This post about budget-friendly finishing touches was last updated November 2023.
Do you find yourself looking around your home with more than a few ideas for finishing touches? Are you hesitant to add any more decorations because you might let one thing lead to another and spend WAY more than originally intended? Do you like great deals on beautiful home decor products that compliment any decorating style and/or situation?
If you answered “yes” to two or more of the questions above, then we have great news for you!
In this special budget-friendly decorating blog post, we’ve put together a collection of our all-time favorite Ballard products under $100 to help you find the perfect finishing touches (or holiday gifts) without breaking the bank.
That’s right—everything you’re about to see is currently listed under $100 on the Ballard Designs website, so act fast!
Wall Decor
Starting strong, we love using wall decor as a finishing touch due to its ability to create a focal point in a room which is important in every space. Grids or symmetrical groupings of wall art add order into a room so it feels more polished and put together.
The gathering basket, featured above, provides a blank canvas to unleash your inner decorator with botanical elements.
A few standout shadow boxes and canvas paintings (below) are currently available at Ballard Designs under $100, but we especially love using three-dimensional objects like wall baskets (above) for their chic aesthetic and infinite decorative possibilities.
Faux Greenery
Faux greenery stands out as a fantastic budget-friendly finishing touch for any room of the home since it provides botanical elements without the recurring costs associated with maintaining real plants.
Ballard’s Faux Moss Spheres, featured above, provide a unique floral element to dining and console table arrangments.
As we’ve covered in previous blogs, we recommend using faux stems and greenery assortments to add a natural element, a splash vibrant color, and even height when styled in a tall vase; From faux dogwood stems to faux hydrangeas (featured below), we have a wide variety of faux greenery options that provide any room with a sophisticated natural look.
Tabletop Decor
You can’t go wrong with more tabletop decor no matter which room of your home needs finishing touches. And, because most tabletop decor is well below $50, it’s a great opportunity to also scoop up a cute little tray to proudly display your new collection.
The Braided Hyacinth Tray, featured above, is the perfect way to tie your tabletop decor together in a neat, aesthetic bow without breaking the bank.
We love using tabletop sculptures such as Ballard’s Foo Dogs and Bunny Williams Floral Specimens (below) to add interesting specks of detail to otherwise empty spaces. With so many decorative possibilities to choose from in this particular category, we highly recommend browsing the full home accessories online catalog for yourself!
Candle Holders
When it comes to finishing touches that pack a punch, candle holders add ambiance, warm lighting, and a focal point when placed on a wall. The best part? Ballard Designs has an impressive assortment of tabletop and wall candle holder options to choose from.
The Simona Candle Sconce, featured above, is one of our favorite budget-friendly ways to add a touch of personality to the hallways of a home.
If you’re looking to add height and warmth to your dining room table before your next dinner party, we love Ballard’s Edith or Bamboo Candlestick designs; Likewise, the Le Marais Tea Light Holders are a beautiful addition to any living or bedroom’s existing decor, providing just enough warm accent lighting without seeming overwhelming.
Bookshelf Accessories
Bookshelf accessories make the room feel more finished because they draw your eye to the bookshelf, creating a stronger focal point. Good styling can also showcase your personality, add softness, and provide a sense of structure to the space.
Although not in the under $100 category, the Albany Bookshelf (featured above) is a beautiful way to display your favorite collections of books, statues, framed pictures, and more.
If you find yourself wishing your bookshelf had more of an organized aesthetic, we can’t recommend the Elisa Storage Boxes and Magazine Files enough; If you want to use your bookshelf strictly as a decorative display case, we love adding things like home decor books in stacks of three or five between small sculptures and vases on our Acrylic Display Risers.
Vases
We’re ending this special budget-friendly blog post with our all time favorite budget-friendly finishing touch: decorative vases!
Vases are such a practical decorative element because when you have flowers or greenery from the yard, they’re functional, but they’re just as beautiful when they’re empty and displayed on a bookshelf or console. Vases can also serve the purpose of adding color and pattern into a room, and, if you have a collection, the repetition of a grouping of vases brings drama.
When it comes to vases, it’s hard to beat Ballard Designs Chinoiserie Vase Collection for its beautiful complexity.
The Eleanor Vase (bottom left), for instance, provides a blank canvas for creative home decorators to spruce up their favorite rooms of the home with flowers, wrapped candies, colorful beads, or anything that can fit in its spacious glass interior; We also love the Emelia Vase (bottom right) for it’s rich, antique feel and true bang-for-your-buck when it comes to sizing.
It’s often said that the best room designs take time and lots of layering to truly feel completed, but experimenting with finishing touches can also help you get one step closer to that “finished” feeling without the fear of spending too much along the way.
If you like this blog on budget-friendly finishing touches, check out a few of our other decorating blogs below for even more decorating tips, tricks, and inspiration:
- How to Create a Big Outdoor Look on a Little Budget
- Podcast: Budgeting 101 with Designer Molly Basile
- Smart Home Storage Solutions
- How to Fit More Function into Small Spaces
To stay up to date with all things How to Decorate, sign up for our monthly newsletter.
