4 Creative Ways to Furnish your Room for Free

September 4. I arrived in Wageningen from Brazil to start my master’s degree in the upcoming week. It was 11:00 pm, and a girl I met on Facebook was kind enough to pick up my keys with the student real estate agent (Idealis) so that I could get into my room on a Saturday night. Thank you again, Chrysa.

I was selecting the room I didn’t pay enough attention and I went straight to the selection of the cheapest one on the website, without seeing that it was completely empty. Well, I didn’t I have anything to do on my first night there and luckily Chrysa invited me to go out with her friends. We went to the Loburg and SHOUT. Also, she lent me an extra mattress so that I could sleep well that night. Problem solved. 🙂

In the next day, while I was opening my suitcases, my new housemate stopped at my door, asking me:

– Do you want to go out and look for furniture? I know where to find them for free.

– Of course, yes!

– Didn’t you know the room have no furniture?

– No…

– But you didn’t read the contract? Mine was saying it.

– No, I didn’t read it… (shy laugh)

– Well, let’s go!

This is Marco, my one of my best friends ever since. He was the one he who taught me all the tips that I will share with you here. 

Marco took me on the back of his bike, and on our first stop, he already helped me buying a second-hand bike. By the way, this was the bike that helped me to bring the furniture to my room, plus doing many other things, such as cycling to other cities in the free days (I will talk more about bike trips in a future post for the blog).

My new definition of equilibrium

In order, Marco, me, Luca (our other housemate), and Juliana (a friend who received us in her house on a cycling trip to Den Haag)

Well, leaving aside the other stories, let’s get the tips on how to furnish your room for free:

1) Dropboxes

All the apartments and houses of Idealis have spaces reserved for the donation of furniture and clothes. It’s one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen working for reusing of materials! As there are so many students in Wageningen, the rotation is very large, as well as material goods. People donate things with great value just because things do not fit in their suitcases, or because they have to deliver the rooms the same way as they found. So it is a paradise for those who need to furnish everything from scratch, like Marco, Luca and I.

These donation spots change names depending on the place: dropbox, give away shop, etc. But it is easy to find them by asking people! You can find at Hoevestein, Dijkgraaf, Bornsesteeg, Haarweg, Droevendaal … Marco and I usually did a Tour de Wageningen going through all of them. It was a lot of fun because Marco has a super artistic look for everything and he ended up inspiring me to create cool decorations from the unimaginable.

2) Second-hand shops

Wageningen has a lot of second-hand shops. The most famous among the students is Emmaus, which opens only on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It’s a great place to buy those little things that are still missing, like decoration stuff. It doesn’t seem a priority, but it will definitely help you feel at home during your time in Wageningen, which is not so short.

3)  Open market

I was very fortunate to discover by coincidence a furniture donation market that happens every second Saturday of September (also the beginning of the academic year), next to the windmill De Vlijt. This fair is not widely advertised in English and online because it is from the local church, but it is worth visiting! Besides being super cheap (or for free), it is an interesting experience to talk to people who live in Wageningen without being involved with the university.

4) Pinterest

I really like using online tools, such as Pinterest, to research ideas before going out to buy things. It helps me a lot to be more creative, to understand more about my own taste, and also to be more minimalistic because I end up bringing home only what I really want to have in my bedroom.

Photos: our rooms!

Yes, we really like plants!

I hope this post inspires you to furnish your room as well. Follow your own taste! 🙂