Decorating a 2nd home - how to do it cheaply

[irisesareblue]

Hubby hit me with a whammy on Friday - he want to purchase a second home in Florida for us to vacation at!

So, we have found a home online that is basically a plain Jane house - not your typical vacation rental home, however, it will suit us fine and will fit our budget. We plan on visiting 3 or 4 times a year and once we retire in 10 years, it'll be a second (winter) home for us.

It is about 1/2 hour away from Disney in eastern Kissimmee and by the looks of things online in the photos will require some redecorating Black and orange do NOT a pretty kitchen make folks!!! We're working with a realtor right now in making some preliminary inquiries and will take a quick trip down there soon to see the place (and others if it's not what we're looking for).

One thing I've learned is that it's amazing what a coat of paint and new flooring can do as long as the bones of the house are good. We live in a house that we purchased 7 years ago at rock bottom price and have redecorated and it's value has doubled since we bought it, even in today's economy.

Then, this morning, IT HIT ME!!! If everything goes the way it should, we should be the proud owners of a second home before June!!! Wahoo! BUT, on the other hand, we're on a budget as well! Our vacations will be spent at this place (as opposed to getting hotels near Disney or going to other vacation spots) so I want to give it a personal touch as well. We might also have friends and family use this place - we know tons of pastors who could use a low cost place to visit as well so are thinking this might be a good way to share our blessings with others!

So, I'm asking you, my DIS budget friends, any hints on how I might "DISNEY IT UP" at low cost? I don't think we'll be offering this as a vacation rental and all new furniture is out of the question.....

I am thinking of a master bedroom, and two guest rooms with 2 twin beds in each. Then we will also put a sofa bed in the living room area.

One guest room will be painted Disney princess pink and the other Toy Story Blue.

Any ideas that I could do on a budget? All I can think of is DISNEY HERE I COME!

 

[ErinC]

Although not exactly Disney, you should make a trip to IKEA in Orlando. You could do a lot of furnishing for not a lot of money. Since you'll be close by, there won't be any shipping involved, you would just need a truck to transport things to your new home. You are right about paint, it's pretty cheap and can go a long way in decorating. Have fun with your new project!

 

[laurafergie]

Yard sales, thrift stores and craigslist will be your friend.

 

[pyrxtc]

also be sure to join the local freecycle. You can get some great things free on there.

 

[Sagginit]

our family has a second home in boca raton. down there you can find a ton of stores that sell second hand furniture and housewares, most of it in excellent condition. a lot of people get the idea to move to FL, hate it, and when they leave the sell or dump their stuff at those places. i would look for places like that in the area or even thrift stores. living in NJ i know half a dozen people that have in fact moved to FL and after being there a few months moved back so it happens quite often and i guess its not worth the cost to bring the stuff back up with them.

 

[mrsheppo]

I gave both of the bathrooms in our house the Disney touch. DD's bathroom is a princess theme. Princess shower curtain and castle theme rugs, pink towels and princess bath accessories. The bathroom accessories were a Cinderella soap dispenser, Belle soap dish and pumpkin coach toothbrush holders that I found on clearance at Target, the most costing $6.00. It cost me about $60 total to give her the Princess look.

We have a Mickey theme in the master bath. Mickey shower curtain (bought online at disneystore.com) for $7.00, red bath rug, black towels and a couple of bath accessories I bought several years ago at DL.

Fun way to do Disney on a small budget.

 

[uromac]

Hi!

I always dream of decorating a room with old WDW resort furniture from mousesurplus.com (it is located near WDW) - if you keep tabs on this website they have surplus used furniture and other items from the various resorts at great prices you just have to arrange pick-up - and perhaps have someone check out items if possible because most things are 'as is'.

Good luck seems like a great fun second home project !!

 

[irisesareblue]

thanks for the tips!! I knew I could count on you folks! Wonderful bunch of people you are!

Any other ideas?

 

[4evr@dzny]

We have a second home in Florida also - south of Kissimmee in Davenport. There is a nice, clean Salvation Army store on W. Vine in Kissimmee that I frequent. Has the usual amount of knickknacks and clothes, but also a huge inventory of furniture and appliances. I would definitely recommend it.
There is a Goodwill Store east on Vine, but doesn't have much in the way of furniture.

 

[funkychunkymonkey]

Ownthemagic.com is cool. you could buy some peices of disney.

 

[NotUrsula]

In resort areas, buy from a hotel liquidator. They have amazing bargains if you don't mind living in a reproduction of a Hyatt.

 

[dizneemom]

I would definitely hit the Wal-Mart down there. They have so much Disney stuff for really cheap. Definitely worth the stop!

 

[buzz5985]

Hubby hit me with a whammy on Friday - he want to purchase a second home in Florida for us to vacation at!

So, we have found a home online that is basically a plain Jane house - not your typical vacation rental home, however, it will suit us fine and will fit our budget. We plan on visiting 3 or 4 times a year and once we retire in 10 years, it'll be a second (winter) home for us.

It is about 1/2 hour away from Disney in eastern Kissimmee and by the looks of things online in the photos will require some redecorating Black and orange do NOT a pretty kitchen make folks!!! We're working with a realtor right now in making some preliminary inquiries and will take a quick trip down there soon to see the place (and others if it's not what we're looking for).

One thing I've learned is that it's amazing what a coat of paint and new flooring can do as long as the bones of the house are good. We live in a house that we purchased 7 years ago at rock bottom price and have redecorated and it's value has doubled since we bought it, even in today's economy.

Then, this morning, IT HIT ME!!! If everything goes the way it should, we should be the proud owners of a second home before June!!! Wahoo! BUT, on the other hand, we're on a budget as well! Our vacations will be spent at this place (as opposed to getting hotels near Disney or going to other vacation spots) so I want to give it a personal touch as well. We might also have friends and family use this place - we know tons of pastors who could use a low cost place to visit as well so are thinking this might be a good way to share our blessings with others!

So, I'm asking you, my DIS budget friends, any hints on how I might "DISNEY IT UP" at low cost? I don't think we'll be offering this as a vacation rental and all new furniture is out of the question.....

I am thinking of a master bedroom, and two guest rooms with 2 twin beds in each. Then we will also put a sofa bed in the living room area.

One guest room will be painted Disney princess pink and the other Toy Story Blue.

Any ideas that I could do on a budget? All I can think of is DISNEY HERE I COME!

Please be sure to check out when the home was built. There is a huge problem of wallboard purchased from China that is releasing gases that is making families sick. It's also rotting the pipes and wiring. I believe the realtors have to be upfront about this, but, you never know.

 

[Evi]

It depends on what you want but these are my favs discount stores for home decor in no particular order

Home Goods
Tjmaxx
tuesday morning
Ikea
overstock.com
crate and barrel outlet
Pottery barn outlet
restoration hardware outlet

Start with bare bones though like go through the house clean it make any repairs you need pick your paint and then work your way up.

oh and have fun =)

 

[momrek06]

Please be sure to check out when the home was built. There is a huge problem of wallboard purchased from China that is releasing gases that is making families sick. It's also rotting the pipes and wiring. I believe the realtors have to be upfront about this, but, you never know.

ITA, OP, you did not mention going to see the house in person prior to purchasing it. I hope you and your DH do that and have the home inspected before you make any final decisions on purchasing it.

I have a home in Boston and one in Southern CA....our SoCal home is an IKEA catalog. When we moved here July '08, we bought all our furniture, bedding, dishes, and wall decorations from IKEA. Looks fab, is very comfy and the best, very reasonably priced.