How to find furniture for FREE (or very cheap)
Nothing beats the feeling of picking up a piece of furniture you love for free. It can feel like winning the furniture lottery (if only that were a thing!). I’ve acquired a lot of my furniture over the years for nothing or next to nothing - even some great upholstery projects. You just need to know where to look.
Finding a good freebie chair or sofa and getting it upholstered is an ideal way to create something that’s bespoke and fits your exact tastes and requirements while saving money AND saving something from going to landfill.
I’ve put together some tips on the best places to find free or very cheap furniture:
I really rate Freecycle.org - it’s a not-for-profit organisation and you can easily sign up to different ‘towns’ to search for items local to you (or where you’re willing to travel to). It’s a bit clunky to use, and it’s annoying that you have to click on individual posts to see photos of items, but I have found some furniture gems on there in the past. Not as many people use it as they used to, I’m definitely seeing a reduction in the number of posts, but it's always worth a look.
Trash Nothing
trashnothing.com is a similar concept to Freecycle - it’s a charity where you can search for specific items that are being given away for free in your area.
Gumtree
I don’t use Gumtree.com very much as it has seemed a lot more expensive in recent years, however, there is the odd vintage furniture gem and I think a lot less tat to trawl through than Facebook Marketplace.
The Street
I am a sucker for a street find! Always free, mostly rain damaged, possibly infested with some kind of pest… However, I can’t help giving an abandoned chair or sofa a quick look to see if it might be worth lugging home. I passed this sofa last week on my way to my son’s nursery and thought about it all day so had to go back and give it a proper investigation (I didn’t take it, but I hope someone did!)
Facebook Marketplace
Perhaps the place I look on most often just because it’s convenient and so many people in my area post on it. As anyone who has been on Facebook Marketplace will be aware, the stuff listed is a mixed bag, but if you have specific searches set up (i.e. “free antique sofa”) you can find some amazing pieces. A lot of people are looking to give furniture (especially sofas) away for free because it’s expensive to have them removed, so if you’re willing to hire a van / courier or have access to one, you can save real money.
Local Facebook Groups
Facebook groups can be better for freebies and bargains than Marketplace as generally people are just looking to get rid of something and hope someone in their local community can make use of it (and pick it up). My local Facebook groups are full of people offering up sofas and chairs but they often get snapped up quickly and you can’t save searches like you can on Marketplace.
Upholsterers’ Facebook Groups
I see a lot of furniture being sold/given away on Upholsterers’ Facebook groups (there are a few, including some just for specific makes and models of furniture). People often want to give their furniture away to people who can reupholster it and give it a new lease of life, along with upholsterers who have acquired pieces and just don’t have the time/space to work on them (yes, this is me).