The Heroes of our Home: The Habitat for Humanity RESTORE

I am BEYOND excited for this post because I get to brag on the people who made furnishing our home a reality. If you were with us on Monday, I shared the Thomas’ Tiny House Rules… which are our self-created guidelines for all things house. If you are new, WELCOME! So glad you’re here! Let me take your coat, so you can stay awhile 🙂

Onward. Remember Rule #1? Cheap, cheapity, cheap is the name of the game. There are some things that are easy to find for a bargain, especially if you know where to shop. Upon buying our house, it was not so much the small, decorative trinkety things we were in need of, but actual furniture. Cue, the Heroes of our Home:

I cannot say enough good things about this organization (or at least, this part of it). The Restore is the equivalent of The Goodwill for furniture, appliance, fixtures, and home repair things. People donate what they no longer need and the Restore sells it, using the profit to assist in building more homes. A few great things about the Restore:

• They are focused on making a difference through building homes for people and use profits made in the Restore to do so.
• The turn around for items is generally pretty fast, resulting in new merchandise in the store all of the time and a large selection to choose from.
• The prices here are extraordinary! Read on for just a few examples…
• Even with the low prices, they run sales often to clear out inventory to make room for new things.
• Friendly employees will help you load things into your car!
• They carry more than just furniture and decorative items… the Restore also has a supply of home renovation goods- tile, extra paint, stone, tools, etc.

As I was saying, the Restore has been our go-to while furnishing the house. When I tell you that most of our furniture has come from here, I sincerely mean all but six pieces of furniture that we own has been hauled off their back loading dock and into our car my parents’ van. Let me give you a tour of some of the goods:

Kitchen Table and Chairs: $20. We found the set looking like this- there was no sanding/staining job here, folks. Also, please note: The word “sturdy” does not quite do this set justice… I could do some serious damage to a burglar with one of the (removable) table legs.

Dresser: $10. In great working order, but will be getting a face-lift, come springtime!

Desk: $20. A “splurge”, compared to the norm. We wanted this desk, specifically for the storage on both sides and it’s compact size.

Sofa, Chairs, and Ottoman Set: $250. Finding these was a true blessing. Not but two days after we bought the house, my mom and I were at the Restore with no agenda or plans of purchasing anything. When we saw this set and the price tag, my mom immediately sat down on it to stake out, while I went to pay. We wasted no time in ensuring that it didn’t slip through our fingers! A sofa, 2 lounge chairs, 2 ottomans, and a few pillows later and we had a complete family room set. Thank you, Restore. You truly are… the best.

Bookshelves: 3 for $20. These are industrial strength and had definitely been cleaned out of someone’s office and donated. I can’t fully share what they look like today just yet, but they ended up being the perfect thing for what we needed. A post on the details will come eventually…

Above: Mitch, posing with the drill as we worked on the shelves. PS. They are HEAVY!!

Coffee Tables: $10 each. Again, loving the table space AND the storage below. We still haven’t figured out if this is what they will look like forever, but for now, they’re working for us.

And this concludes our tour of the Restore wonders. Now, why do I bother sharing this? I am not interested so much in putting our own treasures on display, but rather to share a valuable resource that has been such a blessing to us. There is no way we would have been able to get some of the pieces we did at retail stores. We just did not (and still do not) have the budget for that. I know that there are other people in our shoes and I want to pass along something that has really worked for us. I truly believe that:

1. Just because you may be working with a budget does not mean that you are out of the running to find wonderful, quality items for your home/dorm/apartment, etc.

2. Habitat for Humanity serves a lot of people in a lot of different ways (including, as you can see, us!). They deserve the hype and the business.

So, with that, go and check them out! You can find a location near you on their website: http://www.habitat.org/env/restores.aspx

Best of luck and happy treasure hunting! PS. We’d love to see pictures of things that you have found at the Restore- post those photos!

-Leslie