While looking to save money on furniture, have you ever considered purchasing second hand furniture? Some of my favorite pieces of furniture have been bought second hand, or free! Someone was getting rid of an old, circular wooden end table. I rescued it from the curb, painted it a shiny new black, and it looks great! I have also purchased a Lazy-Boy sofa from a garage sale, for which I almost always receive compliments on when guests come over on how great it looks and how comfortable it is. I have even purchased our dining room table at a church rummage sale for $10! You can find a lot of great bargains on furniture, you just have to keep your eyes peeled at thrift stores, rummage sales, consignment stores, and even on the curb!
I love browsing second hand or surplus furniture stores, personally, because you get to find some nice items at insanely low prices. The only thing I worry about when buying furniture that has been used is the sanitization so I make sure that the items I get are easily cleaned such as tables and I tend to stay away from sofas that would probably necessitate some deep cleaning. I much prefer buying from surplus stores because items there are at least brand new for the most part, with maybe just a bit of dirt from being in storage for a long time or maybe they just have a few defects.
Yeah I know what you mean about sanitation of some pieces of furniture and I stay away from some second hand furniture too. I go window shopping at thrift stores and when I had a car I could buy furniture too, but alas I sold my car and bus only now. Depending on relatives is good, but hard to do at times.
When we moved into this house, we hired a carpenter for the repairs. He advised us on buying furnitures because it is an expensive household item. It is better to buy in the workshop than in the display center because the price is almost double. The advice is applicable to us because there are many workshops around in our town. He was right on that because when we bought a wooden bed, we got a 40% discount from the workshop. No, we don't consider buying used furniture even those vintage ones.
I think your best bet is to buy second hand furniture. You can get really solid pieces for great prices at tag sales and online off craigslist. If you were to buy a nice piece of furniture brand new it could run in the thousands of dollars and most of the furniture at furniture stores isn't real wood anymore. I'd definitely consider buying furniture second hard.
I'm much like you when it come to save money on furniture, and also liking to reuse items that other people discard but have "potential" as a new furniture piece. Several months back, someone got rid of a double-door refrigerator, which doors were removed and thrown apart.I found that someone else pulled the water dispenser mechanism off the vertical freezer door, and by doing this the whole plastic cover-rear frame was taken out. I wouldn't be able to pick the door as originally was, and wouldn't see the potential that the cover-rear frame alone had; it is now a freestanding cabinet that fit great in my bathroom's narrow toilet area. Similarly, I found that plastic crates make great modular shelving systems, which I have in both kitchen and bedroom, which cost nothing and look modern in the context of a minimalist home decor.
Yes, some of the ways you can get furniture are the options of thats you are looking for. These are the options that you need when you are looking for the opportunity to get bargains on furniture. Second handis just one of the choices you can depend on. These are some of the ways to get savings on your options that you need for home.
As we move around a lot and re-furnishing my home is something that I have to do quite frequently - along with the great tips already given - other cost effective options that I would highly recommend trying if looking to save money on furniture would be To check out local Auctions - especially as not only can you generally pick some really good quality furniture at knock-out prices - but they usually have quite a wide selection of new and almost new furniture to choose from - as well as factory seconds and discontinued lines too And for those who are not keen on buying second hand Deals on furniture store display items are also well worth looking out for - particularly as - although many of these items rarely have anything wrong them - other than a collection of dust - most stores will normally give a 40% - 50% discount on these items and sometimes even more if they are in the process of switching the showroom models and are keen to have the space. As are the stores that sell solid wood furniture in its raw unfinished state - as not only are the prices ridiculously low - but there is also the added benefit - that as they are in their raw state - you can stain or varnish these items to blend in with the color of the rest of your furniture.
Why not also consider get furniture for free? Sounds like a scam? But it's not. There are people who are moving or buying new furniture who don't want to sell their old furniture for some reason and instead opt to give it to the first person who comes to pick it up. And guess where you'll find this? It's on Craiglist.
Finding free items on Craigslist can get you a great deal but most of the time you have to be quick because these items are picked up fast. I like to go to the second hand store to get vintage items and I rescue pieces that have been set on the curb. When people are moving they get tired of packing and will leave good things on the curb for who ever wants them. On trash day you see all kinds of good stuff being put out to be picked up and put in the landfill.
Items that can help not only freshen up your furniture but also remove and protect against unwanted pests? Diatomaceous Earth (food grade): I would recommend buying this item from an online retailer such as DiatomaceousEarth.com, going to a local store is going to cost you much more. Diatomaceous Earth has so many benefits aside from drinking to cleanse but in its dry form as well. Please make sure you're always using the Food Grade type. Plant and Animal grades are the other 2 vastly used types of DE but that you do not want to consume or breathe in. Diatomaceous Earth can be sifted through a fine metal strainer over any piece of fabric (This method also works great for your laundry but don't over do it. DE is a heavy powder and can get caked in if too much is added). Diatomaceous Earth is fossilized phyto-plankton cut into thousands of microscopic shards that take a honeycomb shape whenever it comes into contact with liquid or anything with a soft exoskeleton. Cool Right? Goodbye roaches, ants, roundworm and other mites to name a few. Lavender: Not only does lavender smell lovely but great as a natural mood enhancer. Who doesn't want to feel happier? Recent bug bites? A few weeks later you are sitting on your used, new retro style sofa and you notice a couple bites here and there. Parasites can't stand the smell of Lavender. For tough jobs, A potent blend of Lavender, Clove, and Neem will deter any pest. Buy or make some Lavender water and use it as a spritz throughout your home, this will do the trick to a clean all natural remedy for odors and parasites.
I always consider buying furniture second hand, because sometimes there's just no need to buy new things when there are cheaper options that would do the job just as well. I look around second hand shops and online adverts, and I will only ever buy things brand new if there is nothing that I want from second hand places. You can often get a great bargain, which of course is a good thing indeed.
Absolutely. In fact, I generally prefer gently used furniture to the new stuff. I find that even new furnishings that look beautiful at first glance, tend to be poorly made. The saying, "they don't make 'em like they used to," is all too true. I don't want particle board furniture if I can avoid it. I guess it's basically made from small wood scraps, sawdust, and glue or resin that's been compressed into a wood like substance. I like nice, solid wood pieces, and most of the ones that I've found (that I can actually afford) are used pieces. I think the older pieces have better craftsmanship and more style.
I would be careful with second hand furniture. Though it may be tempting to reclaim something like a couch that someone is throwing out, they may be throwing that out for a good reason. You could wind up bringing bedbugs into your house for example. A friend of mine and his two room mates grabbed a couch that someone was throwing out, when they got an apartment together in Vegas. They ended up catching scabies from it. I believe with some thrift stores, they're required to have the furniture professionally cleaned before they can resell it - namely stuff like couches or beds.
I would be scared to buy second hand furniture because of parasites infestations like termites and bed bugs. You might save some money, but if the furniture has those, it can get way more expensive to take care of those than you would paying for new furniture. It's best to just find good sales and prices. Walmart has dirty cheap furniture pieces, Ikea is good and also Overstock.
Just the thought of bugs would make me want to go buy something. It is true, the quality of material that is being used today in furniture sucks. It doesn't make it any better when manufactures charge top dollar. Im crafty, If I really need a piece of furniture and need it made of good material, i would rather build the unit from scratch. Taking some measurements, sketching out a simple idea and taking a trip to the lumbar yard.
You do have to be careful when buying used stuff, but I carefully examine even new stuff before I buy it. I'm far more likely to buy a solid wood table for example than I would be to buy a couch or something (too many places for yuckiness to hide). I would buy a chair though to recover the seat. I'd leave it outside on the covered porch out back until I tore off the existing fabric and padding. I'd clean it all up, stain or paint as needed, and reupholster. I love the idea of building your own furniture. I've done a couple of smaller pieces, but I'd love to tackle something bigger. I really want to make some pallet furniture too, but you have to be careful when selecting pallets as well.
We haven't tried purchasing 2nd hand furniture yet, all of our furnitures are either bought brand new or given by relatives. I agree though that keeping an eye for used furniture can save you some money.
A couple other places to get furniture is Target and Ikea. However, these usually aren’t high quality pieces. I really like shopping at homegoods or TJMaxx for furniture. It is very unique and you usually can’t find the same piece anywhere else. You also can't beat the prices.
I like to purchase second hand furniture because I can find some very nice pieces that are very inexpensive. I am really good at restoring old things and making them new again with a little paint, stain, fabric, and elbow grease. Most of the new furniture pieces these days are cheaply made and way too expensive
