Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Thinking Outloud

Does anyone else walk around their house and see just how much of their stuff was purchased new versus second hand?

I'm always amazed when people walk through my house and tell me how nice and put together everything looks. I sit back and smile knowing that the vast majority of the items were purchased used, gotten for free, handmade, or purchased on sale. The few items that were purchased new were (usually) well planned out and are good picks for us.

My living room contains a nice sectional sofa that my mom purchased from a friend in October for $300. She hated it so she gave it to me. We love it and it gives us more sitting room in our very small 1960's style living room. Also in the room is a 32" console tv that hubby got from work. The sound did not work so someone just left it behind. We simply routed the sound through our stereo system and it works great! Around the tv is an entertainment center that hubby built. It is huge and holds everything from books to collections to dvd players, etc. We also have a bookshelf from Freecycle and my grandmother's antique sewing machine in here.

The only items we got new are the curtains (which were on sale) and the fireplace. The fireplace is one of those electric heaters. It has saved us tons of money on our heating bill in the two winters that we have had it.

I'm contemplating taking pictures of each room and posting them. I wonder if people would be interested?

4 comments:

Maggie said...

I would be interested, most of my coolest pieces are ones we got at garage sales.

Elizabeth said...

I would love to see how others
use thrift shops and other frugal
finds. Some of my favorite blogs
are those that incorporate this
feature. As I sit at my ebay computer desk, I can see my IKEA "as is" coffee table, my thrift store cabinet, and ebay
entertainment center. Some of
of the best items in my
home are frugal finds.
Elizabeth

Mom2fur said...

I love to sit and look at what I've bought cheap or second hand, or that I got free from someone. Because I only take/buy things that are in excellent condition (or maybe just need a little paint). My dining room hutch is my favorite--$40 and some white paint I already had. It's really cute. The doors down below don't close tightly, but where it is situated in the dining room, you can't tell anyway. I would love to see the goodies others have gotten free or cheap!

Fianna said...

Just found your blog... I love it so far. I mentally calculate my clothing daily as well! I would love to see pics. Gives me great ideas seeing others frugally created homes!