I don't buy new furniture! I'll be honest. It's not because I'm a treehugger. It's because I have three young children. Ages 10, 7, and 5. All boys ! Life gets expensive for a family of FIVE. I just can't buy brand new stuff. PLUS..The kids like to spill food, spill drinks, draw on, stick their fingers in, pick at, pee on (they'd soak thru cloth diapers), and basically destroy perfectly good furniture. So, I don't buy new stuff! If you have dogs or cats you know what I'm talking about too!
Take the time to seek out used furniture. There's lots of great "stuff" out there. Recently, (because we are participating in a virtual school) we bought 2 desks for the kids. We found one on Craigslist and one at Goodwill. The one from Goodwill was an awesome find. It is an old sewing machine table that was recently sanded and varnished. It looks great! My wife's Aunt was kind enough to give us the table you see in the upper corner. It had some water stains and a broken leg. After a little love and my elbow grease....it looks outstanding!
With the recession going on, some folks are downsizing and looking to get some cash. Find deals on http://www.craigslist.com and http://www.ebay.com.
I had the opportunity to spend a morning helping Charleston Habitat for Humanity. What an awesome organization! Be sure to check out their ReStore on Meeting Street. I had a coworker tell me he bought some Ethan Allen furniture there.
http://www.charlestonhabitat.org/restore.html
Goodwill is hit and miss. My friend George Stankus stops by every day looking for a deal. www.goodwill.org
My wife has swapped kids clothing and different items thru "Freecycle." You're asked to give something up before you pick up. Basically, instead of throwing stuff out...folks will post what they have to give. Someone will respond..."I'll take that" and the person will leave it on their front porch for them.
If someone needs something and no one has posted. They'll ask "Does anyone have an extra bookcase?" and someone will respond. "Ya..come pick it up." You get the picture.
http://freecycle.org/
If you're thinking of replacing something that you've had for a while. Clean it, paint it, move it, give it new life, or donate it.
You'll save yourself a few bucks while your at it.
Leave only your footprints.
they peed through disposable diapers too. LOL they were just heavy wetters. we won't be freecycling our bed, don't worry! hehe
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