IKEA may have finally arrived in the Republic of Ireland, but there are still plenty of other places to get interesting and affordable, or even free furniture.

Chances are you won’t be in the queue for IKEA if: you’re not into the modern Scandinavian style of furniture; have nobody to assemble flat-pack furniture for you; don’t like crowds or the M50; or simply are on the tightest of shoestring budgets.

If you’re watching your finances closely, unsure what way the economy is going next, you may see home improvements as a frivolous expense and be indifferent to the sales signs pasted in every furniture shop window up and down the country. If finances are particularly lean, you’re probably not even going to chance haggling with furniture retailers to get a cut-price deal.

Thinking creatively
So, what can you do if money is tight and you desperately need – or even worse – desperately want some new furniture? A growing trend is free furniture – free used or ‘new-to-you’ furniture.

If tailing skip-hire trucks and trying to steal the best items from them in the dead of night hasn’t crossed your mind before, don’t worry, you don’t have to do this to acquire something for nothing.

Online freebies
Years ago the supermarket notice board or local paper was filled with ads for used furniture, with a nice £ or € sign beside them, but in the last few years people have turned to the internet to get rid of furniture by giving it away for free.

The Free Trade section on the Dublin local authorities’ website, Dublinwaste.ie, has been running for a few years now and in 2007 almost 6,000 items were traded on it rather than ending up in landfill. There are both ‘wanted’ and ‘offered’ items and the site provides information about where a giver is and whether the item can be delivered or needs to be collected. The great thing about it, as the name suggests, is it’s free.

The popular term for this type of activity is ‘freecycling’. Why do it? Some people have an interest in recycling while others simply need to get rid of excess stuff.

Freecycle
At Freecycle.org you can search for a branch of the Freecycle Network near you. There are a number around the country and they list items that are either wanted or on offer. You can view some groups, including the Dublin one, through the Freecycle site. You can view others, like Waterford, through a Yahoo Groups page, which you must join first. This is free and signing up just takes a few minutes to complete.

Jumbletown.ie is another site that promotes free giving. Other sites that also advertise second-hand items, some which may be free, include Gumtree.ie and Donedeal.ie.

Previously loved items
Even if you can’t find what you want for free, it is still possible to get second-hand furniture cheaply. You can try your local second-hand shop or Oxfam Ireland’s Oxfamhome store on Francis Street in Dublin. Aptly nestled amongst antique shops and art galleries, it is the only Oxfam store in the Republic that takes in and resells furniture – the rest of the Oxfam Ireland stores sell clothes, books, home accessories and bric-a-brac

According to Oxfam Ireland’s district retail manager, John Adams, stock changes daily. It ranges from very old to relatively new items. Its clientele is quite mixed and includes people who want to furnish their homes for a good price and people who have a big interest in retro and vintage style.

“We have a lot of 1950s and 1960s pieces,” says Adams.

He adds that the store is also popular with an older generation, more conscious of getting “value for money”. They would see the value in spending €100 for a second-hand solid wooden table, for example, rather than spending the same amount on a similar item made from a cheaper material.

Keeping with modern safety standards is important and upholstery, he explains, is only taken in if it still has the fire label attached. There are interesting finds to be had and horsehair chairs from times long passed (and possibly ideal for those on a hair-shirt budget) do find their way to the shop floor – horsehair isn’t flammable. And even better, your money goes to a good cause rather than a multinational’s coffers.