My husband moved into “our” first apartment about 6 months before I did. He had a lawn chair and some weird thin roll up matress in the family room that someone gave him. And a TV.
I think his Dad bought him a desk (one of those ugly partical board computer ones) and he splurged on a water bed. Fancy.
By the time I moved in we collected some other hand-me-downs. We had an ugly floral couch, some end tables and a little dining room table and 2 chairs that someone donated. As we moved from place to place we gradually upgraded each piece though we tend to hold on to things way too long. My husband tends to feel what we have is good enough and isn’t much interested in upgrading stuff at this point. I would LOVE a new dining room set - even if it’s second hand - but I suspect we’ll be downsizing soon so it doesn’t make a lot of sense to spend much money now. The one we have now we agreed to take from some friends on my parents without seeing first years ago. My Mom insisted it was beautiful and it’s not.
My daughter just moved into her first apartment for grad school. We basically helped furnish it with Ikea or Ikea-like stuff. It’s cute and functional. We figure she now has the basics and when she and her boyfriend get jobs and move they can upgrade and/or add to what they have as they want.