The best buys are at the YMCA shops. They sell furniture at extremely cheap prices and the objects are usually in a pretty good condition. British Heart Foundation furniture/white goods shops are not bad either. Barnardos is another charity that has a good national chain of used furniture shops, however, Barnardos somehow doesn’t do it for me; generally, the prices are too high. A £19.99 sideboard (YMCA) is always a better idea than a £99.99 (Barnardos) one, don’t you think?
Some of the furniture you pick up at the charity shops will require TLC but the majority of the work can be carried out with a strap of sandpaper and a little bit of furniture wax.
You can also go further and embark on a furniture design DIY project. Just let your creativity run free. Here are some ideas how to turn used furniture into haute-couture:
- Replace those boring plastic handles with brass, polished steel or bakelite
- Strip off the varnish and paint the surfaces to match with your wallpaper or other furniture bits
- Smooth out the surface of a door/drawer, paste a matching strip of wallpaper and when it’s dried cover with varnish.
Please use these web links to find cheap green furniture in your part of country:
- http://www.ymca.org.uk/bfora/systems/xmlviewer/default.asp?arg=DS_YMCA_COMP_75/_list.xsl/102
- http://www.bhf.org.uk/about-us/bhf-around-britain/map.aspx
- http://www.barnardos.org.uk/shop/shops.htm?country=0
Pic by Porter Bryonia
This piece looks beautiful and for only 20quid, that’s a wow.
Me and my mom do this alot, get some 2nd pieces and work them into a new state. It’s fun and relaxing to spend some time repairing furniture
I never realized you could get furniture so affordably in the UK. All the things I have looked at are expensive compared to the States, but these are some great resources you have highlighted. The bonus is not only a cheap price, but a good environmental purchase that you can feel good about! Cheers
Second hand furniture is really popular at the moment. If you look around Portobello Market you will see old wardrobes, chest of draws being snapped up and at quite affordable prices. However, if you really want a bargain i would suggest you try looking around a few jumble sales as you will be surprised at what you will come across and the build quality of the furniture which can often easy be restored by a light sanding and coat of varnish or paint.
Emmaus is the best for cheap second hand furniture, and all the profits go to formerly-homeless community houses and the shops are run by formerly-homeless people. Emmaus is all over the UK and France.
SofaProject is another good local place, a bit more expensive but generally better quality stuff too, depends what you want it for.
Second hand funiture can be really excellent. If you look carefully you can often find beautifully made old furniture that only requires fairly mimimal effort to restore. Jumble sales and car boot sales are great places to look.