Here is my mid-century modern (MCM) living room and office in my tiny southern California studio apartment. My apartment is a little over 400 square feet, and I sure maximized every inch of this space with lovely furniture and decor on a super small budget! Check out the shocking before pics and the full video after tour here!
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MCM Living Room on a Budget Color Inspiration
The color inspiration for this MCM living room on a budget comes from this area rug from Boutique Rugs which you can find here. The vases on the dresser, which were purchased from Hobby Lobby, display the teal and magenta hues found in this rug.
The magenta, yellow, and navy toss pillow colors were also pulled from the rug. All these toss pillows were an incredible deal from Ross Dress for Less.
Mid-Century Modern Furniture on a Budget
Speaking of incredible deals, all of the pieces of furniture in this MCM living room and office on a budget were purchased second hand.
If you knew me before, I would never purchase furniture second hand. I had to have all new things. I thought used items were, frankly, gross. I think the word “used” turned me off. However, my thinking on purchasing used items changed after I organized other people’s homes and businesses. After major organizing sessions, we would end up getting rid of so much stuff, a lot of which was never used. The sight of all that waste and knowing it was going to a landfill hurt my heart. Since then, I became determined to recycle, reduce, and reuse whenever and wherever I could. It’s a good thing that I like MCM furniture then. They are classic pieces of furniture and can easily be found on sites like Offerup, Letgo, and Craigslist. I found all of my furniture on Offerup.
This MCM credenza and hutch were only $50.00 together total. I was originally looking for bookcases to put next to the desk but this turned out to be a much better solution and the size is just perfect. It holds all my labeling supplies including a printer, Cricut machine, and Brother Ptouch label maker and laminating machine (which both are in the drawers). The credenza and hutch also contain my books as well as my daughter’s art supplies. If you’re interested in the outgoing mail bin on the wall, I actually painted the bin with this paint here. I purchased the galvanized metal envelope wall decor from Hobby Lobby here. I also painted the hooks underneath, which you can find here.
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The desk to the left of the hutch was only $60.00. It’s solid wood construction allowed me to turn the two bottom drawers on each side into hanging file drawers which I made a blog post about here.
The MCM dresser was purchased along with a matching end table (which is in my daughter’s room in her bedroom tour post) for $150.00 together for both pieces. I mean, look at those knobs? Just gorgeous, right? And, that wood tone just goes so well with the rattan stools to the left (not pictured here) and the rattan coffee table. This rattan coffee table was purchased for $100.00. I have to say, this coffee table is my absolute favorite piece of all my second hand purchases. There is just something about rattan that is just so beautiful and classic. The second shelf in the coffee table actually pulls out. This coffee table also sits on a large built-in lazy susan, so it spins! I share a full tour of my studio here which demonstrates the features of this coffee table. The MCM book shelf under the window which contains all my daughter’s books was purchase for $40.00. When I say this piece is solid, I mean it’s solid. You cannot find furniture today with this kind of construction. There is nothing rickety about it. This small, unassuming book shelf easily holds the weight of these books with no worry of bowing or warping.
If you follow me on Instagram here, you know the awesome story of this couch which completed my MCM living room on a budget. This couch is from Cost Plus World Market … but I didn’t purchase it from there. It is the Camel Leanna Tufted Loveseat which you can find here.
The moment my daughter and I saw this couch in the store, we knew it was the perfect fit for our tiny studio. So, when it was time to buy it, I did my usual bargain shopping and looked for coupon codes and rebates. However, none of the coupon codes were working! Finally, I decided to look on Offerup … just in case.
As an allergy-sufferer, I am very careful to not purchase items of a fabric material second hand. However, with this being a rather new piece to Cost Plus World Market, if it were to be found anywhere second hand, it wouldn’t be that old. So, I searched for the couch under it’s store name “Camel Leanna Tufted Couch” and nothing came up as I expected. I kept playing with the wording to see if it would come up and … lo and behold, there was my couch! I couldn’t believe it! The woman selling it purchased it for her office. After a few months, she finally unwrapped it and realized it didn’t fit the style of her office. By then, it was too late to return to the store. So, I got to purchase it from her for only $260.00! If you saw the original price, you know this is just amazing for a, pretty much, new couch!
The macrame curtain in my living room was made using this spool here. The whole spool was just enough for this window. I actually zip-tied a wood dowel rod to the top of he blinds from which I looked the macrame cord. This allows me to still utilize the blinds but make the window pretty with the macrame. Function and beauty have been successfully combined.
If you have any questions about where I purchased any of the items pictured here, feel free to leave a comment below. Not pictured is a cable management box which you can find here. It cleaned up the cables in my living room. Also, not pictured here is the hook which is holding my daughter’s painting easle. This simple hook, which you can find here, is the perfect storage solution for such a random item to store. You can see both the cable management box and the easle on the hook in the video tour here.
In my next post, I share all about my tiny kitchen and dining area on a budget. If you have been inspired by my clutter-free tiny living room and office on a budget, be sure to gain access to my freebie library here so that you can get your spaces in order and take control of your financial future!
Happy Organizing!
Author of “How to Organize Any Space in 7 Simplified Steps“