San Francisco is My Home

24
Jan

Furniture not from Ikea

Author: kris, Category: Shopping

I got invited into my upstairs neighbor’s apartment a while back and I’m still not over it.

I live in one of those — oh, you know what, this sounds like it’s going to be a horrible story about being assaulted by my neighbor or something, but it’s actually about furniture. Don’t panic. (She does not get eaten by the eels at this time.)

As I was saying, I live in one of those great old buildings whose residents have been in the same apartments for thirty years or more. They’re all friends, and they maintain our gorgeous garden together and everyone chats in the laundry room and puts up a tree at Christmas and is a genuine community.

The neighbor I speak of is one of the long-term residents, and over the years he’s decorated and re-decorated his home until it is, currently, a real stunner. My fellow and I, surrounded by the glowing ruby walls, the deep carpets and the rich tones of the wooden furniture, sighed regretfully over our own haphazard collection of hand-me-down pieces.

Most people I know, being in their mid- to late-twenties like me, are in a similar predicament. We’d like to have nice things, but we simply can’t afford them, and so we depend on the kindness of relatives who are trading up and need to ditch their old couch in a hurry. (Actually, we do have a few nice pieces. It’s not a war zone in here. But it could still be better.) If you, too, find yourself longing for some of the finer things, take heart: there are non-Ikea options that even you can afford.

Mickey’s Monkey is the junkshop of choice for cognoscenti in the Haight. Its collection of furniture spills out onto the sidewalk and is both funky and, in general, reasonably priced. You can find it at Pierce and Haight.

If you’re willing to venture a bit further afield, befriend someone with a largish vehicle and head down to Urban Ore in Berkeley. This large warehouse space (3 acres, or so they say) is packed to the ceiling with furniture of all descriptions. A lot of it is falling apart, scarred, or generally junky, but the great joy of mining is that sometimes you strike it rich. I myself found a beautiful huge dining room table there. And, of course, it’s all completely affordable because it’s all second (or third, fourth or fifth) hand.

If even these prices are a bit too high-end, then I suggest you consult the one-stop shop for most of us: Craigslist. Specifically, the section on Garage and Moving Sales. Artists are being priced out of this city all the time; it’s been happening for decades. When they go, they often sell their stuff, and it’s often quite nice. The city’s tragic loss is your living room’s gain.