Thrifty Home Magic: How to Transform Your Space on a Dime (Without the Gatekeeping!)

Between work, family, and the hustle of city life, finding the time and energy to keep your Chicago home clean and cozy can feel like a monumental task. You dream of a spotless, inviting space but your schedule is already packed. Sound familiar? You’re not alone. Sometimes, the best way to reclaim your space and your time is with a little strategic help and some clever, affordable tricks.

Let’s get real: creating a home you love shouldn’t require a massive budget. Inspired by savvy DIY and thrifting experts, we’re sharing a foolproof formula to elevate your space affordably. The best part? These principles apply whether you’re refreshing a single corner or prepping for a full deep cleaning help session. A clean, decluttered canvas makes any decor shine brighter.

The Thrifter’s Mindset: Vision Before Budget

Forget what you can spend for a moment. The first step is pure inspiration. Head to Pinterest and save every image of a room that makes you feel happy and relaxed. Don’t overthink it—just pin. Once you have a collection, pick 4-5 favorite images. This is your style compass.

Pro Tip: Use a free tool like Canva or even ChatGPT to blend these images into a single, cohesive mood board. Ask for a summary of the shared colors, textures, and style. Having this visual guide is crucial—it turns vague liking into targeted hunting at the thrift store.

Your Secret Weapon: The Mood Board Test

That mood board isn’t just pretty; it’s practical. When you find a potential treasure—a mirror, a lamp, a vase—hold your phone up next to it. Does it fit the vibe? This simple trick prevents impulsive buys and ensures everything you bring home works together. It’s how you know a $55 thrifted mirror can rival a $2,000 designer piece.

The Hunt: Where to Look & What to Know

Now for the fun part: the hunt. January is famously a great month to thrift, but treasures await year-round. You might need to visit a few times—think of it as a series of quick adventures rather than one marathon trip. Persistence pays off.

• Look Beyond the Obvious: See a lonely candlestick? Pair it with a $1 lampshade and a battery-powered puck light for an instant, plug-free ambient lamp. Cozy lighting is a game-changer.
• Google is Your Friend: See a chandelier that looks pricey? Do a quick search on your phone. You might find it retails for over $1,600, making a $135 thrift price an incredible win.
• Check for Quality: Gently tap glassware. A clear, resonant “ping” often means real crystal, not just glass. For books, a fantastic and affordable decor staple, check for book lice (harmless but unwanted). A tip: seal them in a bag and freeze for 2-3 days to eliminate pests and odors before bringing them into your freshly clean your apartment.

Beyond the Thrift Store: Estate Sales

For truly unique, quality pieces, estate sales are goldmines. Websites like Estatesales.net let you preview sales in your area. You can walk through a home and find incredible items with history—like beautiful transferware for a few dollars that’s actually worth hundreds. Remember, getting there early yields the best picks!

Bringing It All Home: The Final Touch is Clean

Once you’ve found your treasures, the final step is integration and care. A universal cleaning spray is perfect for making thrifted crystal and porcelain sparkle. Arrange your finds with intention. That stunning mirror over the mantle? Style it with thrifted books and vintage vases. The “richness,” as they say, comes from things gathered with patience, not just purchased with a card.

The ultimate goal is a home that feels collected, personal, and peaceful—not precious. When you’re not stressed about expensive items, you can truly enjoy your space. And sometimes, the best way to start is with a truly clean slate. If the thought of prepping for a makeover or maintaining it feels overwhelming, remember that a trusted Chicago cleaning company like Jikas can handle the heavy lifting. Our professional home cleaning ensures your beautiful space is also a healthy, spotless one.

Sticking to Your Budget (The Realistic Way)

Thrifting is fantastic for your decor budget, but managing your overall finances is key. Just like you’d set a strict $300 limit for a room makeover, tools exist to help you track subscriptions and spending, freeing up more “dime” for your design dreams (or for simply treating yourself to a well-deserved cleaning service near me).

Transforming your home is about vision, patience, and smart choices. Whether you’re hunting for a vintage mirror or simply need someone to clean my apartment so you can focus on decorating, the goal is the same: to create a space where you love to live.

Get in, friend. We’re going thrifting. These are all of my favorite tricks so you can save around your house. I’m not gatekeeping anything and I’ve got some super cool hacks, too. Today’s video is brought to you in part by Rocket Money. This This is happening. Like, this is actually happening. Here’s the space we’re making over today. I’m going to give you my thrifting formula to save literal thousands. Did you know January is the best month to thrift? Grab a candlestick. Every thrift store has one of these, and every thrift store has so many lamp shades. So many of them. I’m going to go through and just do something a little bit like this. $1. They’re a dollar. This is the easiest DIY. It’s going to make your house feel so cozy. Tabletop lamps are trending all over Instagram. And you don’t have to plug them in. They give a simple glow. So, I grabbed a puck light from Dollar Tree. And all you do is stick it inside this candlestick instant decor. This is one of those cozy things you can put in any home and it’s going to look great. I want you to feel like you can do anything in this video. >> Welcome back to Do It on a Dime. Catherine is the Dollar Tree queen, but she is so frugal. Dare I say cheap, but she refuses to spend big money on anything. >> I’m not cheap. All these past makeovers were just affordable. >> You are, my dear. I >> mean, I guess so. >> Everything in her home is a DIY or thrift store budget. >> I want to empower you. This mirror was at Goodwill for 15 bucks. It retails for $200. I’ve done a lot of thrifty makeovers, but I wanted to push myself to the limit and take you along. If you walked into any thrift store any day of the week, you could sift through all of the junk there and find something that could actually make your space awesome. Even if you’re not good at decorating, >> you said you wouldn’t gatekeep. Tell them. >> Okay, Mr. Boss. So, the first step of the formula is to go on Pinterest and start pinning spaces you absolutely love. Forget budget. Choose a space and if you love it, save it. Then, I want you to select four to five images and type this prompt into chat GPT. Using these images as inspiration, create a cohesive mood board that blends the shared colors, textures, and style into one clear design direction that I can reference later. Even if you’re not into chat GBT, use Canva to make a mood board. This is what chat GBPT spit back to me. Or you could feel free to make this yourself because oh my gosh, I cannot believe this is here. Holy cow, check this out. This is a gorgeous Anthropology mirror. Like I know from looking at Anthropology’s website that this is close to probably a $2,000 mirror and the shipping of it alone is at least $300. If you have a mood board, something that you love, like you look at this and every single thing on the image makes you happy, you can take that to the thrift store and put it up against an item that you found. I knew this mirror was going to look awesome in my house without even having to see it in there. >> What if we don’t have your luck? I bet you’ll drop Toast Land’s jelly side up. >> No, you guys just see the highlight reel. You have to go to a thrift store about six times. And I think in one of those six times, you’re going to strike gold. Here, I struck gold in store. And maybe this chandelier looks unassuming. It was $135. So, I did a quick Google search, which is my tip number two, and saw that this chandelier has an estimated retail of over $1600. And not only that, it was gorgeous. So, would you pick this up? Test it against my theory. I found some pretty pictures of actual designers styling this chandelier online. And what did I do? Go to my mood board picture and I put the chandelier up against it. I knew immediately that this fit in the style of my home. For just $135, I brought this home for the foyer. It looks so good. I am so happy with this purchase. >> Okay, then let’s see this in action. Welcome to Catherine’s living room. >> Clear the space if you can. It’s going to help you get the best sense of an area. And then you want to identify the three things that if you thrifted would make the space better. First and foremost, centerpiece art. It doesn’t really matter what’s on the mantle. Second, a coffee table to ground the space. And third, removing this ceiling fan. Then set your budget. Finding things affordably all day long. I love the dollar store. I love thrifting. But I will be honest, this brain, whatever it is about it, was not built for managing my finances overall. It used to really stress me out. Which is why I am so thankful that today’s video is brought to you by Rocket Money. Rocket Money gives me a bird’s eyee view of all of my finances and accounts so I can manage it without stress. And if you’re looking to budget a makeover, like for this room, I was able to see exactly where each dollar was going and I could set a budget that was realistic when I was thrifting for it. But my favorite way to save with Rocket Money is for cancelling subscriptions that I am no longer using. It alerts you to them and with a few taps in your account, you can cancel. They’ve also helped customers save over $880 million in just canceled subscriptions. That is a lot of dimes. Think of all the makeovers you can do. And you like free stuff. I do too. Right now, you get a free trial of RocketMoney Premium. The app itself is totally free to download. Go to rocketmoney.com/doit at a dime or scan the QR code right on screen. Us thrifty people, we like to focus on the creativity and let RocketMoney help you manage your finances. I hope you love it as much as me. Everything will be linked down below. >> Let’s get back to our room. If there is one thing that is true, Catherine is the gas and Charlie, her husband, is thankfully the brakes. Copper is just himself. >> We’re talking budget right now. And we’re just going to get real with you. So, I would love to find a mirror just like this one >> and put that over the fireplace. >> But, hi Copper. Hi, buddy. Copper, you want to hang out? This is Copper. He has opinions about our decor. Okay, so downstairs in the main living area, I’m thinking I really want to do a mirror over the fireplace, but like sometimes you just got to like roll with what this thrift store has. I do not think I’m going to find another anthropology mirror like this. I’d love to, but I don’t know. >> One in a million. >> Expensive looking mirror that’s like really quality over the fireplace. I’m also thinking this chandelier. >> Oh, can we talk about >> the price? >> The price. >> $2,300. I am on the hunt at the thrift store for that. >> Okay. >> And I also love the front gate coffee table. Like this one to me is so beautiful. Like I love the lines on it. I love the marble. It is on sale, but it is still $1,600. How much does this add up to? >> That’s $5,000. >> Could you do it for 10% of that or less? >> 10% of 5,000. >> $500. Could you do it? >> Oh, all three of these things. Yeah, >> I think I can do it for $300. >> It’s the mirror, the table, and the light. >> Mhm. >> For $300. >> I’m going to try it. >> All right, let’s see it. >> Let’s do it. >> Keep track of those expenses. >> Using some items I already had and my original mood board, I made a new one for this space. And I asked Chat GPT to mock it up using the three super expensive elements, hoping I could thrift it and make it one better. >> Catherine won’t admit it, but she prefers a small budget. It makes the wins even more grand. I have had so much luck with mirrors at the thrift store and they have so many vintage styles and I just I love looking for some of the more ornate frames. Habitat for Humanity is my favorite thrift store if you want to know because they’re a quality organization. I think they get more quality donations. And before I could turn on my mic, I found this Hollywood Regency mirror. It’s not quite an anthropology mirror. I think it’s better. And next to my mood board, you can see how this totally fits the vibe. I couldn’t believe 5 seconds into our trip, I already found the first item for $55. >> Catherine also threw peacock feathers into the cart and she’s googling things. Keeping her on track is no easy feat. >> You need room for an element of surprise. I mean, isn’t that not what the thrift store is now? That is for somebody. He must have been a good golfer. Do you know him? >> I always keep my eye out for really high-end items like this incredible lion lamp. I looked it up. It reminded me of copper and has an estimated retail of 1,200 bucks. I absolutely love their floor lamps. This is a standing pharmacy floor lamp. They want $35 for this. My guess is this is from the ‘9s, but this is so Nancy Meyers coded. I’ve seen tons of these at Ballard Designs. This is a really trending style, and it’s so pretty. >> The practice of restraint is key in this exercise. Catherine tried to start other projects during this trip, but refrained from overdoing it so we could stay focused on the task at hand. Mostly >> when you’re looking at glassware, you want to check to see if it’s real crystal. This is glass. Listen for the crystal sound. You hear how that’s like nice and sweet and bright? That’s how you know this is real crystal. I’m testing you. Is this glass or crystal? It’s glass. Correct. Is this glass or crystal? >> It’s glass. Correct. Is this glass or crystal? Crystal. You’re right. That was This is really like adult blues clues. You know what I mean? I thrift all of my books. Now, these are absolutely gorgeous. These are $3 each. If you buy vintage books, I always freeze mine. Freezing them will remove any book lice. Yes, this is a thing. And it will also eliminate any type of odor that it has. You don’t want to lock in too much moisture, so I usually freeze mine for 2 to 3 days in a big garbage bag or a Ziploc bag. But that’s going to give it a really nice fresh scent and make sure that it’s coming into your home clean. >> Now that Catherine has unlocked a new fear for you. >> No, they’re harmless. They just like humid environments. So controlling humidity and just making sure you’re aware of what you’re buying is key. So this day I left the thrift store with just this mirror, but like I said, sometimes you’ve got to go more than once. A couple days later, I came back to the restore and I spotted this table. I had passed it by the first time I was in store. But after further inspection, I realized how similar it was to the front gate table I loved. And it was so much less money. Listed at $225. It was made of marble. Perfect. Look at this. Okay, this is perfect. >> So far, Catherine has spent $280 on the room, which is nearing the budget, she stated. >> Yes, I did say $300. >> I believe I’m on Charlie’s side here. >> You are better for it. But look at this coffee table. It retails for a grand and is perfect with the mood board. And you’ll be happy to know I picked up this chandelier. So similar to the chandelier that I originally wanted on Facebook Marketplace, keeping me within budget. I already have so much blue and white transfer wear at home. A lot of it was my grandmother’s. I have saved it. Some of it was my great-grandmother’s. You may remember from other videos. And decorating around my home with this, I really wanted to bring it into the space because I already had so much of it. One of the best places to fill a space, no gatekeeping, are estate sales. Estatesales.net is how I find all estate sales near me. You just type in your address and you can see pictures of the sales and favorite different sales so you know which ones you want to hit up. I’ve never shared footage of inside an estate sale with you before. And if you’re brand new to them, I kind of am, too. But this estate sale in particular had so much blue and white transfer. Imagine getting to go into somebody’s home. This couple was moving, so they were downsizing and all furniture, everything you see is for sale. I particularly loved this one because of all of the blue and white >> and obviously amazing Charlie who came. >> This is $4. Okay, we’re here kind of late, so a lot of things are picked over, but they still have some really pretty stuff. That’s cute. Okay, hold on. Let’s go over here. All the garden stuff. Oh my gosh. Okay, how much are these for? They’re only $20. These are gorgeous. This is a gorgeous backyard. Oh my gosh. Wow. >> Estate sales are an amazing place to find truly quality pieces. I like to look online at the photos to see the sales to prioritize them so I don’t have to go to them all because again I struggle with restraint. But it is best to get there early. These were already sold because the tag was ripped by the time I got there. But I did come home with a couple very affordable transferware pieces and they have markings on the bottom to prove these are worth about $500 a piece. Now more no gatekeeping tips. I love my Briante cleaning spray. I use this on all crystal and thrifted pieces. It’s amazing for glass and porcelain surfaces. >> There is a quiet richness in a room that was gathered. One done simply with just a small measure of vision collected over time from grandma or pages marked clean and fresh from a thrift store. >> Nothing was over a few dollars each. So, traditionally, these mirrors were set on top of a fireplace mantel, but those mantels were much taller. So, because this is a little shorter, I’m okay with that. I’m setting this up here hanging. And then I’m going to put some favorite things down here, all from the thrift store. This is a weird Catherine fact, but I leave the price on almost everything that I thrift cuz I like to look back and remember how much I paid. So, this was $1.99. Okay. Okay. Books, books, books. They are so easy to thrift and so beautiful. >> Beauty often doesn’t come from spending more, just seeing things differently. This room could have costs thousands. But because it didn’t, it was more meaningful. the richness of a little patience and appreciating the old and what you have found. Piece by piece, Catherine’s space came together, not as a purchase, but as a gift. >> It’s really important to me that nothing in my house is too precious. They’re all precious things that I have found, but I wanted to do it affordably. Here’s the $5,000 version and my $300 version. Can you tell the difference? Perhaps when we don’t make things too precious, the real precious things are easier to see and we enjoy them more. >> We got our cameraman back here. He’s zooming in on all his stuff. How’s it looking, Owen? >> Good. >> A huge thank you to Rocket Money for helping sponsor today’s video. Be sure to try it for free. The link is right here, my beautiful friend. If nobody has told you today, you have and you are more than enough. I love you so much. I’ll see you soon.