Second-hand furniture shopping

Since I moved to Australia, I’ve kind of got used to having very little spare cash most of the time, and when I do have a bit of cash replacing furniture etc is never high on the priority list.  I’ve kind of got used to just picking up something cheap from IKEA and making the most of it.  I’m not too proud to buy second-hand anything, but I’ve never actually thought about second-hand furniture – mainly because when I have gone to 2nd hand shops the furniture all seems a crazy price for what you’re actually buying.  Lately, though, my current flatmate has started trawling our local trade/selling site and been coming back with all sorts of goodies.  I decided what the heck, if I can’t afford to buy my dream $700 coffee tables etc, maybe I can at least make a drastic improvement on what I have at the moment for a lot less money.  That first browse on the site began about two months ago … since then a few different pieces of furniture have been coming into the flat over recent weeks.

A couple of pieces are still hanging out in the garage downstairs until we can hire a couple of burly blokes to come and carry them upstairs – and one piece in particular I want to sand back and stain first (plus it has a broken hinge that needs repairing).  So far, though, I’ve managed to get a coffee and side table set for $30, a dark wood china cabinet for nothing except the petrol it took to drive there, and a TV cabinet (that’s the one that needs an overhaul) that was free.  This is my coffee table – it just needs touching up on the top as there are a few deep scratches, but it’s WAY better than the ugly IKEA table that was its predecessor!  It’s so lovely to have pieces of WOODEN furniture with real character and warmth, not to mention in each a living history, rather than the cheap soulless laminate-covered chipboard! 🙂

The latest acquisition I picked up yesterday … that cost $50, although my flatmate threw me $50 as I walked out the door and said she was going to pay for it for my early Xmas present – what a surprise!!

Anyway, the latest purchase may not seem much, but I’ve always loved rocking chairs – I find them really really soothing, and can sit on one for hours gently rocking away. I also have back problems, so I figure this will also be much better for my posture sitting in the lounge when I’m stitching … my granny hobby now has some granny seating to go with it haha.  I just need to work out how to re-cover it in some nice blue upholstery fabric – in the meantime it’ll either do as is, or I’ll throw a lap blanket over it for the timebeing 🙂

It turns out it belonged to the Mum of the lady I bought it from, who’d passed away … and when I mentioned I wanted it as a stitching chair, the husband asked if I knew what a tapestry frame was and if I wanted that too.  They said they’d accept $20 for (actually they wanted $30 but I wasn’t sure I wanted it – after the drop to $20 I succumbed to the pressure).  So two of their Mum’s belongings are now living in my home, and I’m sure will be loved for years to come.  I’m still not 100% sure how much I’ll use the floor frame, but time will tell …