How To Furnish Your Apartment On The Cheap

October 18th, 2011 by Crystal Beran| Posted in Apartment Guide, Apartment Interiors, Apartment Life 2.0, Apartment Living, College Housing, Craigslist, Decorating, Etsy & DIY, Moving, Off Campus Apartments, Saving Money, Tips & Tricks | No Comments »

If you’re just moving into your first apartment or if you’ve had your own place for a while and simply don’t have much to furnish it with, it may be time to go out and scrounge up some furniture. The bad news: good furniture can be VERY expensive and difficult to find. The better news: there are ways to save money and still make your place look great. Here are some tips for finding perfect pieces that suit your budget.

1. Know Your Apartment

When you’re buying new furniture, the first thing to keep in mind is the size of the space you need to furnish. Take a few minutes to measure off the rooms and jot down the sizes – keeping them in your phone or in a notebook you carry around with you is helpful. You never know when you might see the perfect thing at a yard sale or antique store and want to snatch it up that moment!  Also, take a look at the light in the apartment. Darker furniture goes well in bright, sunny living rooms, while rooms with less access to sunlight may benefit from a lighter color scheme.

2. Know Your Style

Take some time to go through some decorating magazines or websites, even if the items in them are way out of your budget. The more furniture you look at, the better your understanding of what you do and don’t like will be. If the magazines themselves are out of your budget, don’t forget that the local library has a section of periodicals, as well as plenty of books on interior design. There are TONS of awesome blogs on apartment decorating – Apartment Therapy is just one of many.

3. Bargain Shop

There are lots of ways to get a good deal on furniture, whether you’re looking for a lamp or a loveseat. People sell their belongings through Craigslist, give them away on Freecycle and find homes for personalized furnishings on Etsy. There are plenty of internet sites that help connect people who need to get rid of furniture with people who need new furniture. Yard sales, estate sales, and moving sales are also a great place to pick up nice furniture at bargain prices, just be sure to get there early so you’ll have your pick. IKEA is also a classic option for those just starting out – but it doesn’t need to be the only place you can go: there are discount furniture stores all over and many sell items you will not see in every apartment you visit.

4. Don’t Feel the Need to Furnish Everything at Once

When you’re trying to fill an entire apartment with furniture, it can seem a bit intimidating, not to mention very expensive. Furnishing your apartment one room at a time can be a great help. If you focus on just the bedroom or the office or the living room, it can also help you match your furniture pieces better. With only one color scheme in mind, choosing pieces that match can be easier if you decorate from room to room. There’s no shame in using cheap or free pieces as place holders while you find the perfect things!

5. Don’t Be Hasty

Rushing into a buy is a bad idea when you’re shopping for furniture. One good way to keep your impulses in check is to go shopping with a friend or roommate. A friend can help by giving you a second opinion about something you think you’d like. Sometimes, a piece of furniture that looks great one day may not look so appealing the next when viewed through the goggles of buyer’s remorse. It can also be a good idea to wait on a big purchase until you’ve had time to think it through clearly.

Have something to add? We’d love to hear from you – here or on our Facebook page!