Kitting out your room on the cheap
You may have rented an unfurnished flat, or maybe your landlord’s idea of ‘furnished accommodation’ differs from your own, but it needn't be as expensive as you might think it would to kit out your new place. Faced with blank walls and bare carpets, most students succumb to the temptations of the ubiquitous Scandinavian superstore Ikea. Yet there are better, less-stressful and most importantly cheaper ways to kit-out your room. Explore your options with this guide to low-cost furnishing. And remember: one man’s rubbish is another man’s gold. Or something like that.
Freecycle
The Freecycle Network is a rather ingenious idea, proving the adage ‘you can’t get ‘owt for nowt’ (or the more refined ‘there’s no such thing as a free lunch’) false. The network is made up of groups (4,173 of them, to be exact), across the globe. Members (4,109,000) can find people in their groups who are basically giving stuff away. If you have something to get rid of, you can find someone to take it off your hands in your group, meaning there’s a lot of stuff for free floating about. This is a non-profit movement, all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills, and membership is entirely free. You can obviously never be entirely sure of the quality of the product, but when you haven’t paid a penny for it, it’s definitely worth a try.
Visit www.freecycle.org to get started.
Gumtree
Good old Gumtree, beloved of anybody desperate for somewhere to live or someone to live with when first in London. This online community also has its uses in other areas though – dealing with everything from jobs to dating. You can also buy and sell through the site.
It even has a ‘freebies' section, but the majority of items, including a large amount of furniture, are for sale at reasonable prices. It is advisable to request a photo of the item you are interested in purchasing, so that you know a little more about what you're getting.
Again, you’ll need to be able to arrange to pick it up, so take note of the address of the seller.
www.Gumtree.com will tell you more.
Craigs List
Yet another online solution. What did we do before t’internet? Craigs List (if you can ignore the irritation of the missing apostrophe) works on the same basis as Gumtree. This is an American site that’s expanded into Europe, meaning the listings tend not to be as extensive.
It’s very sparsely designed but simple to use: Simply select your local area, and then click the ‘for sale' tab in the furniture section.
Check out www.craigslist.com
University schemes and notice boards
Ah. Good. You don’t need one of those fancy computer things for this resource. (Although you do need one to be reading this. Go figure.) Some university unions have a system to re-use college furniture, so that staff and students can deck out their rooms with previously used office items. This is a particularly good way of finding desks, which sometimes aren't included in a student house. The furniture is usually given on a first come, first served basis.
If your university doesn't have such a scheme, you tend to find advertisements dotted across university notice boards. Some institutions have a university specific buy and sell website which works out pretty well for convenience. If you are at a campus university, there are often sales of posters and prints that take place on campus- selling popular posters at a highly reduced discount.
Charity shops
The world is divided into two types of people. Those who delight in the eccentric and bargainous finds offered by the local British Heart Foundation, and those who don’t like the idea of wearing something the last owner may feasibly have died in.
However it’s very unlikely someone died on a pine desk, so even if you fall into the second category of people, get over it and embrace your inner Oxfam lover.
Besides, a lot of the stuff that ends up in charity shops is almost new. Plus you’ll be helping charity. Everyone’s a winner.
The Oxfam website (www.oxfam.co.uk) will tell you where your nearest Oxfam furniture store is located.
