Hello fellow greenie, or on-your-way-to-being-a-greenie! Another Wednesday tip for you! Okay, so this one is something that is obviously near and dear to my heart, as you can tell from my About page. Not only is this a "be green" tip, but a make-your-home-way-cooler tip!
When you are in the market for a new piece of furniture (and by "new", I mean "new to you"), I say, go vintage or go home! Or, if you're not into vintage-style stuff, (first, go head your head examined, and then, ...) go second-hand or go home! Now, I'm not talking mattresses, because, gross. I'm talking solid furniture. Also, if you want to get upholstered furniture second-hand, check that bad boy over VERY carefully to make sure it's not housing your future bug collection.
Now, let me tell you why, as if you didn't already know! But let me tell you why anyway because I like to hear myself talk. Or type. Ready, go!
1. You're not encouraging the manufacture of more new mass-produced stuff. Like, if people bought less of shiny new object x, then Company X would stop producing as many (because less demand leads to less supply - I totally paid attention in Econ), which uses less resources, which has a smaller impact on the environment. It's all the circle of life. Kind of. Just ask Simba.
2. You're saving something from going to the landfill. Duh.
3. The quality of the materials and workmanship of most vintage furniture is much better than mass-produced furniture made nowadays. I mean, if you want a handmade gorgeous piece of solid wood furniture, and you want to buy new, get ready to sell a kidney (unless you know a guy who knows a guy). In today's world, in order for you to buy new at an "affordable" price, you're getting stuff made with the cheapest materials (wood dust and glue, or plastic), in the cheapest and fastest way possible.
4. You can often get vintage furniture for cheaper than new furniture. Most of my furniture is vintage, and if they had been bought new instead, would have cost me much much more. If you take the time to hunt, you can find great stuff at great prices. I'll do a post soon about where to look for vintage/second-hand furniture for a good price. But for today, you can always check out my shop, wink wink!
5. You will have a more unique look to your home, which really ups the cool factor. When you buy vintage, you're getting something that other people you know most likely won't have already. Nobody will walk into your home and think it looks like a Pottery Barn catalog or an IKEA showroom. Even if almost all your furniture is new-ish, or all one style, or all matchy-matchy, if you throw in one or two vintage pieces, the room instantly becomes more interesting, and even a little eclectic (aka awesome).
6. Your pieces will have a story to them. You may be lucky enough to get the backstory on a piece of furniture, like the people that have owned it, where it came from, etc. Or, at the very least, you will have a memory of how it came to be yours. Each of my vintage pieces, I can tell you where I got it from, the interesting person I bought it from, etc. I like that I can do that.
And, there you go! 3 of my favorite things wrapped in one: Green tip, vintage furniture, and making lists.
Until next time...