How to Decorate Your Home with Used Furniture

The following is a reader story submitted by Sandy. Who is a stay-at-home mom with a five-year-old kid. I hope you will enjoy this article and get some value out of it. I did edit her submission to fit the objectives of this blog.

Decorate with used furniture

I was generally raised to be a homebody, so the transition was not difficult. What I find kind of hard is the fact I could sometimes get so antsy with my own home!

You see, I love home decorations and making spaces very pretty (in my opinion, at least). Yet I also cannot afford to spend several hundred dollars buying new furniture and fixtures all the time. I know my husband is going to be so upset with me.

But thanks to several hours of thinking and rethinking and getting inspirations online, I told myself one day, “Why don’t I learn how to decorate home with used furniture?” So here is what I did:

I look for them

When I say look, I definitely spent days and months looking for great pieces. I went to Craigslist first since there are actually tons of used furniture that are up for sale for insanely cheap prices. I was able to find an Eames chair currently sold at only $50. Imagine that! But I decided to challenge myself and find something much cheaper.

Anyway, besides Craigslist, I watched out for garage sales. I asked friends and family members to let me know if there is one within their area. I also inquired if they are trying to throw away certain pieces. Then I found some people who were willing to trade pieces so they could also learn how to decorate home with used furniture. Mind you, I never spent more than a hundred dollars for any piece I had.

I Rearrange things

It is so amazing how simple re-organizations of pieces could do wonders to any space. When I found my sofa to be quite big and I needed more space for my five-year-old to run around, I opted to place it near the wall, and viola! The center looked more expansive than before.

I Paint them

You want to know how to decorate home with used furniture without spending tons of money? Paint them! Definitely I labored hard and invested sweat and blood—yes, blood—and a couple of tears just to get things done. But no regrets. They looked as if they are brand-new. It even felt like I had given them new life (now this is making me teary-eyed right now). The best pieces to work on were definitely wood. Before painting them, I would sand them really hard to make sure the paint could stay in the material for a very long time. If I did not have a lot of time to work on things, I just used spray paint.

I use some fabrics

This idea is perfect for those who do not want to spend a lot of time remodeling or do not know anything about painting things. You can definitely learn how to decorate home with used furniture with fabrics, and you do not even need to know how to sew. Here is an idea. I wanted to sort of change the way my bed looked like, so what I did was to add Velcro at the tip of the bed skirt and laced the edges. I just looked for something that is a bit thicker. I was able to create a slipcover without sewing and in less than an hour by using pins and scissors only. Fabrics could also cover huge imperfections on your used furniture.

Think about your space

The last thing you want to happen is to be featured in Hoarders. One of the sensible ideas on how to decorate home with used furniture is to never abuse your space. So you have to choose your pieces very well. If they are unnecessary, you can choose to give them away or think of other ways on how to maximize them without limiting the space you have.

When I am in the mood for some redecoration, I would always corner in our house where I would put some pieces that seem out of place or not need for, say, the living room or the dining room. Once I am done with the picking, I would then focus my attention on the “sort of discarded” pieces and finally choose if I should keep it or not. I really do not want to sell them since I would like to think I am helping others decorate their own homes in only few dollars.

Always be inspired

Sometimes I run out of ideas on what to do. When that happens, I just step out and read a good book. If not, go online and check out sites such as Pinterest, which has countless links to awesome DIYs and home décor tips. It is very important for me to stay inspired, since it motivates me to be more creative or imaginative.

SB : I would like to point towards a blog post written by my friend Corey on furnishing an apartment with used goods. Check that out.