And he’ll still be using them in 10 years because he’ll find it is good enough for him.
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I bought my daughter a good mattress for her first real apartment. I think that is something important. You can get a Casper on Amazon delivered and it is small (you unroll it).
We had bought as a temporary stop gap for a spare bed a cheap IKEA mattress - it was horrible.
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If your student is familiar with a mattress type you can get online…that’s great…because the kid needs to know this will be comfortable. Getting a good night’s sleep so important. That’s why we just went to the local mattress store so kids could actually try different mattresses out. We had never purchased a mattress from an online source.
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After hours of mattress research last year, I ordered this for my son. It’s a fantastic mattress, very comfortable, and my son loves it. (Three other house guests have slept on the mattress and asked where to get it, and I slept on it for a night to test it out and it’s very comfortable!)
It’s the type of mattress that’s delivered to your door compressed and expands when you open it; I also ordered a solid wood slatted bed frame (Wirecutter’s pick: KD platform bed frame). The frame was simple to put together, it’s solid, and doesn’t move, squeak or creak.
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My kid found their own first apartment. I vetted to make sure I thought it was in a safe area for my own reassurance and I might’ve helped with the purchase of a new mattress (honestly cannot remember if that was before they moved in the apartment or after) but beyond that it was all them. They got a lot of stuff from thrift stores, etc. We helped some with manual labor during the moving in. Oh, I did gift them some pots and pans as a housewarming gift.
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I don’t see a graduate student’s apartment (OP’s situation) quite the same as a college graduate apartment (thread title).
IMO graduate student apartment is basically the same as an off-campus undergrad student. You know they will be moving someplace else in 1-2 years. Why bother with nice stuff? For undergrad apartments, mine used a mixture goodwill for furniture, Walmart mattress/box spring, dollar store kitchen stuff, etc. Younger S’s undergrad apartment complexes came furnished with bedroom furniture. That was nice.
First real apartment… Older S lived with a roommate the first year. I helped him make a spreadsheet to compare apartment characteristics, but they took care of everything by themselves re: rental agreements. He took his mattress from home, but bought a decent new bedroom suite (Ashley’s level). I paid for half of the suite, as well as a bunch of kitchen/bath stuff from (Target level) as a graduation gift. Communal furniture they took from the throwaways from us, roommate’s family, etc. And they found other free stuff that people in the apartment building were throwing away. After a year, he moved to a different apartment with DIL1. He took care of everything for that.
Younger S lived with FDIL2’s family the first 1.5 years. Then they moved to older S’ area and took care of everything themselves. They also moved into the same building as older S. It’s very affordable IMO for the area. Younger S didn’t change jobs, only locations within the same company, so the company gave him a HUGE 5 figure moving allowance. The kids had nothing of their own to move! They were able to buy everything new (ashley’s level) and still have money left over.
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In some locations, graduate students may need a parent to co-sign a lease on an apartment, as they may not have sufficient income when a credit check is done.
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The OP wrote this:
my kiddo is headed to grad school and will be searching for and furnishing his first apartment.
One of my kids lived in their first apartment for five years while going to professional school. Most of what was in that apartment is now being used in the house she lives in. Since I volunteer at a nice charity thrift store, this kid had used, but very nice things (e.g. All Clad cookware, Pottery Barn and Sur La Table dishes, etc).
So…YMMV regarding how long these kids will use these things.
DS has some of his stuff as well.
There are some great hints here for getting good, but not extremely expensive things for the first apartment.
My kids are still bargain shoppers for many things.
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Thank you, all, for these great ideas! It’s been really helpful to hear about the various ways others have dealt with this transition. I have learned so much - thank you!!!
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For my oldest, I got her in touch with my cousin’s friend who was a realtor in the area she wanted to move. The next one moved in with friends, it wasn’t until the 3rd place that he lived alone, I have no idea how he found it (also more than an hour away). My IL’s died around that time so he grabbed things from their home. He recently moved in with his girls friend of 6 years, he’s planning on proposing this summer, do for Christmas and their birthdays I gave wayfair and target gift cards (which I assume or more for her which is fine). Three more to go!
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