When I moved into my new flat back in July it was completely unfurnished – suddenly, I began to realise the importance of furniture that I had always previously taken for granted! A first night supper of fish and chips off cardboard boxes had a certain beauty to it for the first night, but I was desperate to get the house looking like a home. Now, how to do this with not a lot of money to spend…
Luckily, I am a Brightonian; kitting my new little flat out for free was actually quite a realistic expectation! I always see perfectly decent pieces of furniture, household items and objects d’art on the street, left out for people to take. I thought I’d share with you some of my best street finds, and challenged myself to head onto the streets to see what delights I could find.
Desk I have to thank my partner for this one – he found this, in bits, on the street – he’d gone out to buy dinner and returned 5 minutes later excitedly lugging huge planks of wood in. Okay, so it had been taken apart so he had to reassemble it himself, but it was easily done and the best part: it was FREE!
Bureau Now this has to be my favourite street find… Well, I say street, it was actually from a house clearance (but it was still free, and the house was on a street so it counts). It wouldn’t even need to be used as a television cabinet, but to be honest, we just needed something to pop the TV on and this fitted the bill – it also hides a multitude of sins in its handy drop down section (mainly my make up, paperwork and hair grips…) but it means that all these tricky-don’t-belong-anywhere-items FINALLY have a home!
I also headed out onto the streets to have a look at the different items on offer, and demonstrate the variety of different things you can find if you keep your eyes open! In fact, on walking home from my friends house tonight, I saw a pile of towels neatly folded for taking – it was dark though so didn’t get chance to take a picture. I mean, maybe you wouldn’t want to take towels from the streets, but it just shows what you can find for free if you keep your eyes peeled! All of my finds were discovered as I walked back from the office on Freshfield Road in Kemptown – it’s seemingly quite the Alladin’s cave, or, ahem, street, when it comes to free stuff…
Desk of drawers This desk of drawers hasn’t lost all its charm, nor purpose, though this piece is not the best quality you can find. A simple pop up with new knobs, and it can serve someone who needs one for a good few years.
Small Table Now that is quality stuff, and it´s free! This is a solid teak wood with melamine worktop. It can either be used as a seventies style coffee table in front of a sofa, or a little children’s desk either in a children’s room, or in the kitchen where they can have their little tea party’s with their friends, or the kids can use it to make art while you’re ticking off your long list of never ending tasks in the kitchen.
I couldn’t quite believe my luck! Okay, so a couple of bits needed work, but these are project pieces that can be made your own. I’m always keeping an eye out for free bits, so will keep you posted if I find anything – even if I have no use for it, some of you guys might want to go check it out!
Feature image by Dávid Sterbik
