Save or splurge: The living room

To get the most for your money, you need to know two things: when the good stuff is worth paying extra for and when the economy choice is plenty good enough.

Cut flowers
Cut flowers
Save or spend: Spend
"Grocery stores and florists don't generally sell the same quality of flowers, and they don't handle them the same way," says Amy Stewart, author of "Flower Confidential: The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful in the Business of Flowers."

Because plants are their main source of revenue, florists are more likely to keep their inventory at the right temperature (near-freezing is best), frequently change the water and periodically recut stems, says Stewart. All these steps keep the blooms alive longer.

Be especially wary of supermarket flowers kept too close to produce: The fruit gives off ethylene, which wilts plants.

Television

Theater

Cables

sofa

Blinds

Coffee table

Flowers
The bedroom You spend a third of your life in bed. Why skimp on the mattress? (more)
Wardrobe How to look like a million bucks without breaking the bank. (more)
The office If you're going to take your work home, shell out for a decent seat. (more)

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.