Second Hand Furniture With a Past and Unfinished Furniture With a Future
Furnishing your home can be quite an expensive experience, but an easy way out of most of that expense is to buy second hand furniture. While you might initially think that you’ll be getting beat up rejects, that’s not the case at all.
Most of the used furniture on the market is in very good to excellent condition– the way it would probably look about a month or two after it comes into your home. So if you’re getting concerned about quality, just tell yourself that you will end up with just as good a product as you would have if you had bought it new, you’re just saving yourself a bit of cash, and jumping ahead a few months.
Of course, as with any furniture purchase, you do need to make sure that you will be getting a piece of furniture that not just looks good, but will last as well. Shop with caution and make sure to ask questions and thoroughly examine the item before buying it. Whether you are going to second hand furniture stores or answering classified ads, you will always need to
If you are buying directly from the original owners, take a look around their home. Do they smoke? Do they have pets or children? If either of those are the case, you will have to be slightly more cautious. Anyone who is trying to sell second hand furniture is going to present their goods in the most positive light possible, so you take a good look over the piece for any excessive signs of wear.
Make sure to smell the insides of any drawers or cabinets. Do they smell of smoke, urine, or mildew? Open any drawers and apply some weight with the palm of your hand. Do they creak or seem to give more than you would expect? And of course, make sure to look over the exterior to make sure that it meets your standards.
When looking at second hand furniture for sale on the internet, you will need to be just as cautious. While you obviously can’t scout out the owner’s home of examine the item yourself, ask the seller for pictures of any defects, scratches, or stain. If the seller claims that the piece is in perfect condition, put on your skeptical hat. I have never seen a piece of furniture that has left the factory that is in mint condition, and there is no reason to believe that a piece of furniture that has lived in someone’s home for any amount of time wouldn’t show it.
Tags: Second Hand Furniture, second hand furniture for sale, second hand furniture stores, second hand office furniture, sell second hand furniture
Posted in Second Hand Furniture · December 8th, 2009 · Comments (1)
Welcome!
Why does unfinished furniture or even second hand furniture appeal to so many of us? It is a common held belief that most of us prefer or at least would enjoy the finer things in life. Isn’t that what TV shows like “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” and MTV’s “Cribs” are all about? Maybe there’s more to it than that.
It’s a well-known real estate fact that an unfinished basement increases home value more than a finished basement. Why is that? I think it’s because we are dreamers. We love potential. A basement with possibilities is far more exciting than a finished game room or well stocked bar. As Americans, we love freedom. More than that, we love freedoms. The freedom to choose unleashes creative thought processes. In much the same way that an empty canvas inspires the painter, so does unfinished furniture to that do it yourself minded individual or couple. The desk or chair or TV stand can match or contrast our existing decor if we so choose, because it is our choice. Light or dark, textured or smooth, indoor or outdoor is the destination or potential, and we get to select the journey to get there.
We also love transformations and improvements. From remodeling our homes with carpentry and decoration to remodeling our bodies with plastic surgery and weight loss pills we are in love with improvement. How else can you explain the overabundance of self help literature on the market today? How else can you explain TV shows like “Extreme Makeover”? It’s the American dream really. To come from nothing or nowhere and become something or someone, this is the American fascination. Could that be why second hand furniture is so appealing to us? Of course, most of us are frugal and can see the value without waxing philosophical. Many times it is a great value, above and beyond potential, that appeals to us. In today’s economic climate we can hardly afford not to be frugal or to take advantage of great value. That being said, I believe there is more to it than our thrifty nature would imply. We want to see how we can breathe new life into this inanimate object that once belonged to someone else. We want to see just how we can take advantage of something that someone else felt was unneeded. Potential.
We will talk more in future articles about the advantages and drawbacks, the challenges and excitement when adding unfinished furniture or second hand furniture to your home, garden, patio, or favorite place. I believe you will find that few pieces of home decor can be so rewarding.
Tags: chair, decor, desk, frugal, game room, home decor, Second Hand Furniture, thrifty, TV stand, Unfinished Furniture, value
Posted in Second Hand Furniture, Unfinished Furniture · May 4th, 2009 · Comments (0)