Get the Look for Less: My Easter Table

How to Shop at Discount Stores to Give Your Home a Designer Look for Less

Every few months I look forward to changing up my seasonal decor. Back in February I started plotting and planning how I was going to set up my Easter table this year. Among all the fresh spring decor being put out in the stores, I saw adorable bunny plates in a couple different styles. I didn’t realize I wanted bunny plates until this point, but they seemed to be everywhere…and so cute! I looked online at Pier One, Pottery Barn, Williams-Sonoma, Amazon etc and decided I liked the plates at Pier One the best…until one day I came across THE perfect green toile bunny plates on Instagram. They were just perfect!

In the past I set up my Easter  table with the green cabbage leaf plates I had collected over the years. Thanks to discount stores like Ross, I now have a pretty complete collection of these spring green plates in all sizes, with bowls and serving platters to match. I typically just stack the cabbage salad plate on the cabbage dinner plate, but I wanted a little more variation this year, so I set out on a mission to get my very own set of bunny plates. Rumor had it, they were at HomeGoods!

Stop in Frequently

Naturally I went to HomeGoods right away, but soon discovered my local store didn’t have any of these plates for sale. So sad. They did however have the most lovely lace trimmed linen napkins at a fraction of the cost I saw at Pier One.

I went back a month later to try and add more napkins, but they didn’t have any in the linen color, so I kept looking around the store. It was still pretty early in the day and the employees were busy re-stocking the shelves with the new shipments. To my great surprise, on one of the re-stocking carts was an entire set of 8 green toile bunny plates!!! Yes, THE PLATES! I was SO excited.

Do you ever go shopping and feel like the shopping gods are in your favor? Like the completely random, yet very specific thing that you have your heart set on just reveals itself to you in the most undeniable way…almost begging for you to take them home. That’s what I’m talking about. It was destiny! A match made in Easter bunny plate heaven! They were just meant to be mine, right?

Here is a little break-down of  how you can shop around and get the best possible prices for your spring table.

Get the Look for Less: My Very Unscientific Method

1. Search online, on Instagram or on Pinterest for inspiration. You need a general idea of what you want your table to look like when it’s all complete. I find that if you follow current trends, it will be easier to find what you are looking for in stores because more places will be carrying the latest popular looks.
2. Look around your house and start collecting things you already have that fit in with the vision you have for your table-scape. Shop your own house before spending money elsewhere.
3. Window shop online to get a reasonable idea of what things cost and where they are sold. You can start with Amazon and search around other more specific stores that more closely match your style. I find after a couple Google searches, I have a pretty good idea of how things are priced and how much I am willing to pay.
4. Stores that offer bargains on home decor include HomeGoods, Marshals, Ross, TJMax, Tuesday Morning and Big Lots.
5. Discount stores don’t always re-stock items once they sell out. Keep going back and you may just luck out. If you do find the perfect piece, get it! It might not be there in a week or even the next day!
6.  HomeGoods, TJ Max and Marshal’s are all owned by the same parent company, so you may find what you are after in one of the other stores.

Can you tell the difference? These napkins, while not identical are a good match and give the same look at a fraction of the cost!

*Certain items like the bunny plates weren’t listed anywhere online except for Ebay (and Replacements Inc which generally is overpriced)

The decor in the dining room tends to be a mix of French Country with Rustic elements mixed in. It features lots of neutral burlap, linen and soft natural brown tones with a bit of blue and green mixed in for spring color. I like to use rustic elements like wood slabs and water hyacinth place mats to add texture and balance out all the dishes.

Use What you Already Have

In order to create this spring table-scape I used quite a few things I already had on hand. For example, the table cloth, cabbage plates, silverware and chargers were all previously purchased. The gold chargers were found just before Christmas on clearance at Walmart for only one dollar each! I love the beaded edge on these, and at $1 each I purchased enough for 10 place settings!

Napkins

As I mentioned before, I found the lace trimmed napkins at HomeGoods in a pack of 4 for $7.99, a real bargain when you consider similar napkins at Pier One’s were just under $5 per napkin. (FYI Right now Pier One’s linens are on sale, so their napkins would only be $3.68!) I did end up finding a couple more napkin sets at HomeGoods, so now I’m all ready to go!

Glasses

The water glasses came from Craft Warehouse. When I went in recently they were ringing up at $2, so I purchased the remaining glasses for my table. I love how the beaded scallop design in the glass compliments the place setting!

Placemats

The last item I added was the water hyacinth 15″ place mats. Online research showed these selling around $5-8 at places like Bed Bath and Beyond, Ikea, Pier One and World Market. One day when I was looking around at Ross and found a package of four place mats for $7.99. At $2 each this was a total score! It may take some searching, but you can find some good deals if you know what you’re looking for.

For an additional source list of things you see in this post, check out my dining room source guide here.

If you are like me, looking for a good deal can be really rewarding. By researching prices ahead of time you can be confident when you find a really great deal. I hope you enjoy discovering new ways to save money while dressing up the table for your next gathering…Happy Easter!