by Rachelle de Bretagne

Created on: August 18, 2008

One man's rubbish is another man's treasure. It is always worth keeping this in mind when you are perhaps starting out and don't have the resources to buy furniture. There are so many areas where free things can be found, and having things which cost nothing actually makes you feel very proud because you can personalize and improve, using your own imagination to make that furniture look every bit as good as new furniture would, though with the satisfaction of knowing you did it on a shoe-string.

*People updating their homes.
*Small ads.
*Garage sale leftovers.
*Skips
*Bartering clubs.

The nice thing about inheriting things that others do not want is that they are only too glad to give you what they find outdated. When people buy new kitchens to keep up with trends, often they don't want the old kitchen, and are only too glad to get rid of it. That doesn't actually mean you have to have second class goods. With a little imagination, you can re-design cupboard fronts to bring them up to date. Living in a consumerist society means that there are those who cannot be bothered to change things, and prefer to buy new. This gives you a wonderful opportunity to furnish your home for nothing.

Similarly with dining suites, beds, sofas and chairs. Family members may be updating and don't want those older items which, to them, seem shabby. With chairs, these can be brought up to date often by stripping the old varnish and then re-varnishing, or can be painted to match your decorations. Beds often have old bed heads which are out of date, and while not advising people to rip antiques which may have some value apart, what you can do is turn these beds into fashionable items by removing the bed head, and replacing it with a wall hanging which looks every bit as up to date as buying new. Sofas are an easy to get free commodity as people do update the look of family rooms frequently, and here with a little bit of care, these can be decorated with throws to make them look stylish and new.

Never looking a gift horse in the mouth, never say "No" to items offered for free since there are so many possibilities of adaptation to suit your home and after all, the person discarding them is doing so because they no longer want them, and won't be offended if you change the style and make them more suited to your use.

Small Ads.

The small ads in the local newspaper are a great place to have an advertisement. This costs a small amount, and if you have a need, why not advertise and see if you get replies.

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