How I Furnished a Three-Bedroom House for ~$1000

When my husband and I first moved into our house, we found that expenses were flying at us faster than a speeding moving truck. Our house is small by modern standards; it was built in 1959 and has three bedrooms and two bathrooms, coming in at just over 1200 sq ft. Not exactly a mansion, but still a substantial amount of space to fill for two people who had been living in their childhood bedroom or a 500 sq ft apartment. It was very tempting to go out and buy all new matching furniture (probably on credit) and décor to complement it, but we mostly economized when furnishing our new digs. I'm happy to share what worked for us so that others might benefit!

Check for Freebies

The free items that we got for our house made an enormous difference in the amount of money we were spending to furnish the house. For instance, we were able to get a beautiful wood china cabinet for free on the side of the road. Some people balk at curbside finds, but we checked the cabinet over and cleaned it up before moving it into the house so we had no fear of pests infiltrating our home.

Our fabulous curbside find, the free china cabinet!

Curbs aren't the only place to find free items. Freecycle and Buy Nothing Groups (on Facebook) are places where people can ask for and receive items at no cost. It amazes me that there are places online where you can just ask for whatever you need and someone will just give it to you with no strings attached!

Buy Used

This sounds like a no-brainer, but a lot of people cringe when I tell them that most of our furniture was bought secondhand or handed down to us by other people. It is definitely possible for secondhand furniture to harbor pests, so I do advise caution when choosing your source of furniture and also checking it over thoroughly before bringing it home. We have also taken the additional step of leaving all of our secondhand furniture in a garage for some time before moving it inside.

Garage sales and estate sales have been home to some of the best deals I can remember. Folks are often looking to offload all or most of the contents of a house in order to move, so they are motivated to sell. You may also want to swing by right when these sales are about to end, as the folks in charge may be willing to cut you a deal. They may even put the unsold goods out by the curb for free! My best estate sale purchase was a classic Lane Cedar Chest from 1946, for which I paid $50.

Charity-focused resale shops are also home to excellent deals. In my area, they are more reasonably priced than the major thrift store chains like Goodwill and the Salvation Army, and I like that the proceeds go to a good cause. Many are associated with local churches or domestic violence shelters, to give you an idea of where to find them. These are also great places to donate!

Consignment shops are another great place to buy (and sell!) gently used items. This type of store places items that other people (“consignors”) have brought to the store for sale. If the item sells, the store pays the consignor a portion of the sale price and keeps the rest of the proceeds. Some stores instead purchase the items from consignors up front and then sell the item in the shop, keeping all of the proceeds from the eventual sale of the item. These stores, as a rule, examine the items they agree to sell very carefully so their offerings are often in like-new condition.

Facebook Marketplace is another great place to find deals on numerous household items online. Some items are being given away for free (especially if you can pick the items up) or at reasonable or negotiable prices.

Keep it in the Family

Getting free furniture and housewares from family was likely the biggest factor that allowed us to keep our furnishing costs down. Both my parents, grandparents, and in-laws were getting ready to downsize while we were looking at purchasing our first home. They were more than willing to provide us with spare beds, side tables, and kitchen supplies. You may also have some family members looking to downsize and move as the Baby Boomer generation enters retirement age. It certainly doesn't hurt to keep your ears open!

Your parents may also be willing (or thrilled!) to have you take your childhood furnishings with you when you acquire your first house. My husband and I kept our childhood dressers and bookshelves, I kept my desk that I have had since I was eight years old, and we each brought some art and decorations from our old bedrooms.

Retrospective

While we have added items to our home since moving in over two years ago, all of our furniture has stayed the same. This post reflects our experience and ours alone, and is meant to give others some ideas on how to save money while furnishing their home.

Here is a listing of all of the items we purchased for our house when when we bought it (not counting things we already had, or anything we bought months or years later).

Furnishing	Cost
Living room set (couch, chair, ottoman, pillows), bought secondhand	$75.00
Kitchen table and chairs (IKEA)	$400.00
Area rugs (2 of them, 8 x 10 ft) from Walmart	$200.00
Master bedrooms nightstands (IKEA)	$100.00
Spare bedroom nightstand (IKEA)	$40.00
Coffee table (Walmart)	$30.00
Guest bedroom coverlet and pillows (Walmart)	$50.00
Microwave (Walmart)	$60.00