece of IKEA furniture that you throw away after 10 years than something made out of quality materials but which you get rid of after 1 year because it's just functionally bad. My parents own beautiful, solid oak furniture that I stub my toes off of all the time because I assume it was designed for looks, not ergonomics.

Nick AND Chelsea!? This is the crossover episode of my dreams!

Just saying, I had a used ikea bed frame that I took apart and put back together COUNTLESS times and she never squeaked once~ the only reason I got rid of it is because we got a bigger mattress lol

Y'all have been getting the BEST guests this season!!!!

What a wonderful interview. I think something that the whole "on trend" and "luxe" focus of designers on RU-vid is the root of the problem. I've really appreciated that Nick always aims for timelessness, quality, and expressing who you are. In designing my home, I've listened to, and put I to practice, a lot of Nick's advice and I finally feel like I've created MY home and nobody else's. Thanks for the interview!

I loved the point about buying second-hand. I bought a real-solid wood 7 piece dining set for $75 from a family that was moving. The set definitely needs to be refurbished one day but brand new it would easily be a several thousand dollar purchase. But it's functional and still looks nice enough.

AAAHHHHH!!! This is the best crossover!

Thank you for addressing this. I’ve been decorating my home and it brings me down to think that I’ll feel like the designs that I have put my heart and money in will feel stale and old fashioned fairly soon. I hate that I’ve been brainwashed by this culture and I’m not sure how to protect myself from it

I wish this video wasn't so judgy about Ikea furniture. While I certainly *could* spend more on furniture, I choose not to because 1) I rent and don't want expensive pieces that may not work in a new space and 2) I find Ikea quality sufficient for my needs and it's not a priority for me to pay thousands more for furniture. You both seem to be implying that Ikea is fine only if that's all you can afford. Ikea is fine if that's how you choose to prioritize your spending. I've had and enjoyed the same Ikea couch for a decade so my cost-per-use is basically negligible.

Nick, I loved that video ‘You Get What You Pay For’. It helped me determine what to invest in while furnishing our first home. Wanted to share 😊

Me who lives in an actual old farmhouse. BTW. Old farmhouses are tiny and don't have room for big tables. More like tiny rooms and floor plans that only make sense if you were a family of Hobbits.

Another tip, after getting samples for anything such as tiles or stone or fabric remember you are getting a sample that has been relegated as such. When you make your choice you should ask them to send you a "cutting" if fabric or "break" if tile or stone from their "current dye lot". Many times, especially with fabrics, the dye lot changes slightly to greatly, tomato red in a sample arrives as a more berry red in a fully upholstered item that you cannot return as you "chose" the color and did not make the request for a cutting sample. Good design takes a lot of time and patience for due diligence and careful research. Number one mistake clients make is being in a hurry and impatience with time. It's called a CFA (Cutting for Approval)

Honestly, I think a lot of the "Gen Z" DIY Crafts also come out of most of us are in high school or in college housing, where buying furniture isn't an option but we want to personalize our spaces!

CraY. I worked for him in 2015! Now he’s on TFD!

I don’t think that you should ban ikea from your home. My parents bought everything for the kids rooms from ikea. Because Thea knew that in 5 years our needs would change and we would need to swap out some furniture. Ikea was the absolute best here, because it was cheaper and the standardization also allowed us to change our closets depending on the contents it had growing up.

Loved this! I've noticed many home décor influencers move every 12 to 18 months just to for new content (my opinion). It's like they can't live in one space for too long in fear the "audience" will get bored and lose interest.

Facebook market places charges almost NEW prices here, and for junk. Like 2nd hand ikea furniture for almost new ikea prices. Facebook marketplace for furniture (or most anything honestly except like bulk baby clothes) is trash here. (central IL)

Yes to your point about getting quality secondhand pieces on an 'Ikea budget'! My husband and I just recently returned from a stint overseas back to Australia. We had zero furniture and have managed to completely furnish our apartment with secondhand pieces. We found an auction website (for estates etc) and have scored some amazing pieces for an absolute steal! All solid wood and will probably be strong enough to hand down to our kids.

No need for second hand or Ikea in NYC, people just throw away perfectly good furniture/home decor on the streets. I'm from Mexico and went ther last year. I was so shocked with the amount of perfectly good stuff you can find on the sidewalk I just wanted to grab everything hahaha

Here where I live in France I can't afford nice solid wood stuff at all, it's exorbitantly over priced here, that usually only the mdf stuff is available. Yes, there are a lot of antique furniture available here that's decently priced, but I don't have a car, usually those places don't ship, the furniture almost always ends up needing to be refinished which costs more money than I have, and here in France it tends to be this delicate looking stuff that looks like it'll break just from blowing on it, and my husband, who's French, has been known to break a few chairs just because he's just animated not because he's a big guy, lol, I've turned down so much older furniture from my mother-in-law just for this reason. Plus I'm an older millenial that like mid-century modern stuff, lol, and used furniture like that here in France is extremely out of my budget. We also moved to this country with no furniture, we have to buy everything within a 3 week period right before going into an extremely strict covid lockdown and I just went on the French websites and measured our place and just went with what we could afford that kinda fit with a style I like. We did splurge and spend what I think is a lot (1,100€) on our Sofa because we wanted something that would last, and within a year a Z spring holder broke! Even trying to spend a lot of money thinking we're getting something well made and it still breaks within a year. Our one nice piece is our dining table, heavy ass hard wood that is mid-century looking but is probably from the 80s, was given to us. But it doesn't fit our space and it only sits 8 people barely. And if you know anything about French entertaining, you almost never do a dinner where people sit at other tables, they all like to sit together whether it's dinner or apero, no one separates to small groups, especially among a group of people where everyone knows each other, and French dinners can be hella long, like 2 hours or more sometimes sitting at the table without even getting up (that's the other reason I didn't want antique chairs, they're hella uncomfortable I hate sitting in them for more than 30 minutes), but yeah, so we need a different table now that will fit our space but can fit 12 people or more, and I doubt we'll be able to afford a table as nice as the one we were given.

Lolll, I negotiated a discount on my sofa when the box arrived damaged and the sofa itself had some minor damage. Not only is it more sustainable to keep the sofa but I also live in NYC and there was NO WAY I was going to go through sending it back. That would have been a nightmare!

I was in that original stream and was one of the commenters who requested Nick!!! I screamed when I saw this posted and literally saved it for a special brunch I made at home, so I could really enjoy the watch! I'm 35 minutes in and you two have already touched on SO many points I wanted to hear about, yay! Also, I just want to say that I find the episodes especially enjoyable when the guest is sitting there with Chelsea as opposed to over Zoom, though I realize that isn't always feasible. I do find it makes a world of difference, though. LOVE YOU , Nick and TFD!!!

I think part of the problem with DIY culture is that it's all about duping the real stuff, often with cheap garbage. At least, that's my issue.

Loved this and love Nick. He’s like Garrett Lechic….they give an honest opinion about without saying we should do things they exact way they do. And I love that Nick doesn’t constantly change his decor. 🥰

Loved this! I really like Nick's channel, but I didn't realize how much I needed this collab! I just moved and I'm trying to take things slow in terms of decorating the new place. I always try to balance quality and cost and taking care of things, but my real struggle is trying to combine my personal style with my roommates 🥴

Excellent choice for an interior design guest!

STOP I had to double take when clicking, because I wasn't prepared for this crossover. Can't wait to listen!

I love the parallel conversation about fashion and decor! I was taught at a young age, start with a strong "timeless" foundation that reflects my style. That doesn't mean those items will not be less or more popular at times. It means they are personal and reflect me out where trends reflect the outside influences in. It's still ok to have a few low cost trendy accents that can be repurposed or donated when I feel "over them". It is even ok to transition or modernize that base from one style to another as I have grown, but if the items are well made and personal, I want to keep them longer and replace items gradually.

Best decision I ever made was buying a sofa that matched my cat's hair 😂

Seeing two youtubers that I love come together for such a good video definitely made my day!

Your channel has truly changed my life. i've been studying and researching about crypto for a while now and i got stuck at some point on the learning curve. now i can say l'm truly improving my understanding of this whole new world and making great profit weekly, all thanks to you

As always me encantó el episodio!!! Gracias Chelsea!!! 🤩💖 i didn’t know about your guest and now i think i have to follow him in social media. It’s really refreshing to see his perspective to interior design.

This is the crossover I didn’t know I needed 🙌🙌

Perfect timing! Just closed on my home (yes, with the help from TFD that started back in 2019) so I will be taking notes!

Would you consider sharing about your style evolution and what that process looks like financially? Been loving the pieces you've been wearing in much of your recent content, and as an early viewer who remembers the mostly-neutral wardrobe beginnings, I'd be curious to see more about that growth and process from a financial perspective.

So excited for this crossover

Great chat! I follow Nick but had not heard of the Financial Diet before. I learned a lot today!

Thank you for this collaboration! Love Nick

Two things 1. When talking about a sense of place and a lack of authenticity in so many design styles, I have to ask what you consider “authentic” to tract housing in the suburbs or a basic apartment in the city? What’s authentic to those spaces? What if I hate industrial design and live in the city? Am I just condemned to that style, or would you tell me I should move to another town just so I can decorate in a style I like? 2. Some of this “if you can’t afford the real thing, so don’t do it” when it comes to materials, feels super elitist. Maybe I don’t have good options on Craigslist OR at the thrift shops where I live and I can’t afford real wood furniture. So, what then? Do I say skip the particle board furniture I can afford because I shouldn’t use faux anything? Do I skip the man-made stone and tear out the flooring in my home that isn’t solid wood? Do I just live in an empty home because I can’t afford wool rugs?? WTF?!

Omg Nick Lewis!! Go Vancouver!💕two of my fave youtubers! Worlds collide😉

What a lovely surprise to see Nick on the show! I’m a fan not just for the gentle snark, but for the focus on sustainability and intentionality. I’m a little floored that he was criticized for his living room not changing from video to video. Like him, I got my home how I want it and that’s how it will stay. I don’t approve of the fast fashion/fast interior design direction we’ve headed it. It’s a plant-killer.

This was everything I didn’t know I wanted and needed.

Have you seen Caroline Winkler? She speaks to a lot of idea of leaning into the things you love and less about staying on trend.

You are one of my favorite RU-vidrs, so are Nick Lewis and HLP; there really is a lot of overlap and I am here for it!

Oh! My most favourite intelligent and sassy RU-vidrs in one video. As an added bonus, one of them is Canadian 🇨🇦. The only thing wrong with this vid is that it’s too short.

Omgosh this episode is music to my ears. I love interiors but that's been my biggest pet peeve- the fast fashion-izing of home decor. Our homes are supposed to be rich in character a reflection of the resident, not a sale display for brands or an echo chamber of the algorithm. I'm glad to see Nick's input too. Thank you TFD for addressing another important issue within an industry.

What?! I LOVED that you-get-what-you-pay-for video!!! It made me realise I never need to stress about getting the best carpets because I'm always going to have a dog, and that for me it's better to invest in a really good textile sofa than a mediocre leather one. So thanks for bombing, Nick!

I legit gasped, which is hilarious because I'm not really someone who does that. Two of my favourite YTers in one collab! Be still my money-conscious, design-aspirational heart.

I hopped on the plant train. Only because I was sad and bored and lonely during the pandemic. I also got a dog and had a baby because I needed to expand my family. Most of those plants are still alive but I had to spread them out cause its too much as a decor

I do envy Americans of their second hand market for furniture and home stuff.

Really great watch. I’ve felt very similar regarding the “fast fashionification” of home decor with influencers due to the pandemic.

I feel called out in this video for using faux decor. I live in a ugly condo on an Asian city with no real "soul" or "look" other than boring concrete-ikea-white walls all over. Should I just not do anything and live in this bleak environment? Not everyone can afford to lice in a dutch farm house or bali beach house. We need an escape from the concrete and bland spaces. How to create an original style to our homes when we literally live in wet cardboard boxes?

I am not every viewer, and haven't seen too many of Nick's things, but I personally like that he isn't dragging everything all the time. We all have are biases, but I like the more logical side to the planning. My whole childhood was chaotic and mismatched, so it is a different approach to try and curate things by myself for the first time.

I was LITERALLY just thinking of how great a collab between you would be but I thought it would never happen lol

yess!! i dm'd TFD about this exact topic a few weeks ago as I'm looking to furnish my first home

So funny...my first thought...cute top...not the usual look, hmm? Positive vibes from New Hampshire, remember to be kind to each other and yourself during these trying times

We just sold our mid century home just outside Salt Lake City. We spent years embracing the mid mod light look and the stagers totally trashed it and put modern farmhouse in the house. Totally ruined our vibe and just kept repeating salt Lakers love farmhouse 😂😂

I think a lot of people need to learn that they can like, or even love, something and still nót buy it. And influencers that decorate for 12 different holidays and seasons a year. With a new haul for every single one of their decorating videos. Girl, use the stuff from last year and put it in a different spot!

Nick Lewis!....IN PERSON!!!!

Former ikea employee here to say that you can only buy floor models if it is the only one of those items in stock. Just wanted to save you time!

Coming for Chip and Joanna Gaines's wigs today!

I love your chairs. They actually look comfortable. A lot of the seating on podcasts looks very awkward and uncomfortable.

I don't really have a problem splashing out on quality pieces that I love, but I know eventually I'll be moving and I don't know if this size couch or rug or whatever will work in my next place. I wonder if a lot of the throw-away stuff is appealing to people like me who don't own a home. I think the fact that houses are unaffordable for most people nowadays means it's hard to feel secure investing in forever pieces.

Nick and Chelsea!!!! Yayyy two of the people I spend a lot of time watching and listening to. Good to see a collaboration of you two. Love!

❤️❤️❤️Nick Lewis❣️ Sensible & stylish🧡Intelligent & articulate💛Real & realistic💚 Cute & smart💙 also fellow Canadian🇨🇦 Hi from Victoria, bc🐬