Why pay more than you have to when it comes to home decorating? I know I certainly don’t want to and besides, how fun is it to get those steals and deals??? That’s a big part of the fun of shopping for me.
So I thought I’d share a few items that I’ve found deals on while shopping on the world wide web and in catalogs!
Ballard Designs is one of my favorite catalogs for getting a bit of design inspiration. They have wonderful products and great styling but their prices are often not so user friendly.
Take for example these angel vine topiaries (left). They are fabulous for decorating and can be uses in just about any room of the house. However, the prices at Ballards are outrageous, $49.00 for the “small” one that’s 23.5″ H and $79.00 for the large one that’s 33″ H!!
I was thrilled to find the almost identical ones at Art & Artifacts at a fraction of the price – $24.99 & $49.99 (on sale now!) for the exact same measurements! I bought them and I 
swear they are identical to the high-priced ones at Ballards (the A&A ones are pictured right). They also have cone shaped topiaries available at really good prices! I placed my topiaries in my kitchen “window” as you can see here.
This “Nantucket Bucket” (below) is another item where I found huge savings. It’s from Ballards and is $39.95 for this 10.5″ H x 9.5″ in diameter container. Wow – that’s alot of money for something that’s smaller than a breadbox.
For a real deal, I found this large glass bottle in wicker basket (below) at Nell Hill’s new online store ~ just $10.25! The description online does not say what the diameter of this is, and I suspect it’s a bit narrower but I honestly like this Nell Hill’s one better because it has a narrow neck which I think makes it easier to make a simple flower arrangement. You can get four of these for the price of just one from Ballards – love that!
Here’s one last savings – these cafe shelves (shown below) from Ballards – $89.00 for a 10″ d x 48″ wide. I had been looking for shelves like these when we remodelled our laundry room. I found nearly identical shelves (click here for photo) for $20.00 less. I like the brackets better on the less expensive shelves as 
they coordinated with the style I had made for the kitchen. They are available in black, white or aged maple. I bought two of the 48″ shelves and two of the 24″ shelves for our laundry room and love them!
These are just a few examples of how shopping around can really pay off with big savings!
I’m just curious – what are your steals and deals? Let us know where we can shop and save!
Thanks,
Diana ;o)
About Diana
I’m a busy working designer & home stager who gets a lot of joy & happiness helping clients transform their houses into homes they love. I blog as part of that creative process. In our “spare” time my hubby & I are updating our Cottage in the Woods that we share with our cats. I’m a Christian & look forward to someday working for my Heavenly Father, the Greatest Designer of all, decorating mansions in Heaven!
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I was looking for something large for my foyer wall for quite some time. I finally stumbled across a folding screen at HomeGoods for $90. I took it apart, cut off the legs, painted it black and added another decorative item in the midle screen for a striking foyer statement. (you can see the before and after pictures on the Thursday, May 21, 2009 entry on my blog at http://roomremixblog.blogspot.com/). Imagine my surprise when I saw the same folding screen on Bellacor.com for $688. Seriously? YIKES!
I love Ballards too, and often find the things that really catch my eye are out of my budget. I also look around and often can find similar items at my local Home Goods, sometimes I like it even more!
Way to go! I love looking at Ballard Designs for inspiration, but could never afford their prices. I looked at the exact same topiary and then made my own for less than $5. It is so fun to find a bargain!
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