Source: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf84913176.tip.html

Saving Money on Furniture

It's great to have useful, durable and attractive furniture but even low quality furniture can be expensive. Here are some tips for saving money on furniture. Please post your own ideas below.

Check Out Thrift Stores

If you are going to buy cheap furniture, why not buy it really cheap? Visit your local thrift stores and look for gently used furniture. Keep an open mind. A coat of paint can make many pieces of furniture look new. Even particle board furniture can be painted, just use fine sand paper to lightly scuff the surface first. Church and charity stores tend to have better deals than the big name thrift stores.

Freecycle

I use freecycle. There are groups all over the country and you can locate them at Freecycle.org. I have known personally of people getting almost any type of furniture or appliance you can think of. To name a few things: washer, dryer, refrigerator, range, freezer, AC, couch, chairs, dining room suites. Well, I think you get my drift. I know one lady who furnished an entire house from freecycle. I have got a few great things myself, but I mostly make offers, because I am decluttering my home.

By JAN in NC

Ikea

All I can say is Ikea, I love this store, I fully furnished a 4 bedroom house with brand new furniture for under $4,000.00. I know that's kinda pricey for some but, if you want brand new on a budget, then Ikea is the store for you.

By Bambi2003

Good Used Furniture

I bought a really nice used Hickory Lane couch from my sister in law years ago. I have had at least 12 years and she bought it new 6 years before that. I have had it recovered once and now have a slip cover over it. The springs started to sag a little so I bought one of those boards you can put under the cushions to give it stability. It looks great and sits good too. I have about $500.00 in it but I don't plan on replacing it for many more years. Find good used furniture and make it last. That is my advice!

By COOKIEPOM

Yard Sales Cheaper Than Thrift Stores

In our area, I have better luck at auctions and yard sales. Since the creation of eBay, thrift shops price merchandise too high! A lot of the thrift shops in our area sell on eBay and price their merchandise accordingly.

By FlaKathy

I like yard sales better than thrift shops. I find that thrift shops want too much money for their items, they are trying to make profit, but yard sales most people are just trying to unload their stuff. By the last day of the sale, you get the best deals because people desperately want to get rid of the items before the sale is over. The best furniture deal I ever got was two free wood chairs with tacky old vinyl-covered seats. I just recovered the vinyl with new fabric and now have two great chairs!

By Persnickety Paula

Refinishing

My husband refinishes furniture for a living. You'd be surprised at how much longer a life you can have from even "cheap" furniture. You can do the refinishing yourself, or can have someone do it for you. If interested in finding a local person, searching for refinishers will do the trick. Of course, you could also email me and let my hubby do it for you!

By Lisa Brooks

Craigslist

I like to use Craigslist.com. There is a different one for every city and area.

By momma30

eBay

I have purchased a few larger furniture items recently from ebay at 1/4 to 1/3 of the cost I would've paid for new. They're in excellent condition and there's a huge range to browse through. There are huge savings to be made by purchasing secondhand.

By Jojo

Lawn Furniture For Indoors

My family room is furnished with lawn furniture and pillows that I made to cushion the seats. It is durable, cheap, and very informal. I also have another type in my living room with colors to match in there. This type is light and easy to move around as needed. There are many styles to choose from.

By Gail

Repurpose

My local Habitat for humanity has a thrift store and, besides good used furniture, I have also bought donated wood there and built my own. Which brings me to my suggestion: Look through magazines and catalogs and see what you really like that is also simple. Often you can recycle or repurpose a piece that you find to fit the style you want. For instance, I love the contemporary look that is so hot now. My sofa is an antique style. I found two twin sized headboards at my local thrift, built a platform from found/cheap wood, fastened them together, put a twin mattress on it and now have a daybed for less than fifty dollars in the contemporary style I like. I couldn't have had this idea if I hadn't had in mind what I wanted first.

By sara

Cabinet Made From Doors

I am currently changing a bedroom into a sewing and craft room. I found a goldmine at the Humanity store. I need lots of cabinet space for fabric. I am using old doors to make my cabinets with doors! Lots of doors are $5-$15 and solid wood. A little trimming to get them sized properly, some screws and hinges, you have a huge cabinet for about $30. I'm cutting one 36" door in half to make the sides (nice deep 18"). You can use a door to make a table too. A local thrift store also is one of my favorites. It uses it's profits to support the less fortunate. I turned an old vanity table into a beautiful bathroom vanity. Love the pride in doing things myself, and saving money at the same time.

By Susan

New and Used Furniture

I have gotten furniture all over the place, from picking up a steel office chair off the sidewalk to finding a book shelf at the side of the freeway! I even found a vintage 50's kitchen table for free on a neighbor's front lawn and a vintage display case on the street near some old stores. I just advise to keep on looking.

I find that older furniture is better made, in general, and can be refinished, painted or repaired better than particle board. (But some things, like computer tables, are better in newer versions.) I still have a maple dresser I got 30 years ago as a student and refinished. We have also gotten nice things at yard sales and estate sales. I also got a nice upholstered chair for my husband at a used office supply store (the new ones we looked at cost $250+).

I can even get good deals when buying new furniture, my husband got an oak dining room set at a closing Wards store and I made sure he got the solid wood instead of the glass and metal set, which was shoddier.

I have gotten an oak cabinet at the end of a yard sale FREE for just carting it away! There are so many different ways you can get nice furniture very inexpensively. Just use your thinking cap!