The Best Places to Find Used Furniture

If you love vintage items you may be surprised that vintage or cool used furniture is not that hard to find. All it takes is knowing what you’re looking for, patience and a desire to go treasure hunting. Let’s check out some of the best places to find that coveted piece of used furniture you’ve been dying for.

Step 1. Decide the style of furniture you’re looking for beforehand. The best way to do this is go on Pinterest or Instagram and just save any inspirational photos of furniture that you like. If you can create a board on Pinterest this is ideal because you’ll be referring back to it while you’re treasure hunting.

Plus it’s always better to have some sort of idea of what you’re looking for or else the looking process can get overwhelming. Have you ever gone shopping and end up leaving frustrated? You can’t find anything because everything or nothing looks amazing leading to shopping fatigue. Yup, we’ve been there. Remember, this process takes patience so start with deciding what your style is first.

Step 2. Hit the local thrift stores and garage sales. You may be surprised, these are the places you can find so many cool used furnitures treasures that other people can’t wait to get rid of. Which means most of the time you’re getting an awesome deal. Also, keep in mind that you may not find what you’re looking for right away so just keeping scoping out thrift stores every week. They’re always getting new stuff and there are always new garage sales every weekend.

Step 3. Have an online back up plan. Definitely keep an eye out on Facebook’s Marketplace for local sellers who are trying to get rid of stuff. This can also be a gold mine for vintage furniture. If all else fails, you can also check out Craiglist and even Etsy for local sellers.

Step 4. If you don’t have a small budget and are actually willing to spend a good deal of money on refurbished pieces then don’t forget about antique and vintage stores. Usually the quality of the pieces are much better in these types of stores, but again, you’re paying more for it.

Step 5. Keep in mind that if you do find what you’re looking for, but it’s in bad shape, you can clean it up and refurbish it yourself if you’re so inclined. There are actually a ton of painted furniture ideas on Pinterest to give you inspiration. Sanding and restaining is a little more difficult especially if you’re in an apartment because of the fumes, plus it’s more handywork. But if you decide to paint your new used treasure, you can usually do it in a day. Just make sure the floors are covered so you don’t get any paint on them. For vintage couches it’s best to find something that’s in really good shape to begin with unless you want them reupholstered.

When it comes to used furniture it’s really about taking the time to find those vintage treasures. And yes, they’re really out there!