7 Surprising Tips For Finding Free Furniture!
This post was originally published in September 2017, the information and tips are 100% still useful, I have updated some links and information.
1 Tip for Every Day of the Week! Imagine how much you can pick up, RIGHT NOW!
Seriously. How did I go from this? Clean, orderly garage, the car fits in nicely.
To this??? Packed to the gills, furniture everywhere.
I can squeeze my van in there but only enough for myself to get out and then have to actually enter my house through the front door.
I did this in only about 1 week.
Yes, you read that right. I found ALL this stuff in 7 days. With barely trying!
Ready to fill up your garage with free furniture without spending a dime? Because you know you want to save money…..Here are my top 7 tips:
Free Furniture Tip #1
Clean your Garage. Purge it of all Free Furniture. (well not quite all of it….) 
This first tip may sound counterintuitive, but trust me. It is the MOST important thing you will do to begin your 7-day cycle of amazing Free Furniture finds. Just like Nature Abhors a Vacuum, your garage abhors are totally clean and empty. Imagine your garage being clean and clear, then do it. Purge it! 
Time and again, I will haul everything out of my garage, and give it back to the Universe through the power of Facebook and Craigs List Free. As soon as I have cleaned my garage and there is enough room to not only pull my van in but do a jig around the perimeter! The furniture finds me. Someone calls, I see something free on the way home, or out running an errand. How can I resist?
Like this Wheel thingy. Does anyone know what this is? 
Don’t hoard your stuff! Seriously. If you have found it for free and after a few months, you are not going to use it? Give it back. Something better always comes along. I have made this a regular practice. I am giving myself until the end of October. Whatever I haven’t used, goes back to the ever-flowing Junk Universe. If you live near me, stay tuned!
Free Furniture Tip #2
Walk your neighborhood. And walk it often. If you are not a walker, or if the weather is bad, make it a habit to case your ‘hood. Why? People throw stuff out ALL THE TIME. You would be amazed at what you can find in just about 10-15 minutes a day. This is especially important to do on Garbage Day! Go, NOW! Well, after you read this post and leave a comment, please 😉
I found these buckets. 
These frames were next to someone’s garbage.
Free Furniture Tip #3
Wherever you go, be on the alert for people moving. Often people who are moving will have a big Dumpster in front of their home. People don’t want to move all the years of CR*P they have accumulated. Rather than moving it, they throw it out. If you see a construction dumpster. Run, don’t walk to the door. Be bold! Go ahead and ring that doorbell, explain who you are and why you want what they don’t. Most people are over the top THRILLED to have you haul their stuff away. Not only does it save the mover from having to heave-ho it into the Dumpster, but they save money! Most Dumps will charge you by the pound of junk you are throwing out in these things. Less furniture? Less cost!
I recently got a HUGE Dresser that is buried under a bunch of other Free Stuff. Just pretend you can see it.
This Headboard to chop up and maybe make a coat rack?
Part 2 of Tip #3: Don’t hesitate to tell the movees that you would be happy to take furniture off their hands that they were planning on leaving behind, or selling. Most people at this point will just GIVE you their old stuff if you promise to come to haul it away.
Free Furniture Tip #4
Always cruise neighborhoods that have high rental rates at the end and the beginning of the month. Someone is always moving out and someone is ALWAYS leaving stuff behind. It is up to you to go and get it.
Like this Chair:
Seriously sitting on the curb. Left out for me!
Free Furniture Tip #5
The same goes for cruising Apartment Complexes. End and beginning of the month. Don’t be dismayed if some months you don’t find anything. It only takes a small investment of time to make this a regular habit. Pretty soon you will get a “sense” of where there is free furniture at what time of year.
I got this Ottoman: 
Does anyone know what this is? I found 2 of them: 
Free Furniture Tip #6
Develop your Junk Network. Tell everyone you know whenever you can work it into a conversation that you are a bona fide Dumpster Diver. And you are open to Free Furniture. (Ask them to please send a picture before depositing it at your house, you don’t want to end up with their grown son’s entire 80’s Solid Oak Bedroom Set that cannot be repurposed, no matter how nice you paint it). 
Photo courtesy of Google Images
You would be amazed at how quickly your phone will start ringing from people giving you a “hot tip” of something worth picking up off the side of the road, something someone is getting rid of, and more. Read more about developing your Junk Network in THIS POST. It’s a must-read if you are serious about honing your free furniture skills.
And finally!
Free Furniture Tip #7
Read my 3 part series Complete Guide to Dumpster Diving. I go into detail about all of the above advice, plus so much more. Where to check for the good stuff, behind what stores, and when, and how to really “hone” your skills and your own personal “free furniture divining rod”.
That’s it for 7 Surprising Tips to Get Free Furniture. Do you have any more tips? I would love to hear!
And! In case you think I haven’t done anything with all that junk! I will be sharing 2 projects I recently completed and are available for purchase at (UPADATE I am now at Rancho COOP) in Oakley, CA. I have been so busy getting my space ready and stocking it with Debi’s Design Diary DIY Paint, DIY Paint Boot Camp, and Traveling Vintage Market! You can also grab DIY Paint and IOD home and & Decor embellishments at my online shop.
That’s it for 7 Surprising Tips for Finding Free Furniture. Do you have more tips? I would love to hear about them. Share in the comments.
Hope you have a totally Trashy Week. -K
Wonderful Tips. Thank U.
I don’t drive so it’s hard at times for me to have my hubby take me to garage sales, etc. but have found some wonderful items curb side and then I do have 2 daughters that help by finding things thinking or knowing I may want it.
Colleen, you have trained your family right! Curb side finds are the best, and if you have people watching out for you, all the more opportunities to make sure you are finding free stuff!
I simply love these tips!! After this comments I’m already gonna go walk around my neighborhood, LOL. Thank you!!
So glad you found the post helpful Diana! Were you able to find any good free things? Would love to hear!
Sometimes the thrift shops will have a pile of FREE outside, in front or out back.
Also, dumpsters behind business complexes….People have a habit of taking things to dumpsters and leaving them in front of them (rather than call their municipality and let them know they have a BIG item for trash day).
Cruise garage sales as they are ending and ask if they are giving anything away…or even cruise by later and you will see some stuff at the curb.
I trained my kids REAAAAAALLY young to trash pick. (They HATED it! lol) I had a song I would sing when I saw something on the side of the road….”Traaaaash Piiiiiiiick-a-s” sung in a Bill Murray-on-Saturday-Night-Live creepy kinda way. They would yell, “Noooooo!!!!” Good times, good times….hahahaha
My grandfather had a junk yard when I was a kid. He would find all sorts of “goodies” in the old cars and trucks. My grandparents had a box of toys they would bring out when we visited. We would say, “Pop! Go get the junky toys!” We loved that box of old busted up stuff!!! hahaha
I started trash picking as a kid…and would fix up stuff and then have a yard sale!
Junking is in my blood!!!
I think the long slatted trays are for drying fruit. Linda N. uses something similar to dry apricot halves. Cool find!