One Man's Trash . . .
I love buying used furniture. There are so many reasons why. First, and foremost, I am addicted to "the find".
Once you get started and acquire a few interesting, well made items for pennies on the dollar it’s hard not to continue hunting.
However, I learned the hard way… don’t buy it if you don’t have a use for it. Let’s put that another way, if you can’t FIND a use for it. Sometimes that unique item will inspire you to make a place for it and upgrade your room or, it may ask to be reinvented for a purpose that it was not intended for.
Here’s what I say when I am wandering through estate sales or consignment stores… “I am looking for that particular piece that I have to have that I didn’t know I needed.”
I believe that buying used furniture is a form of recycling. Why buy new when there are perfectly good… no, really good pieces out there that still have so much life left in them? Do we really want to add more “stuff” to our landfills?
So much of the furniture that once was manufactured in the U.S. is now being made offshore. Quality hardwood furniture is getting harder to find and the cost is climbing. If I find a well made second hand sofa, I feel it’s worth the cost to reupholster it simply because it can’t be replaced in today’s market without spending a fortune.
I originally began searching second hand stores and garage sales because I couldn’t afford anything else…. now it is my passion.
I believe that pieces rich in character and patina can transform a room from ordinary to extraordinary.
Inherent in these rare finds is a sense of soul and depth that cannot be duplicated by buying something new.