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Nowadays, so many people are so concerned with having the "best" around furniture. I've seen many people rack up thousands in debt just to furnish their homes.
So, time to talk about the opposite. Cheapest furniture you've ever bought/acquired. I'll begin.
When I was looking at getting my first apartment, I looked all over for a decent couch at a decent price. Well - I found one. $10 couch on Craigslist. So I went and purchased it and took it to my dad's house. After about 2 hours of vacuuming and cleaning...... wow.
It was the most comfortable couch I've ever sat on. We still have said couch - and it's known as a magnet. Every time friends come over for the night, they fight over who gets to sleep on the couch.
I had ALL hand-me-downs starting out and the standard college issue cinder block book shelves.
Cost... Free or Next to Nothing!
Sometimes I think America is truly a very rich country judging by the things I've seen my tenants throw out.
Case In Point, One family bought all new furniture last year and has already thrown out 2 dining room chairs that broke.
And then the children in another family all received new bicycles last Christmas (13 months ago) from the Grandparents. All three bikes are being put out this week for the once a year bulky waste pick-up. Two have flat tires and nothing is wrong with the third one.
I think we really have become a throw-away society...
Ooh, what a nice idea for a thread! Ok, the worst piece of cheap furniture was a bright yellow vinyl couch that had silver metal arms. The best piece of cheap furniture was a coffee table that had a metal base that I spray painted black and a glass top. I brought it at a garage sale for ten dollars and had tons of compliments on the thing.
Location: Sometimes Maryland, sometimes NoVA. Depends on the day of the week
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You don't have to be young and penniless to go for cheap furniture. DH and I are in our early 30s and in the second home we've owned. As far as new furniture, we have bought a dresser, a king size bed, a coffee table, a computer desk, a handful of bookcases (IKEA), and.... and.... I think thats it. Everything else has been hand-me-down or thrifted. Good stuff too. It probably helps that my in-laws have too much money, love to redecorate, and just moved from our side of the country to the other. Plus I like to refinish/update old furniture and I like antiques.
My college room mate and I use to love dumpster diving at the end of the semester. People always called us when they needed a couch, cause we were always stumbling on them. LOL And just Saturday I got a practically new Ikea Poang chair from freecycle!
Concrete block and 2X10 bookcases, two peacock chairs and side tables from a garage sale- made my "1st" living room. For the patio, a large cable reel for a table and folding chairs. My bed was a hand-me down of platform and mattress that sat on a 2X10 frame (the frame later became the base for a waterbed I built). I had no drawers- everything went on shelves I built of 1X12, in the closet.
"those were the days"- Archie Bunker
Cheap does not have to equate with poorly constructed or lack of style. I admit it...I'm a dumpster diver and have recovered some nice treasures that way but I also love auctions. I think my vintage mahogany dining table (seats 8) is lovely. I paid $50 for it at an auction. It was a great find because I really needed an oval table for my space and all I could find in stores was rectangle and round.
The cheapest furniture we own is our bedroom set, we purchased it new when we got married for $1,000. for the complete set. It is the worst pieces of crap. I can't get the drawers open half the time.
On the other end the best cheapest furniture is a kitchen table we purchased also from Value City for less than $200.00 and it was still in good shape when we donated it. You couldn't damage this thing.
Dresser: $0 Hand-me-down.
Bed: $0 Hand-me-down.
Canvas Chair: $0 gift.
Sofa and Loveseat: $0, taken from someone who was throwing it out. Comfortable and big enough to sleep a couple on the couch.
Rolling and Non-rolling cabinets: $1.99 and $2.99 respectively: Thrift store.
a beautiful antique desk that a co-worker was going to throw out...... I stripped and refinished it in mahogany, did the top in a faux bookmatch marble, and dry brushed the carving in gold so it looked like gilding. I have it in my bedroom and use it as a dressing table with a 3 by 5 venetian mirror over it. People rave about it when they see it!
I loooooves me some free stuff!
I also have a chaise lounge that I found on new years eve in the rain, out by the dumpster. DH rescued it, I had it redone in a green/ivory medallion toile, gorgeous!
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