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There’s nothing like signing the lease to your first apartment. Now instead of sharing a bathroom with 10 people you do not know, you get to share a bathroom with 10 of your closest friends. Hopefully, you got more space than your dinky dorm room, but how do you tastefully furnish (bed, desk, dresser, chair, possibly a couch?) a space on less than $100?
Here are some places I used to furnish my first apartment:
~ Grandparents/parents—Grandparents always have way too much stuff in their houses. Help them liquidate some of that stuff—to you.
~ Salvation Army—I purchased a beautiful folding rattan chair as well as an assortment of vases for less than 10 bucks.
~ Goodwill—Not as cheap as the Salvation Army, but you can still find some good thrift items.
~ Junior League Thrift Shops -- Rich people’s junk is your treasure.
~ IKEA—Great place for stylish items, especially sheets.
~ Home Depot and Lowes—If you got the talent and time, make your own bed for less than $30.
~ Rich areas on big trash pick up day -- Best bet if you are really broke. Call the sanitation department in your area to find the day that they pick up big trash, like furniture, etc., in the rich area. Got a great couch that way.
~ Your School/University -- For your kitchen, how about a nice set of fine dining hall china? On the more legal end, most schools have a store/warehouse where they sell used dorm room furniture. Call the on-campus housing department at your school. Hey maybe you can get your bed from freshmen year!
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Comments
I’m usually a huge advocate of thrift shops and free furniture, and my only words of caution are these: there’s a big ol’ bedbug epidemic happening in New York right now, and if you reside in the NYC metropolitan area I wouldn’t necessarily recommend purchasing used furniture if you have any way around it. I have lots of friends (ranging from slobs to neat freaks) who’ve dealt with the problem of bedbugs lately and it’s not a fun thing.
Thanks JR for the heads up… That is soo true! That being said- there’s really no reason to spend a ton of money on new furniture for your first apartment. It will get stolen, broken, or damaged by certain liquids. I think the best bet is to see how much stuff you can take from your parents/friends/grandparents home to use in your apartment or see if friend is moving or graduating and would be willing to let you have their old furniturem if you agree to move it (that usually works)
grandparents are the place to go- i still live at home but hope to move out in the next year- and when I do my grandma has these two high backed chairs that I have been wanting forever- and she’s saving them for me!
Great advice JR. I heard that the bedbug epidemic is all over the country in most major metropolitan areas, so beware of couches and mattresses! I’ve owned my condo for over 2 years now and still have: mattress from parents house, kitchen table from sister, 1 couch from other sister, 1 couch from old boss, and most of the stuff my sisters didn’t want from their wedding gifts. The only problem I’ve found in taking other people’s old furniture is that when you do buy something new, it may cost you to take the old stuff to the dump. Then again, Fraternities will always take a free couch (unless it’s pink and flowery...).
Don’t forget ebay. I just bought some Arbonne skin products for a fraction of the cost. I always check ebay before I purchase a new item and usually get it for much, much less!
Thanks for the info. We were able to furnish a small house for thi years term for under a thousand bucks. Split four ways made it real easy on the wallet.
a good place to look for inexpensive and sometimes unique furniture is overstock.com. really good deals there.
