On Burnet Road in North Austin, a stretch of the city long known for its steady run of home furnishings and vintage minded shops, It’s New To Me has been turning over gently used furniture since 1988. The 10,000 square foot showroom at 7719 Burnet Road holds a rotating mix of sofas, dining sets, case goods, lighting, artwork and accessories pulled from Austin area homes, so the floor looks different nearly every time a shopper walks back in. Styles range from clean lined mid-century modern pieces to traditional wood furniture and contemporary designs, with several price points represented in the same room, which lets a first apartment get furnished on one visit and a formal dining room get replaced on another.
The shop runs on consignment, meaning nearly everything on the floor once belonged to someone else in Austin who wanted it to find a new home instead of a landfill. The process starts when a seller submits photos of a piece through the store’s website; staff review the submission and agree on fair market pricing with the consignor before the item goes on display. When it sells, the consignor receives a check the following month for their agreed share, an arrangement that has kept the business supplied with fresh inventory for well over three decades in a part of Austin where reliable used furniture sourcing can otherwise be scarce.
That nearly thirty five year run on Burnet Road is itself the store’s differentiator: while trend driven resale shops open and close along the corridor, It’s New To Me has stayed in the same spot since 1988, long enough to have furnished multiple generations of Austin households and to have become something of a fixture for shoppers who check in every few weeks precisely because the selection changes so often. A piece bought here rarely looks like a showroom special order, because it usually came from an actual house rather than a factory floor.
Anyone browsing for gently used furniture, art, and home accessories in Austin can walk the full showroom at 7719 Burnet Road, with staff on hand to answer questions about individual pieces or about consigning furniture of their own. People with furniture to sell are encouraged to reach out through the store’s online submission form with photos before bringing anything in, so the appraisal process can start before a trip across town is needed. For regular shoppers this makes the store function almost like a standing marketplace: check back often enough and a specific style, brand, or price point tends to turn up eventually, since inventory depends entirely on what Austin households are currently letting go of. Compare that to big box furniture retail, where floor stock barely shifts from month to month, and the appeal of a true consignment showroom becomes obvious: lower prices on solid wood and upholstered furniture, one of a kind accessories and art that will not be sitting in a dozen other living rooms across the city, and a straightforward way to turn old furniture into cash instead of hauling it to a donation bin or the curb.
It’s New To Me on Burnet Road is Austin’s long running consignment furniture showroom, where a 10,000 square foot space of gently used furniture, art, and decor has been changing hands, and changing looks, since 1988.
