The Best Stores for Budget Homewares and Furniture Shopping

by AMELIA BARNES

There’s more to budget interior shopping than the aisles of Kmart. Yes, you can often find an on-trend item there for a ridiculously low price, but don’t surprised if your house winds up looking the same as your friend’s does, and cousin’s, and aunt’s, and hairdresser’s…

A truly interesting space is one that’s eclectic and personalised, featuring a range of curated items selected by the owner.

Take a look at some of these locations for a diverse range of homewares you’ll want to cherish forever.

#1 || Hello Polly

Image: Hello Polly

Independent online store Hello Polly stocks a wonderful host of homewares, from art prints to soft furnishings and ceramics, across a wide range of brands.

The Melbourne-based store also has its own homewares line, Hello Polly Home, which includes limited print runs of works created by the store’s founder, artist Sarah Kelk.

Check out the ‘prints under $25’ for a budget way to bring art into your home.

#2 || Arro Home

Image: Arro Home

Image: Dan Soderstrom for Rented Space || Eye Cushion: Arro Home

Arro Home is a homewares and furniture label founded by prominent Melbourne artist Beci Orpin in collaboration with entrepreneur Adam Rogers.

All the brand’s homewares and furniture items are locally-designed by Orpin, who brings her colourful, patterned style to the label.

Arro Home’s cushions are a great way to invite a sense of fun into your home’s interiors, with prices starting from just $29.

I’m a big fan of the label’s woven cotton rugs, which fulfil a previous gap in the market for a more youthful, affordable and quality floor rug range.

‍#3 || Society6

Image: Society 6 || Photography: Cara Robbins

Image: Society 6 || Photography: Lauren Gunn

U.S. based online store Society6 is the home of affordable artworks. Artist created works are the store’s signature product, which are available in the form of framed prints, doona covers, clocks, wall tapestries, mugs, pillows and many more.

Society6 stocked artists whose art I love include the pink MS Paint designs of Miranda Lorikeet, the surrealist collages of Beth Hoeckel, Sarah Eisenlohr and Eugenia Loli, the photography of Kevin Russ, and mental health inspired works of Ruby Etc.

#4 || Social media

Image: Arro Home

Of course, interior shopping isn’t limited to buying things new. For those with the time and passion to seek out items secondhand online, this be very financially rewarding, not to mention a more sustainable and unique way to shop.

Most of my own home has been furnished with items purchased off Facebook pages such as My Stuff = Your Stuff Melbourne and Secondhand Furniture and Interiors and Melbourne.

Many gems can also be found scrolling through the depths of Facebook Marketplace, plus on Gumtree and eBay via specific keywords searches. Keywords I commonly search include mid-century dining chairs, velvet couch, wooden bench, vintage daybed and teak sideboard.

#5 || Auction houses and vintage bazaars

Image: Dan Soderstrom for Rented Space || Sun Cushion: Arro Home

Image: Dan Soderstrom for Rented Space || Frida Kahlo Print: Society 6

Don’t discount these pre-internet methods of second hand shopping. Practically every city will have a least a handful of these, and they’re often brimming with under-appreciated gems.

Buying furniture at auction sounds intimidating, but it’s actually quite a straightforward process. Some auction houses also offer the ability to submit absentee votes online, although in my experience it’s best to view the item in person before committing to buy!

In Melbourne where I’m based, my favourite bazaars and auction houses are Waverley Antique Bazaar, Leonard Joel Auction House, and The Amazing Mill Markets in Daylesford.

Amelia Barnes is a journalist and the co–founding editor of Rented Space – a website about creatively styled rental properties and their tenants.