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Budget Finds for Your Home Office
from: SelfHomeImprovement.comHalf the fun of designing and decorating your home office is shopping for the items you will use. This could be a problem, though, if you're on a tight budget and with that describing so many of us that work at home, ideas are all over the Internet about ways to furnish your home office on a budget. Of course, one of the most fun ways to go about this is visiting flea markets and thrift stores. If you choose this option, look at the merchandise with the eye of what it will look like after you clean it up and paint it, not how it looks right now. As long as you buy something that is in good shape, you can usually improve the looks later.
What to Look for at Flea Markets and Thrift Stores
Granted, you probably won't be able to find everything you need for your home office this way, but the stuff you can find will be a fun way to get started. Look for baskets and bins that you can use to hold papers and supplies. Keep your eyes out, too, for hooks and shelving. If you're going to have a chair other than your office chair in your home office, you may get lucky and find a bargain on an easy chair. Add a decorative pillow and a throw and you can easily create an attractive corner.
Also, look for pictures and picture frames. These are usually dirt cheap at second hand stores and you can always replace the pictures with ones of your own. If you have a specific color scheme in your office, you may even paint picture frames to match. In fact, anything you can paint, including the walls of your home office will be a bargain because you can usually find paint on sale and it isn't really too expensive anyway.
Flea markets and thrift stores usually have a decent supply of old tables. Choose one that is sturdy, refinish or paint it and you'll have a place for your printer or other must have office supplies that won't fit on your desk. It may look old and dirty when you first get it but with a little creativity, you can spruce up your bargains to look new again.
Get it for Free
See if your community has an online Freecycle community and watch the board for things you need for your home office. Freecycle was designed to keep things out of the landfills and people give away perfectly good items, including furniture and office supplies every day. I've even seen filing cabinets and desks listed on Freecycle so there really is no limit as to what you can get for free or dirt cheap if you will look around and be creative.
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