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FREE FURNITURE
Many young couples or singles moving out of the house for the first time are offered free furniture from relatives. If you are lucky, you will get items that don’t need any work but that is usually not the case. keep your eyes open, free furniture is easy to find. Now what to do with it.
PLACES TO FIND FURNITURE FOR FREE
When my husband and I moved into our farmhouse, we had no furniture. Our families were more than willing to give us extra pieces that they no longer wanted. Many of these things were old and outdated but still in very good condition. We received office furniture, a dining set, lamps and end tables. Salvation Army, thrift stores, antique malls and flea markets were good places for me to find dishes, pots and pans and a few art pieces. Recently, my great aunt suggested looking near the dumpster of apartment complexes. Many times residents just can’t take all of their things with them and they have no choice but to leave them behind. Universities will sometimes have a used furniture warehouse and will periodically have a sale to get rid of some of it. It might not be free but it is usually pretty close to it.
THE LATEST FURNITURE FIND
Kyle recently poured a cement patio around the she shed. It is a large level surface so it makes a great location for me to lay down a few tarps and paint furniture. One day, a guy working across the road on a new house said he noticed that I am always painting furniture and wondered if I would like some free pieces. Wait what!! Then, he told me that his wife could send me pictures of everything and I can take as much or as little as I want. This was an incredible offer so I gave him my number and soon after received the pictures from his wife. The furniture pieces are very cool, 1970’s furniture. There is a dresser, a nightstand , an armoire, 2 mirrors, a headboard, and possibly a bench!
I find free furniture quite often. Several family and friends know that I refinish furniture, so, they often ask if I want the furniture or if I would refinish it for them. Everyday, I walk around the lake by my house, it’s about 5.5 miles. There are very fancy houses on the lake and well, these fancy people just toss out super nice furniture. Just recently, I found a bench that I refinished and sold!
HARDWARE
First step is to remove the hardware and find a container to keep it all in. I use an old dog bowl. Paint won’t adhere to a dirty surface so clean it with soap and water and a little bit of vinegar. Getting into all those grooves was loads of fun. Removing the doors made sure I didn’t skip the part underneath them. I then took painters tape and taped off all the areas I didn’t want paint to get on. I’m a messy painter so I never skip this step.
PAINT
Finally the fun part, painting! I decided to go with a very white white. It’s called Picket Fence by Fusion Mineral Paint. This is my all time favorite brand. I love how smooth this paint goes on. It’s hard for me to even consider another brand after using Fusion.
BRUSHES
I ended up using two different brushes for this project. Both brushes are made by Staalmeester. One is their pointed sash brush and the other is their oval brush. You can Google them but I found mine at the antique mall where I buy my fusion mineral paint. Perhaps you can find a local vendor also.
The round brush is good for all the plain surfaces and the pointed brush for all the detailed surfaces. The whole piece took three coats of paint with a two hour dry time between coats. I then waited a full 24 hours before applying the top coat. Fusion mineral paint has a built in top coat so it is not necessary to apply one. Sometimes, however, I add an additional top coat when the surfaces will see a lot of use. Fusion has their own non-yellowing, top coat called Tough Coat and it’s super easy to apply. You just squirt it on a clean sponge and spread it over the surface. All surfaces need to cure for several days before putting the furniture to use.
THE FINISHED PRODUCT
Now for the finished product! I was excited and a little nervous to do this project but I like the end result and am anxious to continue with other pieces.
