Affordable Furniture Stores to Furnish Your Home on The Cheap
When setting up home for the first time, buying a property is only half of the battle. It’s one thing complaining about the rising prices of real estate, but what about all those extras you are going to need to fill your home?
Whether it’s appliances for the kitchen, wall hangings or soft furnishings it all soon mounts up. And one of the major costs will be furniture. Choosing the furniture for your new home can be fun but it can also be outrageously expensive.
If you’re not lucky enough to acquire a few hand-me-downs from various family members or friends, you are probably going to have to make a few compromises. You may not be able to afford the most expensive brands, but if you shop around you will find plenty of affordable furniture stores to furnish your home on the cheap.
Five Tips for Finding Affordable Furniture Stores
Later in this guide, we will look at four of the most popular choices for affordable furniture stores in Australia today. However the more options you give yourself, the more chance you will have of finding that ever-elusive affordable furniture. Here are our five top tips for finding affordable furniture stores.
1. Check Out the Big-Box Stores
We have all passed those big furniture stores in our local town and walked on by when we notice the higher prices in the window. Have you ever thought of stopping at the local big-box stores like Target, Costco or Walmart when looking for furniture?
Dedicated furniture stores will, in general, be much more expensive than the range of furniture you will find in your local Walmart. Although you may think of them more as a groceries store, they also carry many household items like brooms, paint, hardware and even a wide array of furniture.
From custom storage solutions to beds, tables and chairs, you will find quality models in your local big-box store and normally at knock-down prices too.
2. Ask Family and Friends
Occasionally you can’t beat the old-fashioned methods of looking for information. A Google or other internet search can be useful, but it also helps to get recommendations from those you trust, family and friends.
Asking your family and friends can be a great way of finding those affordable furniture stores which you may have never heard of or don’t have an online presence. Everybody has bought furniture at some time or another and maybe you could put out a Facebook post asking for recommendations.
You never know, somebody may even have a set of drawers or a table they are wanting to get rid of which can be used.
3. Look at Online Furniture Stores
Like everything else in life, sometimes online purchases can knock dollars off the high street price. An online retailer doesn’t have the bricks and mortar costs of expansive showrooms and often even offer free shipping.
Check the retailer accepts free returns, which will ease your mind when purchasing furniture online and unseen. You could always try to find a similar piece to view in a local store before ordering online.
4. Check the Reviews on Yelp
User review sites like Yelp will often provide reviews for many of the businesses in your area including, of course, furniture stores. This can help you find some of those smaller (and maybe cheaper) furniture stores which may not have popped up in your previous internet searches.
You will also be able to tap into the reviews and knowledge of other people who have used these stores previously. This can enable you to decide whether it’s worth the effort or time to visit them.
5. Try Looking in Thrift Stores
Don’t rule out yard sales or thrift stores—well made wooden furniture will often last for decades, if not centuries. If you have ever watched Antique Roadshow on ABC, you will know that a good piece of furniture can sometimes increase in value over time!
You should take care when looking for pieces of upholstered furniture as you don’t know whether they are harbouring mites, bedbugs or other infestations. However, a yard sale or thrift shop can be an ideal way of picking up affordable dining tables, chairs, bookcases, dressers or drawers and just about any other furniture.
Four Affordable Furniture Stores Across Australia
Below we have looked at four inexpensive furniture stores which have branches nationwide across Australia. Each has received scores of positive reviews and offers a wide variety of furniture at attractively affordable prices.
IKEA
It’s almost impossible to talk about affordable furniture without mentioning IKEA, the world’s largest global chain of furniture warehouses. This Swedish home store is renowned for on-trend furniture at great prices.
Trading in Australia for over 40 years, IKEA currently owns 10 stores nationwide but plans to increase this to over 40 stores by 2030. That number could be even more when you count the smaller format stores they are constantly opening in shopping centres.
IKEA stock everything under the sun, from stylish bedroom suites to kitchen cabinets and many storage units. All IKEA furniture has a contemporary style and prices are kept low by offering them as flat pack assembly kits for the customer to build at home. You will also find many online IKEA hacks to make your furniture more unique or luxurious.
IKEA has a strong online shopping presence in Northern Territory, Queensland, Canberra, Tasmania, and greater Sydney, if there’s no store nearby. The only problem is you miss out on those tasty meatballs when using the web.
Reference: https://www.ikea.com/ca/en/rooms/dining/
Freedom Furniture
Freedom furniture is an Australian furniture retailer established in 1981 who now have over 65 stores across Australia. You can easily check your nearest store location on their website. If you are concerned about the sustainability of your furniture, Freedom scores points for their strong sustainability ethics as well as affordability.
Freedom Furniture also offers great prices on their whole range. Freedom made the headlines when they slashed the price of over 5000 items two years ago and scrapped rolling sales. How annoying is it to see a piece of furniture you really like at a great price, only to find the offer was a limited one day or one week sale?
Instead, Freedom favours a policy of everyday low pricing across their entire stock, from bedroom furniture, dining and kitchen wares, kids rooms and bathrooms too. They also have outdoor furniture and lighting, soft furnishings and even office furniture available.
Reference: https://www.freedomfurniture.co.nz/furniture
Amart Furniture
Amart furniture is another of Australia’s leading success stories, founded in 1970 in Brisbane. A natural disaster, the Brisbane floods of 1974 meant over 13,000 properties were underwater, in addition to the major competitor furniture store. Amart furniture was high and dry, and with people needing replacement furniture, the store was flat out.
The original founder sold the store in 2006 and the chain has continued to grow, with a network of 63 stores nationwide. Amart furniture prides itself on customer satisfaction and the way they stand by their products. The CEO, Lee Chadwick’s slogan is “At Amart furniture you buy it, we back it”.
With a wide range of over 2000 items, they cover everything from bedrooms, lounges, and kitchens, to outdoor furniture too. They even have an upmarket, yet still affordable, signature collection. Amart advertises as the lowest prices guaranteed with select products featuring a price match guarantee—they’ll also beat it by 30 percent.
Reference: https://www.amartfurniture.com.au/keller-60362/
Kmart Australia
Finally, we look at one of the big box stores we talked about earlier. With over 200 stores across Australia and New Zealand, Kmart is one of Australia’s most profitable chain of discount stores.
Although they may not have as wide a variety as dedicated furniture retailers, Kmart is constantly refreshing its range. Kmart’s vision to provide Australian families with premium goods at affordable prices extends to their range of furniture, with high volume sales driving down the prices.
If you are just looking for a chair for the spare bedroom, maybe a storage unit for the kid’s room or a desk for your office, a Kmart is never too far away.
Kmart also offers an online catalogue so you can enjoy the best of a high street shop with website prices and speedy delivery. An online “Afterpay” scheme allows you to split the cost of your purchase over four equal installments for up to eight weeks—ideal for spreading the cost of furnishing your new home.
Reference: https://www.homebeautiful.com.au/pretty-ways-to-style-your-kmart-furniture
Conclusions
Furnishing your home has never been so inexpensive with the wide choice of affordable furniture stores you can now find across Australia. From the boho-chic of thrift shops to the modern flat-packs of IKEA, you can furnish your house on the cheap and still make the place look and feel like a home.
Stores like IKEA, Freedom Furniture, Amart and Kmart all carry a large selection of furniture at knock-down prices. Remember you don’t have to buy all your furniture in one go, so why not shop around for the most affordable?