Ah, September! The month of freakishly good weather, reacquainting yourself with your desk and, if you’re on board with Oxfam’s pledge, only shopping second-hand.
The charity’s initiative, which started out as a way to tempt shoppers away from the devastating environmental impact of fast fashion, is now in its fifth year.
Pre-loved homeware specialists have since jumped on the bandwagon, and for good reason. The stats are sobering: the North London Waste Authority estimates that, each year, 22 million pieces of furniture are thrown away in the UK, with most ending up in landfill.
Kitting out your home with some second-hand goods is a no-brainer when you consider that it takes up to a thousand times more CO2 to produce new furniture as opposed to refurbishing, according to RightGreen, a furniture recycling specialist.
A room can just feel like it has been plucked from a catalogue, but adding some vintage makes a space unique for you
There is no shortage of quality stock, either. Vinterior, the online marketplace specialising in vintage and antique furniture, gave more than 170,000 pieces a new lease of life last year.
It has just launched Resale, a platform where anyone can sell their remarkable but unwanted furniture.
The London-based tastemaker, self-confessed “junk shop trawler” and chair obsessive Lucy Williams recently listed half a dozen pieces, including artworks and tables.
“Living in a terraced house, inevitably space quickly becomes an issue,” she explains.
Williams says pre-loved finds help to inject personality into a home. “When everything is new, a room can just feel like it has been plucked from a catalogue, whereas adding some vintage really makes a space unique for you,” she adds.
She suggests newbies start with a wooden stool. “I use them as side tables and have them in nearly every room. They instantly add character and can make bathrooms feel far more homely when styled with a candle on them.
“They can be the perfect perch for a drink next to a sofa, too.”
Granted, shopping second-hand takes time and a level of devotion; not everyone has the capacity or inclination to rifle through charity shops or set up eBay alerts on the off-chance that a piece with just the right proportions will appear eventually.
It takes up to a thousand times more CO2 to produce new furniture as opposed to refurbishing
And then there’s delivery — nothing takes the wind out of a bargain’s sales than paying more than something actually costs just to get it home.
But if you know where to look, there are specialist sellers serving up a reliable supply of practical, carefully curated pieces with hassle-free shipping. Here are a few of our favourites to get you started; prepare for the gratifying buzz of clicking “new in” on a website where everything is pre-loved.
For furniture
Louisa Grace Interiors
French armoires, peeling shutters, worn benches… you’ll find everything is achingly authentic at this well-stocked barn in Chipstead, Surrey. It’s like stepping back in time — prepare to be converted to rustic-chic.
Aelfred
Opened a year ago in Hackney Wick, Aelfred has established itself as the emporium for vintage mid-century Nordic furniture. With design classics from Alvar Aalto chairs to Hans J. Wegner day beds, be ready to royally splurge here.
May + Co
The duo behind Oxford-based May + Co painstakingly bring functional, mid-century modern pieces back to their former glory through stripping and sanding. If you’re looking for a timeless teak coffee table or an elegant armchair, subscribe to its Saturday stock emails to be first in line. Expect to pay around £65 for delivery.
Crystal Palace Antiques
No longer such a well-kept secret, 20 vendors fill a four-storey warehouse with a beguiling edit of predominantly modern design pieces. Its website is intermittently updated, so it’s best to stretch your legs up Anerley Hill from Crystal Palace station and make the pilgrimage in person.
Release
If your budget is tight, this company specialising in cast-offs from residential developments might be your saviour. Granted, they’re not cult pieces, but they are cheaper than IKEA. Expect to pay from £34 for a bedside table. Delivery is hassle-free (£30 for up to five items), too.
For lighting and rugs
Vinterior
Loved by both industry insiders and renovators, you could turn to Vinterior to deck out your entire home. However, its lighting game is particularly strong: a search of UK-only sellers offering lamps and shades under £200 throws up more than 3,000 results.
Cart House
A go-to for perfectly imperfect, mood-setting one-offs, Cart House does a fine line in oversized pots and vintage rugs. At the time of writing we spied a Turkish runner for £180, with £5 shipping.
For unique flourishes
Tat London
Interiors aficionado Charlie Porter describes Tat as an “online jumble shop”, but her discerning eye for elevated art, brassware and ceramics leaves no room for crap brick-a-brack.
Narchie
Good news for your Insta feed: many accounts specialising in the decorative equivalent of a statement necklace for your cocktail bar/mantelpiece/shelfie have found a home on Narchie. The app, founded by Harriet Pringle, is dubbed the Depop of homeware.
Search for Narchie on your app store
Merchant & Found
Step away from that faux apple crate and bag yourself the real deal. Merchant & Found cherry-picks the best finds from European flea markets (and old fairgrounds), so you don’t have to.
Anemone Interiors
For a show-stopping clam shell lamp/ banana fruit bowl/pineapple ice bucket (yes, really), the fabulously frivolous gems sourced by stylist Lia Briamonte will bring joy to your browsing.
For building projects
Lower the carbon footprint of your #homereno with a smattering of salvaged materials. Kensal Green-based Retrouvius (retrouvius.com) offers wooden worktops (many of which are rescued from school science labs) and grand doors from City buildings.
For floorboards with charm, try Dulwich Reclamation (dulwichreclamation.co.uk).
Entire kitchens and bathrooms can also be snapped up for a fraction of their market value.
The Used Kitchen Company (theusedkitchencompany.com) and Rehome (rehome.co.uk) list ex-display and residential fittings, saving them from the skip and proving that one person’s trash — even a granite-topped island — really can be someone else’s treasure.
