Interiors on the cheap
“Furniture is the most active section in our home and garden category,” says Rogister. “Sellers are usually moving home or redecorating and need their sofas, dining tables or whatever gone quickly so they sell them at a very affordable prices. Many users also sell brand new Ikea furniture because it doesn’t fit in their room and it would be too much hassle bringing it back.”
You can buy anything on Adverts.iefrom the sublime (four Edwardian chairs for €160 or an Art Deco satinwood display cabinet for €155) to the ridiculous (used Hoover accessories) and there’s plenty of bargaining to be done. If shopping online isn’t an option or you’d prefer to see the item in the flesh before you engage in negotiations you could check out furniture auctions such as the Herman Wilkinson Auction Rooms in Rathmines ( hermanwilkinson.ie).
Costume designer Sinead Roberts is founder and director of The Costume Room. She lives with her partner Michael McKenna, a music producer and DJ on the top floor of a Georgian house in Dublin. “Because it’s an old house we like to buy things in keeping with the style of the house but give them a modern twist,” says Roberts, who is pretty handy with a sewing machine. “It would cost a fortune to decorate if we were to buy everything new, but also new items don’t really suit our aesthetic. As we are quite creative people we prefer to have items around us that reflect our personalities, and while we have things from the likes of Ikea we prefer to keep this to a minimum, picking up stuff in auctions and salvage yards instead.”
Favourite pieces of furniture that the couple have bid for at Herman Wilkinson include a leather Chesterfield wingback chair which they picked up for just €65 and a walnut dining table with Queen Anne legs for €40. “When we were doing up the house I saw a reproduction wardrobe in a shop for €2,000 – I loved it but there was no way we could afford it. Sometime later we got an almost identical original version for €50 at the auction and we love it.”
If retro is your thing Paul Byrne runs Retrorumage ( retrorumage.tumblr.com) which stocks good value mid-century design. He and Geoff Kirk of Kirk Modern ( kirkmodern.com) are often at the Brocante in Dublin’s Newmarket Square on the third Sunday of every month.
Karolina Schvartz-Poludniewska is a property agent and interior designer who buys and renovates properties for clients in Poland. She advises that wise spending is key when it comes to interiors. “Invest in things that you won’t change often such as flooring, doors and good quality bathroom fittings.” Schvartz-Poludniewska says that colour can be added without much expense in the form of items that are easily changed – curtains, cushions and cheaper items of furniture. When it comes to children’s rooms the designer says that splurging is a waste of money. “They are going to grow and change and you will probably change the room in five years anyway.”
