<p>My daughter and her roommates just decorated their entire apartment from IKEA. It is a soup to nuts experience and you can get everything. I would suggest looking at the catalogue online to get an idea of what might look good. She bought everything except her mattress from IKEA. We were familiar with the mattress stores in her area and selected one from a store we knew. That being said, I would have gone with IKEA if there wasn’t another choice.</p>
<p>You may want to see what the delivery time is from the store to his home. My daughter waited one week.</p>
<p>My S, who is going through buying a co-op in Manhattan,may have an Ikea couch for sale,<a href=“Products - IKEA”>Products - IKEA, a coffee table and dinette set and probably other misc. items. We got them new 3 years ago and the covers can be washed.It can be used as a very comfortable bed for guests. However, he won’t be ready to move until Oct. PM me if anyone is interested. He lives alone and everything still looks quite new.
After he moves, he fiance, who is not living with him yet, wants to “redecorate.”</p>
<p>“Isn’t wonderful to be a parent? Just thought I should applaud all the dedicated ones who believe raising kids is a cradle to grave affair”</p>
<p>Ah, you’re just jealous, xiggi. I’ll bet you wouldn’t complain if one of us came over and furnished your place for you, now would you? :D</p>
<p>This was my son’s graduation present, so I’m really happy to do this. Though when I asked what he needed for the kitchen, he thought he’d only need a fork. And a plate. So non demanding, poor kiddo, so I sent him an entire kitchen. The only thing they had was some plastic forks and a wine bottle opener. I guess, what more do you need if you’re a guy?</p>
<p>My son is furnishing his own place now…but not in NYC. He is taking his time. He started by purchasing a good bed. Next up was an oriental rug for the living room…then a desk, and a really nice credenza…both 50’s furniture he got at a used furniture place. He has a chair and ottoman, and will be getting a loveseat. The loveseat will likely be purchased new. Everything else was purchased used…he has some great used furniture stores near him.</p>
<p>He is a foodie, and a great cook, so kitchen things are important to him…not a lot of them, but nice ones. </p>
<p>He lives on a shoestring income so he has to save for each purchase. </p>
<p>We love seeing the photos as his place unfolds. Honestly, it’s terrific, and has all been reasonably priced…and good quality.</p>
<p>My D ordered her bed online and had it delivered to her apartment. D and ex-bf put the bed together. Mattress was delivered from Sleepy’s. This was 3 years ago. Futon couch came from Walmart online.She found a dresser and bookcase on Craigslist and was able to get them home in a taxi. She bought dishes and a lot of kitchen stuff from Ikea. She got somekind of table with separate legs from Ikea and two stools from Target for the table. We bought D an air conditioner from Home Depot when we were there in May and brought it to her place in a cab. H had to carry upstairs! </p>
<p>D just moved to an apartment a bit further uptown than your S and her roommate had all her furniture delivered from Ikea and the girls put it together. They are in a 5th floor walkup. If you purchase stuff from the Target or Costco in east Harlem you can get a car service there to bring stuff back to the apartment. Last time we had a mini van and the time before that it was a suburban so we were able to get all we bought back to the apartment.</p>
<p>My son did this a couple of years ago for his first solo unfurnished apartment. He chose each piece of furniture carefully, after saving for weeks or months until he could afford what he wanted. Because he was living in a rather large suburban apartment and anticipated that his next move would be to a suburban condo or house, he chose rather large pieces, and they looked good in the rooms he chose them for.</p>
<p>Then his employer transferred him to a major city, where he is now living in a much smaller apartment. The furniture is still nice, but it looks extremely out of place in the new setting. I feel so bad for him.</p>
<p>Hunt, if you are looking in, good luck today! I just remembered that I know a “man with van” kind of guy (although he has a pickup truck). He is about the strongest person I ever saw. PM me if you need his number.</p>
<p>Hunt - good luck, and let us know how it goes.</p>
<p>H and I just returned from helping D get set up in her first apartment - she is starting her senior year of college and was desperate for a calmer, healthier living space than the dorms. We thought about IKEA but then I decided to give Craigslist a try. It was kind of a pain because we had to rent a truck, but in two days we acquired a great dining set, a great dresser, some pretty good coffee/end tables, and an OK entertainment center, all for probably less than 25 percent of what even cheap-new would have cost. Her mattress we bought from Costco, and we picked up a small couch on clearance at a discount furniture store. </p>
<p>It is a little staggering how much stuff I take for granted as just existing in my house - ziplock bags and a stapler and a ruler and trash cans, not to mention all of the kitchen stuff.</p>
<p>My S got his mattress from a Sleepy’s in NYC, had no problem at all with delivery. In his last NYC apartment he and his roommate got a sofa from IKEA. It was hard to assemble and ended up as garbage, it did not last a year. In his new building, he has gotten furniture from people moving out of other apartments.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice. We ended up buying a bed at Macy’s–they were having a one-day sale (that lasted two days), and the discounts were pretty good. They will deliver on Thursday. We went to Sleepy’s and were turned off by the high-pressure sales tactics. It was so much like buying a car that we should have been able to drive the bed out of there. It’s funny–they probably would have sold us a bed if they hadn’t used such high pressure, because I think their prices really were somewhat less.</p>
<p>Bought a new mattress from macys earlier this year - the most professional delivery service I have ever gotten - I highly recommend it -they deliver it - unwrap it and set it up for you in about 15 minutes!</p>
<p>We dealt with sleepy’s the same way as with a car dealership. We started to walk out of the place…no sale for aggressive sales person. He followed us out…saying “wait…I have something I’m SURE I can get for you”. I made it abundantly clear that he had already wasted a good hour of my time. We emded up getting a great queen set that was marked something like $1500 or more…for under $600 including the delivery, frame and set up.</p>
<p>My husband calls them crooks.</p>
<p>The thing that frosted me…we either were paying $40 for delivery to the STORE, or $90 for delivery to our house. Seriously…delivery to the STORE was on our dime?</p>
<p>If there had been a Macys closer by, I would have gone there. </p>
<p>Actually, I would have gone ANYwhere else, but this was the only option within 45 minutes of our house.</p>