Pottery Barn Style on a Dollar Tree Budget: Chic & Simple Home Decor

Living in Chicago, keeping your home clean and welcoming can feel like a full-time job on top of your actual job. Between work, family, and trying to enjoy the city, who has hours to scrub and organize? We get it. Sometimes, you just need smart, simple tips to make your space shine without breaking the bank—or your back.

We all love that high-end, magazine-ready look for our homes, but those designer price tags? Not so much. The good news is, with a little creativity, you can achieve a luxe aesthetic without the luxury cost. Let’s walk through a fun, easy project that transforms thrift store finds and dollar store gems into stunning decor.

The Thrifted Urn Makeover

It all starts with a foundation. I found a slightly sad-looking urn at a local thrift store. With a quick clean and maybe a coat of spray paint, any basic vessel can become a statement piece. This is a perfect first step before a scheduled deep cleaning help session to really make your refreshed decor pop.

Building Your DIY Topiary

Here’s the simple formula to create a beautiful, full topiary that looks like it cost a fortune.

• The Base: A simple pool noodle, cut to fit snugly inside your urn, gives you a stable, lightweight foundation.
• Add Structure: Take four short, plastic greenery sprigs (I used slightly different ones for texture) and place them upright in the center of the urn.
• Create the Shape: This is where the magic happens. Take draping eucalyptus and place it around the outside edge of the urn. Then, gently fold and tuck the stems over into the center, creating that classic rounded topiary look. A little bit of unruly greenery is perfectly fine—it adds character!

Adding Whimsical (and Affordable!) Accents

Once your topiary base is set, it’s time for the fun details. I found these adorable grass bunnies at Dollar Tree. After adding a cute bow and attaching a skewer to the bottom, I simply nestled one right into the top of my topiary. Instant charm!

For the door, I discovered these brilliant fold-out wreaths online. They’re affordable, full, and arrive perfectly flat. To customize mine, I wound one of the longer Dollar Tree floral stems through it for a pop of color. The total look? Priceless. The total cost? A fraction of a high-end store.

Maintaining Your Beautiful Space

Creating a beautiful home is one thing; keeping it that way is another. Dust settles on decor, floors need attention, and life gets messy. If your DIY spirit is better suited for weekend projects than weekly scrubbing, that’s where we come in.

For busy Chicagoans, finding a reliable cleaning service near me is key to maintaining that fresh, polished feel. A trusted Chicago cleaning company like Jikas Cleaning provides the consistent care your home deserves. Whether you need a one-time refresh or regular upkeep, professional cleaning services in Chicago free up your time for the things you love.

Imagine coming home to a spotless space after a long day. With fast cleaning services, you can schedule a cleaning that fits your life. It’s the easiest way to clean your apartment or home thoroughly, without it consuming your weekend. Sometimes, the best way to get your space cleaned is to call in the experts.

We’re going Pottery Barn on a Dollar Tree budget. I’m a Dollar Tree pro, so at another store when I see a topiary for $50. No way. We can make an entire porch over for that at Dollar Tree. This welcome mat is $5. Pottery Barn charges 100 for something similar. I grabbed a sad earn from a thrift store and gave it a quick makeover. And now we’re going to make a Dollar Tree topiary. And here’s the formula. A pool noodle is going to act as our base. You want to cut this down to the size of the earn and set it inside. Grab four short plastic sprigs to set in the center of the earn. I chose ones that were slightly different for some texture. Then you want to take the draping eucalyptus and put it on the outside of the urn. Then fold it over to the inside to give it a topiary effect. Just tuck and fold over. A little bit unruly is okay. Then I went to Dollar Tree to grab these super cute grass bunnies. I don’t even want to know what Pottery Barn would charge for these. I added a cute bow to them and skewers to the bottom. Can you guess what I’m going to do? I stuck the bunny in the topiary. And so you know, Amazon now has these beautiful fold out wreaths. Have you seen these? They’re really affordable. And I took one of the long Dollar Tree stems and wo it in the wreath for some color. That’s much better. was $26 and it looks just like I got it from Pottery Bar.