The Wake

So, school’s started and you’re finally getting settled into that great new apartment. One problem—you have no furniture. There aren’t many college students that can run right down to Gabberts to gobble up all the latest in home furnishing fashion. So what are our options?

The cheap and chic home furnishing market became more than just the offerings of your local Target store this summer with the much-anticipated opening of Minnesota’s first Ikea. Those pesky trips to Chicago (previously the nearest location) are no longer necessary in order to obtain the fabulous Scandinavian flat-packaged items you’ve been drooling over in the catalogue.

But even Ikea is beyond many of our budgets when it comes to furnishing an entire apartment. Sure, I can afford $3.99 for a 12-pack of wine glasses, but the dark brown Värnamo sofa I’ve been eyeing is beyond my means, even at only $299.

Instead of settling for a milk-crate coffee table and blankets thrown over metal folding chairs, why not give the Twin Cities Free Market a try. It’s guaranteed to fit your budget—everything is free.

The Free Market is a waste-diverting program that was founded in the Twin Cities in 1997. It was the first web-based program of its kind in the nation, and since its inception, has spread to other locations around the country. People who have household items that they no longer want or need are able to post free listings on the Free Market website. Simply put, it’s a classified section where everything is free and within the metro area. All you have to do is find a way to pick it up.

There are regularly 400-plus items up for grabs. There are couches, coffee tables, kitchen and dining sets and entertainment centers. But it’s not all just furniture. This is the place to find TVs, speakers, microwaves and craft supplies. You might score a really great find, such as a working vintage record player housed in a wooden end-table.

Most of the people are pretty honest in their listings, since they are not trying to sell anything. Many of the electronic items (mostly tv’s and audio equipment) don’t work or need new parts, but the owners don’t hide this fact. Couches are often described as “slightly worn” but if you’re really crafty you can pick of some fabric, which can also be found on the Free Market, and fashion a slipcover.

Many of the items come from homes that have been remodeled, so you’ll find lots of kitchen items such as stoves and dishwashers, even an occasional kitchen sink. If you’re sick of weekly trips to the laundromat, there are always a few old washers and dryers, and avocado green is so in right now.

Besides being totally trendy, the Free Market is an environmentally friendly program. Its goal is to find new homes for unwanted household goods that would otherwise be overwhelming our landfills. Since the inception of the program, it has diverted almost 2,000 tons of useable materials from the dumpster fate.

And when you no longer need the great items you found on the Free Market — or that couch from Ikea — simply post a listing on the website and hope someone else enjoys it as much as you did.