Launching a Furniture Recycling Side Hustle

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Launching a Furniture Recycling Side Hustle
As the 2020 COVID shut down was in full swing, I,
like many others, found I had a lot more time on
my hands and I was fast running out of new
Netflix shows to binge. I started looking at
things to fill this time up that would be both
productive and relaxing for me as I was lucky to
be able to work from home. After a few weeks of
looking into different options and ruling them
out for various reasons, I finally settled on
refinishing furniture. I decided on this because
I may or may not be
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• addicted to both Facebook marketplace and getting
  a good deal. I had stumbled upon a free dresser
  that just needed a little TLC as they say and I
  could not pass up this opportunity to try
  something new. After settling on a day/time to
  pick it up, I became a fiend for any and all
  info I could get on how to refurbish furniture. I
  joined a Facebook group on it, watched many many
  YouTube videos, and most importantly I had to do
  a little trial and error on the piece itself.
• Today and in future posts I will attempt to walk
  you through some of the beginners knowledge I
  have picked up in the past year or so redoing
  pieces of furniture. I will attempt to break it
  down into digestible sections and be forewarned
  that I will be linking a number of articles,
  videos, and other resources to help as much as
  possible while you get started.
• In an effort to inspire you, below is a side by
  side of one of my early pieces. I picked up the
  dresser for free through Facebook marketplace.
  After some much needed changes the dresser was
  ready for a new home
• What Youll Need
• We will go ahead and jump right into some of the
  first things you will want to do when planning
  to refinish furniture. I would highly recommend
  taking a look at some of the basic things you
  will need to start. While refurbishing furniture
  is not super expensive with some of the saving
  tricks I use, I have spent a lot on it over the
  past almost 2 years. It can really add up with
  the number of items you need to get for a single
  piece especially if it is a larger piece that
  will take more materials! I have included a short
  list below of the things I have found absolutely
  necessary for this type of project. I have put
  rough price estimates for doing a medium-sized
  piece so you can get a good picture of the costs
  you would be seeing.
• Things you will definitely need will be
• Sandpaper (sanding sponges work too) 12
• Rags from old T-shirts (I have found these are
  best for cleaning the furniture) FREEEEEEE
• Paintbrushes (invest in nicer ones that will not
  shed as much if you can) 10
• Foam paint rollers 12
• Plastic paint holder 3
• Foam brushes 5
• Paint sheet or shower curtain to keep paint off
  the ground as much as possible

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• Shellac Primer 20
• Paint (I have found some great colors from the
  Oops section in stores like Lowes) between
  8 and 30
• Stain if you prefer to go that route with your
  piece 15
• Water-based Polyurethane 12
• As you can see, those items add up to about 115.
  Depending on the brands and sizes you decide to
  go with that could be even more. This is why I
  recommend making sure you have enough money to
  cover the basics at least. You do not want to be
  midway through a project
• to find out you cant finish it! Also, please
  understand that not everything will be used up
  during this first project so you will likely have
  some leftover materials to put toward your
• next project.
• Now that we have that bit out of the way, there
  are a few things I recommend getting that are
  not necessary to complete the piece, but it
  really does make it easier on you and will save
  a good amount of time.
• The first was an electric sander as sanding
  everything by hand without a little help was
  quite daunting. I find it was worth the
  investment to get through sanding faster and with
  a little less elbow grease. Sanding is my least
  favorite part of the whole process which also may
  contribute to this opinion.
• Plastic gloves are also awesome to have around
  for painting and staining. These simply protect
  your hands so that you dont have to spend 15 to
  30 minutes scrubbing off your hands after
  finishing work on the piece for the day. Stain is
  especially bad and I will never stain anything
  without wearing these because it was so hard
  trying to get it off of my hands at the end of
  the day.
• And thats it! Thats the budget and recommended
  shopping list you need to get started. Keep an
  eye out for my next post around selecting and
  preparing your first piece. Feel free to ask any
  questions below or share learnings that have
  worked for you!
• About the Author
• Emma currently works in software sales for a
  company located in Dallas, TX. She has always
  loved tapping into her creative side and enjoys
  spending free time thrift shopping hoping find
  her next project. Outside of her full time job
  and creative hobbies, Emma also loves spending
  time outdoors with her husband, Roman

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CouchCycled offers free in-home couch and
furniture removal in an effort to reduce
furniture waste in Dallas/Fort Worth while giving
back to the community. All removed couches are
renewed and resold at an affordable price. A
percentage of all sales are donated.