Home decorating on the cheap
With a good eye and bit of research, you can refurbish in style - and under budget.
Surf the Net
Last season’s trends, not-quite-right samples, discontinued lines. It used to be that great discounts were only given to products and furniture that were either slightly faulty or no longer in vogue. Not any more. Internet auction websites (eBay, graysonline, trading post, melbourne gumtree, and dontmissout.com.au) now post designer classics and the latest whizbang gizmos by the hundreds - and if you’re smart, you can even get it bespoke.
When stylist Holly Evans went hunting for a sofa about two years ago, she was on the lookout for a strong, contemporary lounge suite - on the cheap.
It wasn’t long before she found it: a brand-new six-seater, L-shaped modular sofa suite in microsuede, listed on eBay by a furniture company. And Evans had a game plan to clinch it. “I knew it wasn’t the only one up for auction,” she says. “There were a few of them going. I saw how much the previous highest bid had been. I wanted to pay even less.”
Evans waited until the last minute to bid. The gambit worked and she got the sofa for $900 (plus costs), compared to the $4999 rrp on the open market. She also chose its orientation, size and colour.
But while her story had a happy ending, not all will. “Buying on a website means you can’t inspect the goods beforehand,” says Evans, “and there’s very little recourse for action if anything goes wrong.”
The same furniture company was later taken off eBay after numerous customer complaints, ranging from wrong colours to delivery delays. Evans advises customers to read the detailed feedback on the site before committing to a purchase.
Know where to go
Tradie convention used to be that for a truly cheap deal, you needed to travel to the outskirts of the city or to a major suburban Bunnings or Kmart centre. Not any more. In Richmond - Melbourne’s ultimate design suburb, where big design houses mix with edgy homewares and ex-display furniture stores - there’s a great budget secret.
Swan Street Auctions and Sales, formerly an auction place, is now a one-stop shop with affordable deals on everything from fittings and floor coverings through to furniture and bedding. The canny buyer can kit out an entire house in a day, including a bathroom of brand ranges such as Fowler, Hansa and Caroma Dorf.
The store’s prices are on average 10% (”if not more”) cheaper than at the usual retail stores, says spokesman Andrew McClure. “We don’t advertise, so we don’t have that cost. Also, a lot of shops don’t carry stock in store, but we buy in volume and people can just pay and take away, for example, a cabinet. We also import in bulk from factories and overseas, such as cafe tables and chairs, and are able to sell direct to the public.”
Seconds, anyone?
Designer classics never go out of style, which is why it doesn’t matter a jot if they’re pre-loved. Since it launched in Melbourne last September, Home Furniture on Consignment (HFOC) has seen its design-classic deals snapped up by discerning buyers. The store specialises in upmarket, contemporary pieces, says store manager Daragh Casey. “A large percentage of our vendors are people relocating and their furniture doesn’t suit.”
The store ensures the items are in good condition before it puts the furniture up for resale - usually at half the price of new retail. “The good stuff sells within a four- to six-week period,” says Casey. “Generally, the more high-end, the quicker it sells.”
A Barca table by Cassina was recently sold for $3600, against a usual retail price in the mid-$7000s, she says.
Going once, going twice …
A cushion is fine, maybe a vase and the occasional large furniture item, but some items should never really be bought via the internet unless you’ve had a look at the real thing - especially not materials and finishes whose colour, texture and impact are hard to gauge via a thumbnail picture on a website.
If you’re on a budget for tiles or timber flooring, control your price point by bidding for it in person. Fowles Auction Group holds auctions on timber, carpets and floor coverings, tiles and building materials at its Brady Street, South Melbourne, site every Wednesday. Catalogues are published between 4pm and 6pm the day before and can be downloaded from its website. Auction times are fixed, so be sure to arrive early to check out the stock.
Online directories
Online directories offer comprehensive listings on discount places other than the usual big-chain stores. One site, discountshoppingguide.com.au, is systematically set out city by city, category by category, with succinct descriptions of bargains for homewares, furniture, white goods and appliances. It also gives an indication of how current their lines are. A sample: “Next Fabrics stocks a wide variety of current curtain and upholstery fabrics from brands such as Charles Parsons, Warwick, Filigree and Wilsons.”