When finances are tight you learn to be creative about utilizing things and making do. At one stage Mick and I could not afford a desk for me but we solved the problem. Here’s how.
We used an old flat wooden door and two bedside cupboards, which had been bought years before at an auction. Bedside cupboards can often be picked up really cheap at auction, yards sales and second hand shops or from relatives who no longer want them.
Since all three items were different colors, we sanded them back and then unified the whole thing by slapping everything with a coat of paint that matched one of the colors in the curtains. It made a good large desk and I used that desk for years before we found the money to buy one secondhand.
In another house, when we were young marrieds, we didn’t have a built in closet so we chose a colorful curtain material and rigged up makeshift closet. Using the manhole, Mick got into the ceiling space and located the joists. He put several heavy duty hooks into the joists. Then we threaded a rail through the large hooks stretching across from one end of the room to the other. This accommodated the curtain. The curtain which was of an inexpensive but colorful material hung to the floor.
Behind the curtain was another rail attached to the wall for clothes to hang on. A couple of inexpensive bedside cupboards and chest of drawers took folded clothes. Once again, we had that arrangement for a number of years before finances improved and we were able to install something better and more permanent.
Another idea for an inexpensive coffee table is a large sheet of wood and old bricks. Cement bricks together to the required width and height you want. Use a large sheet of plywood. Painted either white or black it can look quite effective.
Sometimes not having the money to buy new furniture or furnishings can be a good thing in that it can prompt your creativity and imagination into action. You never know what you can achieve with a few odds and ends or other people’s cast offs till you try.
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