What does your home space look like?
Is it a clean, minimalist apartment or a quirky loft full of collected treasures? Either way, our homes are often an extension of ourselves. Personalizing your space to make it unique is essential to feel “at home” and, now that we’re spending so much time indoors, this is crucial to our well-being.
However, balancing a budget with sustainability and aesthetics can be especially tricky. You want a space that reflects you, your tastes, and your values, but you don’t want to break the bank.
You might think that buying from a sustainable furniture brand is expensive, but green products don’t have to come with a hefty price tag.
In this article, I’ll show you exactly how to find affordable eco friendly furniture on a budget. From avoiding greenwashed items to shopping second-hand, inexpensive, sustainable furniture does exist – and we’ll find it together.
Fast Fashion to Fast Furniture
You are looking for a new throw blanket. Surprise-surprise, Zara now sells them, along with a full range of home décor and furniture items.
Fast fashion retailers have been dipping their toes in the home goods market for years now. They’re great at producing trendy items at a low price point, and they have the resources to launch into “side businesses” without much effort. You can find cheap designer dupes for both clothing and furniture items. But at what price?
Fast fashion producers and low-cost retailers (think Wayfair) focus on style, price, and variety. The environmental impact takes a backseat. These companies are interested in the biggest profit margin. Making on-trend items cheap is one way to achieve that.
As an eco-conscious consumer, you probably already see the issue with this mentality. Much like fast fashion, fast furniture is entirely unsustainable. It is cheap and easy. However, it also hurts both the planet and worker communities. Luckily there are plenty of retailers that chose to focus on sustainability.
Even if you can’t afford to buy heirloom furniture yet, there is a more sustainable approach to take.
Eco friendly furniture brands prioritize quality and impact, and this is what we should be seeking out on our small scale, too.
Fortunately, there are options for all budgets. Even better, this sustainability-first mentality can save you money in the long run.
Not only will you get better-quality pieces that last longer, but you’ll avoid wasting cash on trends that come and go.
Furniture Rental
Before we talk about buying, why not consider rentals?
We all go through transitory life stages. If you move frequently, whether it’s for school or a job, investing in lifelong pieces doesn’t make sense. Why would you pay for a solid oak desk if you know you’re only in the city for a couple of months? What happens to the desk once you move?
Furniture rental companies like Fernish and Feather offer a money-saving alternative. Rather than buying an inexpensive, unsustainable couch for your short-term apartment, you can rent a quality piece and only pay for the time you’re using it.
Each service has its unique advantages.
Fernish lets you rent pieces for up to 12 months. They transport, install, and even arrange the items in your home. Their trademarked circular-ready technology relies on a combination of parts (or fabric) replacement, plus sanitation and refurbishment. They only use sustainable materials, too.
On the other hand, Feather has an optional subscription plan, which makes sense if you’re renting multiple items or for the short term. For $19/month, you get the delivery, assembly, and end-period pickup-up. Also, subscription members receive discounts on furniture rental prices. If you’re not a member, you pay for the furniture rental, plus a flat fee for services such as delivery and pick-up.
Feather is excellent for finding trendy pieces, but it’s currently only available in NYC, SF, LA/OC, Baltimore, Richmond, and the DC area. The company focuses on rental, reuse, and refurbishment. They even created a line of furniture with a focus on quality, longevity, and environmental sustainability.
Second-Hand Stores and Antique Malls
Buying used furniture is one of the easiest ways to embrace inexpensive, eco friendly home items. It’s also an excellent way to create a one-of-a-kind space, rather than a copy-and-paste version of your local IKEA store.
I understand falling in love with the gorgeous interiors in design magazines or Pinterest. It has happened to me more times than I can count. While these spaces look impressive, they’re highly styled and polished for the photo. Trying to recreate them in your own home either comes with a hefty price tag or an underwhelming result. It’s a bit like trying to emulate supermodels.
Besides, even if you could buy every single item you see in an interior design magazine, would it be you? Styling your space is about creating an inviting space where you feel like yourself. That’s why I love second-hand and antique shopping so much.
Vintage items are one-of-a-kind furniture with history. With some time and creativity, you can turn them into a magazine-worthy interior. For instance, by cutting down the legs on a solid wood dining table, you can turn it into a trendy coffee table. Bookcases can become lovely kitchen display cabinets. These are both crafty ways to get the ‘interior designer approved’ look. However, a lot of these pieces are show-stoppers on their own. Give them a chance, and you will be surprised at how wonderful they can look.
Where to find affordable and sustainable furniture? Here are my top pre-loved item sources:
Online Second-Hand Furniture Stores
In 2021, you can buy pretty much everything online. Local ad-boards are also on the Internet. Think Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist, both of which are full of gently used furniture.
Kaiyo is a personal favorite for finding more elevated pieces. It’s a sustainability-minded company that tackles most of the annoyances of ‘regular’ used furniture shopping. Sellers offer their furniture directly to Kaiyo without worrying about transportation, coordinating with strangers, or even moving the item. On the other hand, buyers get peace of mind that the furniture is clean, high-quality, and will be delivered at a convenient time.
Plus, Kaiyo has the most extensive collection of brand-name items, and they all come with a juicy discount (sometimes as much as 90%!)
Second-Hand Auction Websites
Unlike marketplaces, second-hand auctions allow you to bid on items with the highest amount getting the piece.
We love Everything But the House, with hundreds of used home goods and appliances.
However, you can also come across some fantastic finds in eBay’s furniture section. It’s hands-down the biggest auction website with lots of inexpensive options. Look for ‘used’ items only (activate the filter) to limit results and get to the good stuff faster. Check out our article about non toxic furniture to learn what items to stay away from to keep dangerous toxins out of the air in your home
Recycled, Repurposed, and Reclaimed Furniture
If you are looking for something different yet, why not try recycled furniture. Companies like Urban Wood Goods design and build furniture out of 100% reclaimed wood. They make beautiful tables, desks, and seating furniture with guaranteed FSC recycled material.
Now some of these items are not inexpensive such as substantial pieces made from solid slabs of wood. Still, there are many different makers out there, so you can find one that fits your budget. Etsy is a great place to search for reclaimed furniture; it’s full of one-of-a-kind pieces.
Finally, shopping around your local thrift store and repurposing the items to fit your style might be one of the cheapest, most eco friendly furniture solutions.
Affordable Eco Friendly Furniture Companies
Budget retailers aren’t all the same. While ‘fast furniture’ from the likes of Target is almost universally unsustainable, some companies have adopted greener practices into their business model.
IKEA is one of the first names that comes to mind here, with their flat-packed furniture and novel material use. However, before you rush out to buy the first thing that catches your eye, do your research. First, read our review of IKEA’s sustainability practices.
Ask yourself if the company has genuinely embraced the pillars of eco friendly furniture:
● Cradle-to-cradle design means designing products with their end-of-life destiny in mind. Creating entirely recyclable furniture that is easily renovated or upcycled into something new.
● Minimal to no impact at every step of production, including raw materials. Plastics are a huge red flag since they come from non-renewable fossil fuels. Companies have embraced recycled synthetics or biomaterials to replace them.
● Eco friendly shipping, including flat packs, fills up container space easily, disassembles for moving, etc.
● Ethical production that respects local communities, pays livable wages and promotes safe working conditions. For example, IKEA pioneered new rug-making workshops. They preserve the traditional craft, and workers gain a steady income.
Not all eco friendly furniture brands will check all the boxes. However, companies like IKEA, Floyd, and West Elm (particularly the Sustainably Sourced collection) are indeed coming close.
Both Floyd and IKEA have established long-term sustainability goals, and they’re taking a systematic approach to tackle them. While many inexpensive eco friendly furniture brands still have a long way to go, supporting them will always be a better choice than buying a ‘fast furniture’ item.
Conclusion
Where to find affordable sustainable furniture?
Start with your area, unglamorous places like Facebook Marketplace or a local thrift store. Buying a pre-loved item means you prevent a piece from ending up in a landfill and a company wasting resources to make a new one. It’s also great for your wallet and for fostering a unique style in your space.
However, affordable retailers like IKEA, Floyd, and West Elm are now offering some sustainable pieces, too. Renting furniture is also an option if you plan to move often.
No matter what your sustainable home décor solution is, thank you for considering the environment in this. By supporting eco friendly practices, you are helping create a better, cleaner space for yourself and all of us on this planet.