Furnishing/upcycling house on a budget

Hjad

Hi,

We are due to move into our new home soon - hopefully (depending on completion)..
Aside from the dining table and chairs, really I would like the furniture to be white, as that is what our other furniture pieces are so wanting them to match as much as possible.

With a baby on the way (March)I am wanting to keep costs down as much as possible, the things I need are as follows at the moment -

Bedside cabinets ideally under £100
Double Bed frame needs to be sturdy - ideally under £200
Dining room and chairs - ideally round and needs to be sturdy- as cheap as
possibly cot bed and changing unit - as cheap as
Sideboard / unit for DVD storage with doors, as cannot stand seeing them on display!

I've been scrolling endlessly through the usual ; Facebook, Ebay, Gumtree etc - nothing is really drawing me in.

The other thought I have had is to get cheap pine furniture and up cycle to my taste. Does anyone have any recommendations for a total newbie with things like this?

Or if anyone can recommend places for second hand furniture buying / reasonably priced places to go in the Cambridgeshire area.

Excuse me if the above is a little vague.

EssexExile

Charity shops & auctions. "Brown furniture" is cheap, add paint as required.

DeeDee87

Check out your local charity shops , I got a beautiful dark wood sideboard in the big one in Stevenage (next to b and m) it was reduced to £50, we also got a large pine welsh dresser in there before we moved and that was only £90. they both will be sanded and painted. we snagged huge wardrobe from preen in biggleswade for £100 and painted it white. they both do delivery too! . I'm sure there are some places in and around your area.
if not there is another reuse shop in the broadwater area of Stevenage that had a lot of things constantly moving through. its called Stevenage furniture recycling centre, both preen and them have Facebook pages.


Then there's the green house market in Letchworth too.

Hjad

DeeDee87 wrote: »

Check out your local charity shops , I got a beautiful dark wood sideboard in the big one in Stevenage (next to b and m) it was reduced to £50, we also got a large pine welsh dresser in there before we moved and that was only £90. they both will be sanded and painted. we snagged huge wardrobe from preen in biggleswade for £100 and painted it white. they both do delivery too! . I'm sure there are some places in and around your area.
if not there is another reuse shop in the broadwater area of Stevenage that had a lot of things constantly moving through. its called Stevenage furniture recycling centre, both preen and them have Facebook pages.


Then there's the green house market in Letchworth too.

Fab, thank you so much! I don't suppose you know if you can stain pine to make it slightly darker like a walnut/chestnut, or would it have to be painted?

DeeDee87

Hjad wrote: »

Fab, thank you so much! I don't suppose you know if you can stain pine to make it slightly darker like a walnut/chestnut, or would it have to be painted?

hi, you would need to sand back the varnish that is already on there so that your new stain can get down to the wood, you can re stain it or keep it natural and just oil or wax it, you just need to make sure all of the old varnish is off as it will look a different colour .

Fire_Fox

Are you a newbie to parenting as well as a newbie to upcycling?

If yes consider time and space to work on your projects: preparing/ sanding and painting/ finishing create dust and fumes that you will not want around your young family. Whilst throwing windows open for fresh air is healthy, one can have too much of that in March!

IKEA have some very sturdy, popular and long lived ranges that come up regularly on auction sites for peanuts, IF you can collect. Since their furniture comes apart easily, it is not impossible for you and a mate to bring pieces home on a bus or train. If you pay peanuts, it only need remain in your home until you find something that draws you in.

Expedit/ Kallax is one of the easiest to find, and works as a sideboard or baby changing unit. Optional extras include doors, drawers, locking wheels, soft baskets, wine rack, even a cat bed!

I cannot kill my twelve year old Expedit units, despite overloading them with hardback books, sitting and standing on them regularly (draw curtains/ clean windows) and never once tightening the fittings.

The Malm bedroom range is another sturdy, popular and long lived IKEA line.

Lastly the IKEA Hackers website is worth trawling for inspiration.

HTH!

sol2017

In addition to previous posts, keep an eye on local Freecycle offerings. Facebook marketplace works quite well for me, also I've found cheap and good furniture on ebay although it does take quite a bit of time to find the right thing. If you can wait then keep an eye on deals that will save you even more (like ebay 15% off). Sorry if I'm stating obvious. Good luck

mtbbuxton

If you post a request for the items you're looking for on the FB selling pages, you're likely to find everything you need. Plenty of people - me included - have stuff to sell but don't get around to listing it.



M x