<p>I will be moving into my very first apartment pretty soon and I don’t know what to do as far as setting it up goes. Where are some good places that I could find cheap stuff? Any tips about ANYTHING related to setting it up would be great!</p>
<p>You can get inexpensive, but nice quality, furniture at IKEA, though it must be assembled.</p>
<p>first ask your parents/friends, I bet they have a basement of stuff they are just waiting to be put to good use!</p>
<p>Cleaning supplies (mops, bucket, toilet brush, etc.) & dishes from Big Lots, good prices, decent selection. Do you need all that stuff or just furnishings?</p>
<p>craigslist</p>
<p>WalMart is your friend (unless you are like my kids and refuse to shop there for political reasons)
Craigslist is good for bigger things that you can get later (vacuum, etc)
Is your place furnished? Do you need to provide washer, dryer, fridge?
Tell us more and we can help more.
Moms love to give shopping advice! Can we come paint the walls and add decorating advice?</p>
<p>Just the basics. Minimal because you soon could be moving to better digs.</p>
<p>I had a lot of apartments when I was young and single and not near home. </p>
<p>If I had to do it again … I probably would spend more money and get better quality stuff. The basics would be a bed, a chest of drawers, a nightstand. Table and chairs for kitchen/dining room, and probably a sofa, chair, and small table for living room. A few lamps. Beyond that, you’ll want some shelving. It makes the place seem less empty if there’s a higher piece or two in the room, which perhaps is shelving. You will probably want some sort of a desk. Also some art – large enough to make a bit of an impact.</p>
<p>I would strongly suggest IKEA, but perhaps Goodwill also. In the northeast, if I wanted new, I would hit Bobs Discount Furniture. Try to get reasonable quality stuff, and try to stay within one style if possible. I might try shopping out of an IKEA catalog to see if I can get what I need within my budget before going into the store.</p>
<p>For the kitchen, I would get a small set of pots/pans, some bakeware, table settings and glassware for 4 (possibly 8?), and serving dishes. And you’ll also need some basic cooking utensils. </p>
<p>You’ll also need bed linens, towels, window coverings, possibly rugs for the floor. And cleaning supplies, a broom, vacuum, mop, etc.</p>
<p>You can get amazing quality at Goodwil, Freecycle and Craigslist. Spend your money on a quality mattress and frame.</p>
<p>My friend’s daughter is setting up shop in a town out west, a long way away, that she only intends to live in for a year or two. She and her roommate (who has a truck - this is key) have been able to furnish their apartment quite nicely for free using Craigslist and Freecycle - people posting things like “table free if you will come and pick it up.”</p>
<p>I agree with violadad. A bed is important. Buy a bedframe and get a good mattress.</p>
<p>You can get amazingly cheap stuff at estate sales. Granny has either died or moved into an assisted living home and a liquidator has been hired to sell her stuff. Pots, pans, glasses, every day flatware, towels, etc.</p>
<p>My S is another Craigslist fan–be particular as there are some great things out there while others are trash. He also likes IKEA and is happy with his bed from there as well. Target and Walmart have inexpensive things. Try to just get the minimum while you see what your room mate will bring & be sure everything “fits.” Too much stuff makes your quarters crowded and cramped in no time.</p>
<p>you can’t beat the prices at freecycle ;-)</p>
<p>good old fashioned garage sales, thrift stores, etc.</p>
<p>I’ve noticed that the selection at GW, Mission, Sally’s (Salvation Army), ASPA, and Auxiliary Leagues is getting more expensive and with poorer selection.</p>
<p>If this apartment is temporary – just a year or two before you move to another city – I would suggest “disposable” furniture. Shop on craigslist and the other inexpensive options already mentioned here, then just sell/give away/throw away when it’s time to move.</p>
<p>I do agree that a good mattress and frame are worth spending on, but they can be a hassle to move from place to place.</p>
<p>My wife and I had been living on our own for almost 10 years before we bought a new piece of furniture, even at IKEA. Scrounge from your parents and grandparents, if you are in a college town buy from people who are graduating and moving on, use non-fancy “antique” stores, garage sales, etc. Even now, half of our furniture once belonged to our parents or grandparents (sometimes both), and another quarter belonged to unknown, unrelated people (sometimes known unrelated people).</p>
<p>New furniture is ridiculously expensive, and I’ve never bought a stick of it (except for IKEA) without some sort of major discount. IKEA is great for fill-in – looks nice, easy to assemble, well-designed, not expensive – but it’s not designed to last, really.</p>
<p>Relatives’ old stuff, friends who are moving, a watchful eye on curbs, and craigslist can give you a great start–my girlfriend and I got two couches, a kitchen table and chairs, a desk, three bookshelves, three comfy chairs, a dresser, and two lamps through a combination of those things. We definitely could have furnished exclusively using those sources, but we wanted a few specific things to fill the gaps, so after a trip to IKEA for a coffee table and some end-tables we were done. With anything you buy, definitely think about transportability–don’t spend a lot on something you can’t get out your front door once it’s assembled! Oh, and beware of bedbugs and the like with curb-found furniture with cushions… and if you can afford it, springing for a new, comfortable mattress is well worth cutting back other places.</p>
<p>Cheap thrift stores (not the trendy ones, think hospital auxiliary fundraisers and yard sale type things) are good sources for glassware, plates, and even some appliances. Also, some town dumps have give-and-take areas where people leave free things, so look into that option in your area.</p>
<p>You are young! Save your money and sleep on a futon until you just can’t stand it anymore.</p>
<p>It comes down to time vs money. For a fraction of what we spent furnishing one son’s first apt with ikea, we could have bought a similar look – mid-century modern-- at auction or resale shops. And the vintage pieces would probably have held or appreciated in value. But it would have taken us a while to find what he needed and we wanted him comfortable and organized immediately. We overpaid for convenience. And because my husband is still a bit traumatized by how we lived as grad students. I don’t think ikea is particularly well made, though probably as well made as any new furniture, and don’t think it will be worth his while to pay to have it moved to the next place, if it would even survive a move which seems unlikely.</p>
<p>In my opinion the least someone needs to be comfortable and least expensive way to go: folding card table & chairs, convertible futon or couch and floor lamp. Book cases, if needed, of boards and cinderblocks or whatever is the modern equivalent of cinderblocks. Boxes can be used in the closet for clothes. If you plan to be moving around the next few years life is so much simpler with fewer possessions and if you can avoid renting a moving truck.</p>
<p>For those on limited budgets but sensitive to the way in which they live, it might make sense to spend money on something decent for the walls rather than ikea. Then you have something worth keeping and fairly easy to move.</p>
<p>We recently did some rearranging and had a desk and chair we didn’t want. We put it out on our driveway with a free sign. It was gone within a couple of hours.
Also if you live in a college community and are not moving till school gets out you can find great stuff that students just discard on the street.
The bed is what is going to cost you some money. I personally would not want to buy a used mattress.</p>