Free Furniture is Good Furniture

Am I right? Okay, maybe not always. But a lot of the time a free piece of furniture just needs a little work to be awesome! And actually, every piece in today's post I got for free at some point in the last few years.  But even if you're not finding free pieces on the curb, it's amazing what you can do with the things you already have if you just look at them a little differently. I just learned that lesson AGAIN after months of wishing for a bigger bookcase in Baby B's room and a bigger nightstand in the master bedroom and not being able to afford them. But we'll get to that in a minute.

My most recent freebie was a sweet mid century modern dresser. A friend got it for free but wasn't up for making the repairs, so she generously passed it on to me! A few nails and a little glue later, all the drawers are working again. :) Once it was fixed I slipped it right into the office between the bookcases. I'd been wanting some closed storage to break up all the shelving, and this seemed like the perfect fit. Granted it still needs some work in the paint department, but for free I can totally work with that!

And the bookcase that used to be there? It was the perfect thing for Baby B's room! With $0 spent we slid it across the hall and solved the toy storage problem. I do plan to repaint it. I'm not sure what color yet.... Any suggestions?

We also moved all the books to a yard sale basket at the foot of the crib. Baby B loves being able to rifle through there and pick one out. :)

But wait, there's more! Remember the small bookcase thing that used to be there? And remember how I wanted a new nightstand? Boom baby! Lots of room for books and even a big basket (that currently holds nothing but unmatched socks.... so there are probably like 20 complete sets in there by now).

So if you're on a tight furniture budget, be sure to keep your eyes open. Freebies can pop up anywhere! Our desk was found on a curb, Baby B's old dresser is was passed down through the family, this dresser was a freebie from a friend who got it from a friend and passed it on to me, the bookcase was from another friend who didn't want to pack it when she moved, and the nightstand was a freebie I found in the campus classifieds a couple months before we were married (so it's been with us 5 years!).

You can also stretch your budget by working with what you have. I (obviously) forget this all the time. I had the two things I needed right here in the house, and I had no idea! When I moved in the new dresser and displaced the bookcase, it opened door after door. If I'd kept my eyes open I probably could have figured that out weeks ago! But I kind of have an excuse... I'm usually keeping my eyes on this boy:

Wearing his baby carrier... but refusing to ride in it. Stinker.

Oh, buddy, I'm not sure you want to stay in there....

What's the best thing you ever found for free?

Day 10 - The Eye of the Beholder

Day 10 already? This is going to be another quick, falling behind post, but at least it's earlier than yesterday, right? :) My topic today is about finding great things for your home, even though someone else may have missed the potential.

 This morning my dad went out for a walk with Baby B, then came back to tell me about a chair someone had put out in the alley with the trash. I walked down to look at it and ended up bringing it home. I wasn't even sure if I liked it yet, but figured it was free and if I decided I didn't like it I could put it right back on the curb for someone else. (I know, not my best photography work. Sorry!)

I took it inside, wiped it down, added one of my fave pillows, and decided I loved it. Especially the unique shape, which is what had me on the fence in the first place! Crazy, right? I just couldn't quite picture it working in my home until I actually got it in there.

Project Cost Breakdown:
$0 - chair from the alley
Total: FREE! Somebody's trash was my treasure!

My dad is also the one who found my desk on someone's curb and picked it up for me. I gave it a little TLC and it has been an important part of my office ever since!

So the moral of today's story is that someone else's trash could turn out to be your treasure! Keep your eyes open because you never know when you'll stumble across something great. And remember not to fully judge something before you get it home because you could be surprised by how well it works (or doesn't work) in your space.
Have you ever found treasure among someone else's trash? Or found potential that someone else missed?

A Freebie Desk

I have my parents to thank for this one, too.

My dad saw it by the side of the road on his way to work, called my mom, and she went and picked it up. Then they drove it all the way to my house. They're nice like that.

I should probably start taking before pictures of these things, but for now just use your imagination to picture it brown and peeling and ugly. Because that's what it was. I sanded off the loose parts on the bottom and then hit it with a couple coats of spray paint. Easy peasy. And I love how I can still the roughness behind it that gives is a distressed look.

The top I sanded to bare wood, stained, and polyurethaned. I like the two tone finish, and the top with be super easy to wipe down.

Since the desk doesn't have any drawers, I got these boxes at Ikea to fill that role. I'm also hunting down baskets at yard sales to fill in the rest of the shelves. All in all I think I've put about $10 into the storage pieces for this project. And that's all I've spent. I used paint, stain, and polyurethane that were left over from other projects.

This desk looked nasty when I first met it, but I loved the traditional style the moment I saw it. The important thing with freebies is to look at the potential, and this baby was full of it! By using an updated two-tone finish and some modern accessories this desk turned out perfect for my home. And I had a lot of fun doing it, too. :)

Candle Stands - A Freebie Find!

My parents were helping clean out our church basement, and found a couple wooden candle stands that were headed for the garbage. They were a little on the ugly side and definitely outdated, but they knew their daughter loves a good project and snagged them for me! I wish I had taken before pictures, but at least you can see the after!


The first job was cleaning them up and scraping off the old wax. Once that was over the fun started! The two taller stands started out the same size, so I cut one shorter for a little more variety. The shortest one wasn't even a candle stand. It had some little table top that I pulled off so I could just use the base. Remember, groupings always look better in odd numbers! Then all I did was give them a coat of glossy black paint, and viola! Freebie candle stands!

Well, I did buy the candles on after-Christmas clearance. But other than that I didn't spend a dime! And I spent maybe an hour fixing them up. You can't beat that! Never be afraid to snag something just because it is a little outdated. It just needs a little love!

I love that glossy black paint! It really gives them an up-to-date finish while keeping the traditional styling. And that is my favorite. A mix of traditional and contemporary. Perfect.

I can't wait to see your freebie finds!