What to do with old furniture in St. Louis

The short answer

Sort it into three piles: things worth selling, things worth giving away, and things nobody wants. Sell and give away first. For the rest, City of St. Louis households get monthly bulky pickup for up to three items under 100 lbs and 6 ft; everyone else checks their municipal hauler. For anything heavier, bigger or upstairs, a flat pickup is priced from the published list — dresser $126, sofa $126, dining table $163.

Step 1: decide what is actually worth selling

St. Louis has a lot of old, solid furniture. Homes in Kirkwood, Webster Groves and St. Louis Hills often hold pieces bought decades ago by owners who stayed put. Some of it has real resale value; a lot of it does not.

• Usually sells: solid-wood dressers in good shape, mid-century pieces, small dining sets, bookcases, desks.
• Sometimes sells: china hutches, armoires, sleeper sofas, recliners. Big and heavy narrows the buyer pool.
• Rarely sells: particleboard bookcases, worn upholstered pieces, anything stained or smelling of smoke or pets.

If a piece has not drawn a serious offer in a week, it is not going to. Move on.

Step 2: give it away

Free furniture goes fast in St. Louis in late July and August, when students and medical residents are setting up apartments around SLU, the Central West End and the Delmar Loop. Post with measurements and the floor it is on. Be specific about the carry: "second floor of a four-family flat, narrow stairs" saves everyone a wasted trip.

Charities vary in what they accept and whether they pick up, and requirements change. Call before loading anything. When we haul, we try to donate usable items when local charities accept them — but we do not promise it, and you should not plan around it.

Step 3: the City's bulky pickup

Inside the City limits, the $14 per month per unit solid-waste fee includes monthly bulky collection. Items go out by 6:00 am on the Monday of your collection week, in the alley if your block has one, otherwise at the curb. Limits: up to three items, and no piece over 100 lbs, 6 ft long or 2 ft in diameter.

That works for a chair, a small table and a nightstand. It does not work for a solid-wood armoire, a sleeper sofa, a 6-foot bookcase full of plaster dust from a Soulard rehab, or a whole bedroom set. And it is once a month.

Step 4: haul it yourself

City residents can drop off at the North or South transfer station, Monday to Friday, 8:00 to 4:00, with ID and a water or solid-waste bill. Twelve loads a year, each up to what fits a half-ton pickup, 5 by 8 by 4 feet. Business, charity and nonprofit waste is not accepted.

County and Metro East residents should check what their own city or trash district offers. Kirkwood is not the City, Oakville is not Kirkwood, and Belleville is a different state.

Step 5: book a pickup for the rest

A dining room — table, four chairs and the hutch — is $163 + $45 + $45 + $45 + $45 + $160 = $503. At that size, compare it with a truck tier: a half truck is $431 and a 5/8 truck $513, and the quote will show which way prices lower before you approve.

Downsizing from a long-held house

A lot of old furniture in this metro comes out at one moment: when a long-time owner downsizes. Florissant built around 18,000 houses between 1947 and 1980, and many of those first owners are now moving to something smaller. St. Louis Hills, built mostly in the 1930s to 1950s, and The Hill have the same pattern of long-held family homes.

Downsizing furniture usually sorts itself. Family takes a few pieces. A few sell. The rest is the heavy, dated, hard-to-move set: the bedroom suite, the dining room, the basement sofa. Doing it in one visit after family has chosen keeps it simple. A bedroom suite with a large solid hardwood dresser, a solid queen bed frame and two nightstands is $182 + $126 + $57 + $57 = $422. Add the basement sofa and it is $422 + $126 = $548, which sits between a 5/8 truck at $513 and a 3/4 truck at $587.

Heavy old furniture and old St. Louis stairs

The problem is rarely the furniture. It is the house. Brick flats in Bevo Mill and Dutchtown have narrow, turning interior stairs. Many St. Louis homes have deep basements where furniture went down decades ago and nobody remembers how. Solid hardwood dressers and armoires weigh a lot more than modern flat-pack.

If you are moving it yourself: pull the drawers out and carry them separately, take doors off armoires, and wrap corners with moving blankets. Do not try to carry a china hutch down a basement stair with the glass in. Our crews carry from any floor, basement included, with no stairs fee.

Water-damaged and storm-damaged furniture

Some furniture decides for you. After heavy rain, basement furniture across the metro gets soaked, and swollen particleboard and mildewed upholstery do not come back. The May 2025 tornado left damaged furniture in homes from Clayton and Richmond Heights into North City. Photograph damaged pieces for insurance before they leave, then clear them quickly. Wet upholstery is heavy and a mold risk, and charities will not accept it.

The order that saves the most money still applies to everything else: sell what sells, give away what is clean, use the City bulky pickup for up to three small, light pieces if you are a City resident, haul what fits your truck, and book the rest in one visit so you are not paying a minimum twice. Get the number from a photo at the instant quote page.

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