Whether you’re a college student living away from home for the first time, a young professional, or just an average consumer on an unusually tight budget, you really can furnish your flat for next to nothing – and contrary to popular belief, budget decorating doesn’t require an exorbitant amount of leisure time or superior shopping savvy. Just skip the pricey home furnishing stores and head straight for the following free furniture havens:
The "Free" Section on Craigslist
Craigslist is an incredibly popular online "bulletin board" and classified listings site that has taken the internet by storm. If you click the “free” tab under the “for sale” category on the Craigslist homepage (www.craigslist.org), you’ll find a veritable goldmine of free furniture and decorative items available in your local area. Like everything else on Craigslist, approximately ¼ of free stuff will be fairly useless, ¼ will be unavailable by the time you view it online, and ¼ of the people you contact won’t ever get back to you. But that remaining 25% will be fantastic – with a bit of diligence and follow-through, you can nab everything from antique upright pianos to original oil paintings to crushed velvet loveseats, ottomans, and couches. So be vigilant and check Craigslist often for new listings. Tip:if nothing in the “free” section strikes your fancy, try the “barter” section for other trading opportunities.
The Local Dump
It’s incredible what people throw away these days: refrigerators, gas stoves, bicycles, and countless other items can be dredged out of your local garbage dump. If you’re handy with a set of tools and don’t mind applying a bit of elbow grease to fix up discarded items, salvaging furniture from your local dump can be a terrific way to save on decorating dimes. Just make sure to check with local authorities before you start grabbing garbage – some dumps have stricter pick-up policies than others. Tip: if you're vacationing in a rural area, check the local dump for tons of good-quality items tossed away by tourists on their way out of town.
Goodwill
We all know that Goodwill has affordable used clothing and books – but you can also find cheap furniture at many Goodwill outlets, too. You probably won’t find any heirloom pieces, but there’s plenty of decent, usable stuff to fill your house while you’re waiting for that elusive Craigslister to call you back about the Art Deco bookcase of your dreams. Also, if you’re really tight on cash, ask your Goodwill representative if you can trade some stuff you don’t need (records, magazines, jigsaw puzzles, toys) for some stuff that you do – they’ll be more than happy to help. It is Goodwill, after all.
Human Beings
According to Slate magazine’s “Self-storage in America,” there are 1.875 billion square feet of personal storage in the USA. Chances are, someone you know has got a coffee table or recliner or desk lamp socked away in one of America’s 40,000 public storage units – or in their basement, for that matter! Don’t be shy about asking friends and relatives if you can borrow their extra stuff – after all, why should they shell out cash for public storage space when you can “store” their stuff free of charge?
Good luck, and happy freebie-hunting!
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