When I first heard about Freecycle I was of the belief that the items on offer would be junk and not something I would want to bring into my home. This belief was completely shattered this weekend when I read a post by Kristen from the excellent The Frugal Girl blog. She picked up a tall-boy dresser from Freecycle back in May and with some sanding and a couple of coats of primer and paint made it look like it had just came off the showroom floor. Here’s a picture of the finsished result:

The Savings
To refurbish the old dresser Kristen spent $16 on new knobs, $4 on paint, and $3 on a can of spray primer for a grand total of $23. She also put in about 8 hours of labor sanding it down and applying the primer and paint. Not bad for furniture that looks like it cost several hundred bucks.

Be sure to check out Kristen’s wonderful post on how to paint wooden furniture which details step-by-step what she did to make this dresser look so beautiful. You can also click here to see the original condition of the dresser before she refurbished it.

Alternatives to Freecycle
Although not free you can also pick up great deals on furniture at Goodwill. Kristen snagged two matching dressers for less than $20 each. You can also find discounted furniture at Habitat Restores, which are part of Habitat for Humanity and sell discounted furniture, and discarded building materials. You can also find independent stores that sell salvaged construction and remodeling materials in your community. Just search for your city name + salvaged building or construction materials. A great example is the ReBuilding Center in Portland, Oregon. And of course there is always Craigslist.

Photo Credit: The Frugal Girl