Getting rid of old furniture? These companies are making it easier to pass on pre-loved pieces

Getting rid of old furniture is daunting and, let's face it, one of the least exciting parts of a renovation. But, there are now endless ways to pass on your pre-loved pieces, saving them from landfill, where no furnishings wish to end up.

Living room ideas to help you upgrade your space

Giving any area of our homes a revamp often means giving old items a new home, and furniture companies and charities are making it easier than ever.

Getting rid of old furniture

Made

Made.com has recently partnered with a giveaway platform called Geev to encourage customers to rehome old pieces. So, what's in it for you?

Well, basically, some good karma. The furniture and homeware store donates 10% of your order value to charity if you post an ad for a pre-loved piece when you check out. For more details, check out the Made website.

DFS

DFS’ landfill diversion programme Sofa Rescue, in partnership with Clearabee means customers can have unwanted sofas picked up from their homes.

Yes, please. The sofas are then recycled as much as possible and disposed of responsibly.

Since DFS' Sofa Rescue scheme launched in October 2019, over 50,000 sofas have been collected across the UK from DFS customers. Clearabee also plants tree to offset the carbon emissions of collection, so it's a win-win. 

Swyft

Sofa-in-a-box company Swyft has also partnered with Clearabee, so if you have a Swyft order number, you can arrange a swift collection of your old sofa to stop it going into landfill. More on the Swyft website.

If you're looking for the best sofa for your home but feeling overwhelmed with the amount of choice, let our roundup narrow things down.

IKEA

IKEA's buy-back scheme means that you can return your old Billy bookcase or Kallax shelving to the store in exchange for vouchers. Any pre-loved items that look ‘as good as new’ with no scratches will be purchased by IKEA for 50 per cent of the original price.

If your furnishings have picked up minor scratches, IKEA will buy them back at 40 percent. IKEA is selling replacement parts too, so you may be able to pretend you're Will from The Repair Shop and restore your pieces for years to come.

British Heart Foundation

The British Heart Foundation offers free Covid-secure collection of larger household items - just head to the BHF website. They also offer a complete house clearance service - items just need to be in a good condition and sofas and upholstery need to have fire labels still attached. Last year, the BHF saved 71,000 tonnes of goods from going to waste, including 180,000 sofas.

'Our 190 home stores across the UK are almost entirely dependent on the public’s donations,' says Allison Swaine-Hughes, Retail Director at the British Heart Foundation. 'This is why we would be hugely grateful for any good quality furniture and homewares, to help fund our life-saving research.'

Unless you're 100% decided, consider painting or reupholstering an old piece before chucking it out. Our upcycled furniture ideas piece includes 17 easy DIY revamps to give your furniture a new lease of life.

Related: John Lewis is now selling vintage furniture – everything we know about the new collection

You can also list items to sell on Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree and FreeCycle. You can even list things as collection only, so it's simply a case of taking some pictures, writing a description and waiting for someone to come and take it away.