How Did You Furnish Your First Apartment?

I like to visit the second hand stores to get things for the home also if I see something on the side of the curb that people have thrown out and does not need to much repair I will take it home if I need it. I saw a drop leaf table that had been trashed that I took home one time and used it for years.

 

There is a network called Freecycle, that you can check out if you want used furniture for your apartment. There are some things, such as couches or beds, that I would avoid getting used, since you run the risk of getting bed bugs in your place which can cost even more to have removed. Even worse, if they spread into other tenants apartments and the landlord blames you for it. Some friends of mine actually caught scabies from a couch they picked up on the side of the road.

The benefit of getting something off of Freecycle (other than it being free) would be that it hasn't been sitting outside getting damaged by the weather. I would be concerned with stuff that has been sitting out by a dumpster getting moldy or warped.

 

My first apartment was one that I shared with my boyfriend at the time. It was my second year of college and I only had my bedroom items from home. I had a bed and a dresser, along with a computer desk. We got an additional roommate early on, who brought a few things with her. We got really lucky to find out from our friend that he knew a guy who had lots of furniture to give away. Sadly, he was a veteran who was addicted to alcohol and was checking into a long-term rehab facility. He was glad to give us anything we wanted, because he couldn't take much with him to the facility. We got matching couches, a coffee table, bookshelves, carpets, lamps, a kitchen table, and some other items. I used my credit cards to buy electronics, like a DVD player and a TV. We hung posters on our walls, including a giant "Pink Floyd, the Wall" mural sized hanging. We had friend over all the time, and they would bring us stuff too. We lived comfortably, had all we needed, and successfully got our education. I don't think anything matched, and we didn't have anything fancy, but we were happy and content in our first apartment.

 

Thrift stores and Craigslist are my best friends when it comes to home furnishings, even now. Thrift stores are great for bowls, plates, glasses, wine glasses, coffee tables, chairs - you name it. And Craigslist, if you live in or near an urban area, can be fantastic for finding really awesome furniture that people no longer want and are selling for dirt cheap, usually.

 

This is taking me back a while lol. My first apartment was furnished mostly by old things my family no longer wanted. The bed and TV were mine already mine but my relatives game me a couch and chair and a table. I bought a few things like dishes and towels. Very few of the furniture I had at that time matched, but it was mine and I was out of my parents house. It was all in great shape and so I had no complaints at all. It was pretty exciting time.

 

I'm a little bit embarrassed to say that my first apartment was furnished with stuff that was sitting next to the dumpster. Yeah, I feel sort of bad about it because back then as poor as we were, we were all waiting for that day when that tenant (you know the one) would be kicked out after not paying their rent for several months. I got a sorta ok second hand couch out of that and a king sized bed that I "fumigated" with an industrial sized can of Lysol