You've probably never thought about recycled furniture as home decor. In
fact, you might be disgusted by the thought of someone picking up your old
furniture when you set it out on the curb for trash pickup. However, if you
think about it, furniture is recycled all the time, with pieces being sold in
garage sales or sent to Goodwill and other charity services for those who are
less fortunate. If you are working with a small budget, a garage sale or a
second hand store can actually be a great place to find your newest bedroom
furniture item or decorative piece for the foyer.
Actually, if you think about it, all antiques are technically recycled, but
because they often have a ridiculously high value attached to them, people don't
see them as used. The same can be said of some second hand furniture, which you
can even update yourself if you want to make it "like new", still costing much
less than a new wrought iron bed or wood dresser. If you spend a Saturday or
Sunday shopping garage sales and yard sales in your area, you could probably
furnish an entire house for the cost of one or two new pieces, and just because
the units you buy don't match doesn't mean you can't work with them.
For example, maybe you buy a TV armoire that is in nearly perfect condition at
one yard sale, but it is a shade of brown that doesn't match your living room at
all. At the next garage sale, you find a great storage ottoman, but it is olive
green, which not only clashes with your current living room décor but also with
the couch you just bought. You can go to a fabric store and purchase enough
fabric in the color of your choice to recover both items or to even create
simple slip covers that can be removed and washed for both items. Overall, with
the cost of the two pieces used and the material, you've probably spent less
than you would have on just the ottoman had you bought it brand new.
The same is true of wood furnishings. Perhaps you need to get an additional
nightstand for your bedroom, and everything you have so far is cherrywood. Yet,
at a second hand store, you find a piece that is the same style as your current
shelving for a very low price that has an oak finish. It is quite easy to buy
some sandpaper and apply a coat or two of cherrywood finish to a sanded unit,
and the cost difference from buying a new unit is definitely worth the time.
So, next time you start thinking about how crazy some people are for buying used
bedoom furniture, think twice about how crazy you may be for turning down the
opportunity to purchase something that you can update yourself and save an
outrageous amount of money. As the old adage says, one man's trash really is
another man's treasure. |
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