What We Look For When Picking Up Free Furniture 👀

At Upwood Industries, a lot of our projects start the same way: with a piece of furniture that someone else no longer wants. Sometimes it is sitting on the curb, sometimes it is listed for free online, and sometimes it is just headed for the trash.

But we do not pick up everything we find.

Before bringing a piece back to the shop, one of the first things we look at is how it was built. Whenever possible, we look for solid wood construction. Solid wood usually gives us more options when it comes to cleaning, sanding, repairing, refinishing, and bringing a piece back to life.

We generally try to avoid veneer when we can. Veneer is not automatically a bad thing, and plenty of quality furniture has been made with it, but it can make restoration more difficult. Thin veneer can be easy to sand through, and chipped, swollen, or peeling veneer can quickly turn a simple project into a much bigger repair.

Solid wood gives us a little more room to work.

We also pay close attention to the overall structure of a piece. Scratches, faded finishes, water rings, and worn hardware usually do not bother us much. Those are often exactly the kinds of problems we can work with. What matters more is whether the piece itself is sturdy.

We check for loose joints, broken legs, damaged drawers, major cracks, and anything that might make the piece unsafe or difficult to repair.

Another thing we look for is character. Interesting hardware, unusual drawer layouts, older construction methods, or a great wood grain can make a piece stand out. Sometimes you can look past a rough finish and immediately see what the furniture could become with a little work.

Finally, we consider whether the project makes sense. Even when the furniture itself is free, restoration still takes time, materials, transportation, and space in the shop. A free piece is not necessarily a good project.

The best finds are usually the ones with good bones: solid wood, sturdy construction, repairable damage, and enough character to make the finished piece worth saving.

Those are the pieces we are always looking for—and the ones that make curbside furniture hunting so much fun!

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