Getting nice furniture and stuff for your home doesn't have to be just for people who've got like, proper jobs and mortgages and things like that. Although it might seem for us on the lower end of the pay scale, stuck in rented accommodation for probably the rest of our lives, that those adverts for furniture stores might as well be adverts to purchase shares in liquid gold, there are a few easy ways to get yourself a new(ish) dining room table or sofa.
All you need, is a few tricks up your sleeve. Thanks to the disposable nature of our consumerist culture, and the fact that we move house like, all the time, there's so many people trying to get rid of their stuff, they're willing to do it for free. Sure you know about the free section on Gumtree, and FreeCycle, but delve a little deeper and you'll find websites like FreeWheely and FreeAdsthat might have less stuff for the taking but are still worth checking out. Also, have you tried setting the price limit on Gumtree to £0-£5? It's amazing the amount of stuff that people are trying to shift for just one or two quid.
Transporting your stuff from it's old home to you is obviously the kicker. And, unless you've got a mate with a van, that's where the money part comes in. If you're in a big UK city, far and away the easiest way to do this is sign up for a ZipVan account. For roughly a tenner for an hour, you can get hold of a van to transport all your new goods home. Just make sure they're located less than an hour's drive away so you don't end up getting a ticket for running red lights on your way back.
In case you're not convinced, we've scoured our favourite free websites for stuff to prove to you you never need to step foot in an IKEA again. Here’s some examples of stuff that proves taking advantage of free shit is essentially the only way forward from here on out.
FYI – obviously as there's like, only ONE of each of these things, if they get snapped up it's not our fault. This is more just to show you the sort of stuff you COULD be getting your greedy mitts on.
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This couch that's still got a few good years in her
Fair play to Martin Kemp, he wasn’t all that on EastEnders but stick the man on a sofa advert and he can actually say the line ‘NOW ONLY £589!’ with a straight face, which is worth all manner of Oscars in our eyes. Don’t ever pay for sofas, no matter how many times that Peter, Bjorn and John song whistles out of a DFS advert. There’s like, a million on the internet for free. Take this one from FreeWheeley for instance. Substantial, comfy-looking and still got a few years in her yet, she’s more enough for us
This entire dining room chair and table set
For those of you without space for a dining room table, destined to spend the rest of your renting years (read: forever) eating soup crouched on your sofa wrapped in dish towels to stop you spilling it all over you/the cushions, we feel your pain. For the lucky ones of you with that little corner of a kitchen that’d do nicely for a table, here’s a whole (NEW) set on Gumtree. For free.
This fancy schmancy juicer
Think you can’t join the green juice brigade because you can’t afford a Nutribullet? Nah, plus, can a Nutribullet really be all that different from an actual juicer? Probably not. This juicer on Freecycle is really rather posh and, obviously, free. And by Anthony Worrall Thompson. Whether that adds to it or detracts from the overall value, we’re not sure.
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This PIANO
Again, this is for someone that’s got room in their house but what a swanky addition to Chez You, eh? Even if your musical abilities extends as far as playing Chopsticks one handed this piano on FreeAds, could either be A) the beginning of a beautiful new career for you (Jamie Cullum, if you’re still a thing; eat your heart out) or, a nice display mantelpiece type thing for your knick knacks that's way classier than an IKEA Billy Bookcase.
This really rather fancy bed
If you live anywhere within driving distance of West London then you'll hit the motherlode on your hunt for free things again and again and again. Rich people just have nicer things. Science says. This bednot only has the handy storage underneath it but also has an iron Bedknobs and Broomsticks style headboard. Do you know anyone with a headboard? Because we don't. Until now.
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Picture: Eugenia Loli
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.