Everyone appreciates quality furniture. As people earn more money, they often move to larger homes and purchase better quality and larger sets of furniture. This can leave people wondering —what should we do with all our old furniture? There are several ways to dispose of old furniture, all of which can be ecologically favorable, prudent or generous.

Some of the time unwanted furniture is in like-new condition, but more often it shows a bit of wear, and may be somewhat dated and out of style. Whatever condition the furniture is in, people have many helpful choices for its recycling.

Selling old furniture can be done through a small ad in the newspaper or a larger, more expensive ad if the furniture is more costly. Many community weekly publications will offer free or low-cost advertisements for items sold by private parties and not exceeding a certain dollar amount, which might be anywhere from $50 to $200. After that, most publications figure the person placing the ad can afford to pay for it so the rates become more standard, starting at a base rate and then so much for each additional word. If private sales are something a person wants to avoid, they can have a friend or relative do the selling and pay that person a pre-arranged fee or commission. For many people, this is a small price to pay to avoid the inconvenience of actually selling it themselves.

If a family has a lot of furniture, it is possible to have quality used furniture stores come to the home and appraise all the furniture, and then offer a specific amount for everything. The store will pick it up, and there is no more fuss. Depending on the quality of the furniture, the stores may resell it themselves, advertising it with ?estate sale? furniture. These prices will be more than the original sellers were paid, but the stores also have advertising, store expenses and payroll that private parties do not have to factor into the selling price.

Depending on the neighborhood, some people ask others in their own area first, and often items are sold to people just a few houses away. This depends on everyone?s comfort level with prices being set, and with having neighbors coming to the home to view what is for sale. Whatever way people decide to offer their used furniture for sale, it is best to determine a fair and reasonable price and stick to that, regardless of who the customer is. When unsure of what a fair price might be, sellers should not be afraid to ask neighbors, and to peruse want ads for similar items for sale.

Selling is not the only option. Some may prefer to give old furniture away. Many charitable organizations, such as Goodwill and veterans groups will bring a truck to the home and pick up any furniture donations. All this takes is a phone call. These non-profit organizations will also give a receipt, which can be used for federal and some state tax deductions. While it may not the be as much as what selling might bring in, it will still help to offset income a family would have had to pay taxes on. If a family were in a 20% tax bracket, and had a deductible contribution of $200, that would be $40 in taxes the family would not have to pay. What was given away actually would make some money for the people who donated it.

People who do not care about tax deductions, either because they feel the furniture is worth so little, or they are more anxious just to have it out of the house rather than saving a few dollars at tax time can advertise their furniture ?free? to anyone who wants it. Depending on the quality of the furniture, free is often the kind of bargain many people find hard to refuse, so if the advertising is very extensive, the furniture is usually gone quickly. Depending on where a person lives, there may be a community or association bulletin board. May supermarkets have bulletins boards for people to advertise this way, and they are usually without charge.

The more useful the furniture, the more creative options there are for giving it to people who might want it. Local hospice facilities are often furnished with slightly used, quality furniture. Domestic violence shelters frequently are in need of useful furniture, and neither of these have high operating budgets. They appreciate good quality used items when they are offered. On the chance that the local organization does not need such items, they probably will know of another agency or group that may. Calls to local churches will often result in willing takers, whether they are members of the congregation or organizations that a congregation actively supports. Even local schools, with funding shrinking each year, may accept sturdy tables, desks or bookshelves, depending on the needs of the teachers. They often do not accept furniture that must be dry cleaned, or that has padding, but rather look for items that can be washed, polished or painted so they can be sanitized.

The last idea is neither selling or nor giving away—it is actually keeping one or more pieces of old furniture, but utilizing them in a new and different way. A back porch area, cluttered with boxes and little that is truly useful can be turned into a display for potted plants, by painting an old wooden chair a bright green color and placing pots all over its flat surfaces. A table that has seen better days can become an art deco piece, by stenciling it with black and white designs and putting it near the laundry room, to hold hangars, laundry baskets or even laundry supplies.

That back, unused area can be turned into a tiny plays spot, complete with matching purple furniture for the children, with just a little sanding, paint and creativity. If painting is not desirable, a colorful throw can create a new bright chair for a child. These ideas can be used if there are available areas that can be converted into attractive places for either children or adults. For the home with no empty corner, keeping furniture is more of a challenge. However, if there is a piece of furniture that is too precious to part with, that holds so many wonderful memories, it can sometimes be modified or resized and refurbished to be integrated within the new furniture sets. The smaller the item, the easier it will be to integrate, but large pieces can also be retained. A new dining room set, in dark teak, might accept a bright red, lacquered ornamental table—which was actually used as a light brown coffee table in the living room just last year.

With all the options available, people need not worry about disposing of their old furniture. After asking themselves three simple questions, whether the furniture will be sold, given away, or retained?or any combination of these three choices, it is simple to seek out the appropriate next steps.

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