12 February 2009

How to furnish on a shoestring

First-time buyers in west London are being shown how to furnish their home using re-cycled furniture, cutting thousands of pounds off the cost of a new home as well as helping the environment.

As well as a traditional show flat at Issigonis House in Acton, Shepherds Bush Housing Group (SBHG) has created a second show flat, decorated entirely with furniture from its furniture re-use charity Furnish.

The cost of the show flat re-use furniture is £610 compared to £2750 from a quality high street furniture store.

Paula Fance, SBHG’s Director of Development and Sales, says “We pride ourselves in making home ownership as affordable as possible. When someone buys a home for the first time the cost of furniture and accessories can soon add up.  We’ve shown it doesn’t have to cost thousands of pounds to have a truly stunning home. You can have a very modern, fashionable and fresh looking apartment at a reasonable price.”

Furnish is part of Staying Put Services, the charitable arm of SBHG. It collects unwanted good quality furniture and re-distributes it. Some pieces not suitable for redistribution are sold or auctioned.

109 flats at Issigonis House are for shared ownership, allowing people who cannot afford to buy on the open market to part rent/part buy a home.
The show flat is decorated to an extremely high standard and includes dining room, kitchen, bedroom and office furniture. The furniture, which was all donated to Furnish, includes individual handcrafted pieces of furniture.

The show flat is open seven days a week and staff can offer advice on other furniture re-use charities as well as Furnish.

When buying second hand furniture, people help the environment. For every one tonne of furniture re-used, 8.8 tonnes of carbon dioxide is saved by avoiding landfill and cutting manufacturing emissions.

For more details please contact
Hannah Stokes
Tel: 020 8996 4237
Hannah.stokes@sbhg.co.uk