Silver Lake, second floor, no elevator. I had a sleeping bag and a camp chair for the first three weeks. I would look at furniture prices online and close the tab.
A friend told me to just drive around. Not even look at anything specific — just drive the residential blocks on a weekend morning and see what was out. I thought that sounded ridiculous. I came home with a lamp and a bookshelf on the first try.
LA Is Constantly Giving Stuff Away
Los Angeles has one of the highest residential turnover rates in the country. People move in from out of state, stay for a few years, then move on. They bring furniture with them, upgrade it, and then face a choice: haul it back, sell it (difficult), or give it away. Most choose to give it away.
The result is a continuous stream of free items flowing onto curbs across the city. Sofas, dining tables, bookshelves, kitchen appliances, TVs — all left out with an implicit "please take this" sign. CurbSofa turns that informal flow into a real-time map you can browse from your couch.
How to Furnish an Apartment From Scratch
Here's a practical approach to furnishing a new place using CurbSofa:
Step 1: Start with the essentials
Before you buy anything, spend one to two weeks actively checking CurbSofa for the items you actually need. Prioritize: a bed frame or platform, a sofa or couch, a dining table, and storage. These are the most commonly given items and the most expensive to buy new.
Step 2: Use the map view
The map view shows you everything available near your neighborhood right now. Filter by category and sort by distance. Items within half a mile should always be your first stop — they're easiest to pick up with a car or borrowed truck.
Moving Tip: Rent a truck for one day (Home Depot rents them by the hour) and batch your CurbSofa pickups. Plan a route using the map, then hit 3–4 items in a single trip. Much more efficient than multiple car runs.
Step 3: Don't overlook "ugly but functional"
A scratched dresser that costs $0 is better than a pristine one that costs $300. Sand it, paint it, add new hardware — DIY furniture flipping is a whole genre of content online, and the raw material is free on CurbSofa.
Best LA Neighborhoods for Free Finds (for New Residents)
If you're new to a neighborhood, here's a cheat sheet:
- Silver Lake / Echo Park — Design-forward items, lots of Ikea and vintage mix
- West Hollywood / WeHo — High-quality furniture from apartment upgrades
- Santa Monica / West LA — Frequent tech worker relocations = good electronics
- Los Feliz / Atwater Village — Solid wood furniture, vintage items
- Koreatown — High density, lots of kitchen items and small furniture
What You Probably Won't Find (and Should Still Buy)
A few things are rarely available for free or aren't worth the risk when found on a curb:
- Mattresses — skip these on the curb; buy new or from a reputable store
- Upholstered items showing heavy staining or odor — not worth the cleaning effort
- Appliances without testing — always ask the poster if possible, or test on-site before hauling
Give Back When You Settle In
Once you've been in LA for a few months and start accumulating things you don't need — moving boxes, duplicate kitchen items, that extra lamp — post them on CurbSofa. You earn Karma points that show up on your profile and on the community leaderboard. It's a small way to become part of the neighborhood before you've even unpacked.
Welcome to LA. There's a lot of free stuff waiting for you.