Cost of items other than basic goods

[Rance]

Heck you can build furniture for nuthin! Just cut some sticks and wire em together...or get fancy and use duct tape! And there is nothing more comfortable than a good wood chunk to kick back on while whittling dishes and utensiles! Did you know you can boil water in a birch bark container? City Slickers!

[ulsterscot]

Originally Posted by Rance

Heck you can build furniture for nuthin! Just cut some sticks and wire em together...or get fancy and use duct tape! And there is nothing more comfortable than a good wood chunk to kick back on while whittling dishes and utensiles! Did you know you can boil water in a birch bark container? City Slickers!

LOL. I actually CAN build furniture from scratch, but it's kind of hard to do in an apartment.

[Rance]

Old bucket seats, inner tubes, cardboard, old cable spools, cement blocks and boards...lot's of things make furniture!

[DannyL]

Old cable spools make great coffee tables, and those removable bench seats in vans make really great sofa's. Some even come with adjustable head rests...

[DzzRed]

Originally Posted by Rance

...cement blocks and boards...

Makes great shelves, I know, I used to have them!!

[DannyL]

Originally Posted by Rance

cement blocks and boards...lot's of things make furniture!

Standard bookcase building materials. To show some class you always put the boards painted side down to hide it, to show that "rustic look" you know....

[BJSkallion]

I think everybody has had the concrete block and board Entertainment/Bookcase unit at some time in their life. To make it a designer look one might try spray painting the blocks with black spray paint and the boards in another color to blend your decor HaHa
BJS ( the old Soutnern Lady)

[Blueberry]

I actually kinda miss my old blocks and boards... Not the smartest thing for earthquake country, though.

I've always wanted a cable spool for a picnic table.

Since my puppy chewed the upholstery on the arm of the sofa a few days ago, I've envisioned accessorizing with duct tape. Or else I'm going to accessorize her with the stuff!

Now to the point...

Lots of people put stuff in storage before coming up here. Heck, my family put stuff in storage when we moved to the Bush 10 years ago. After awhile, that's a lot of money. Most of the people I know who have storage "Outside," never really make the heart/mind connections with this state. Plus, I think they have a harder time connecting with people here because their "stuff" is part of who they are or reflects their personalities; something is missing.

People in the Bush get premium $$$ for garage sale items simply because those items aren't readily available. You definitely have to weigh the cost of buying locally vs. shipping. One also has to realize quality and style may not be available here, and many companies do not ship to Alaska or charge a highly inflated price if they do.

[AKMammabear]

Go dumpster diving! I thought that is something I would NEVER do, but found out that lots of people leaving the state actually set good furniture out at the dumpster because they ran out of time / did not sell all the stuff, etc. We found a sofa that, after we cleaned it up, is still used in our TV room. We found a tv that worked after you slapped it a couple of times, a coffee machine that has nothing wrong with it and a bunch of fishing gear...

[paddleplay]

You can also try freecyle.org. It is a network of local communities who recycle items for re-use instead of filling up our landfills. I've gotten some pretty cool stuff through them. To check out participating AK communities go to:

http://www.freecycle.org/groups/uspacific/#Alaska (broken link)

Good Luck