furnishing an apartment...

I have had this debate with my mom for a year. We are moving to FL within the next year and my parents will be down shortly after us, so I yell at them all the time to stop adding to the apartment they are in. I told my mom do not add a new floor, but she did anyway.

She said she wants it to look nice and livable.

In our apartment i just put up new curtains, valences, blinds, painted and did some rearranging. FI told me to stop putting into the apartment if we are going to be here for less then a year.

The way my mom usually wins her debate is if it makes me happy then I want to do it.

So even if its not your permanent place, if it makes you happy then do it.

I'd invest in selective decorating. A good chair in a neutral color can generally fit almost anywhere. Ditto for nice lamps if you purchase with your style in mind. If you have a large dining room area then you could invest in dining room furniture - same with bedroom furniture. I wouldn't spend a lot on items I know will be replaced in a few years.

You can also consider secondary uses when purchasing. The bookcases I love are out of my budget for now. I'm considering something that is a third of the cost, still nice and a similar look but not the same quality. They'll work for now and later if I'm able to spend for the bookcases we can move them into DH's office - an upgrade from the hodge-podge of stuff he has in there now.

I wouldn't spend thousands on a bedroom set for an apartment, but we did invest in a really good matress/box spring set.
I think a nice TV stand or good shelving can also work well in lots of places.
I also wouldn't want to live with no furniture for years because I didn't have a house. An apartment can be a home too.
I think it also depends on your financial situation.

Depends on how big the apartment is and how long you are staying there. I lived in about 4 different apartments in the last 6 years. I never invested in great quality furniture until I found my last apartment which had a dining room set big enough to buy what I wanted - which I recently brought with me to my new home. I didn't regret it but I know when I was looking at houses I made sure that my dining room set would fit in the house -style and room size!

Our old bedroom set was not very expensive and I am currently using it in my new home as a guest bedroom set. I am re-using frames and shelving and stuff like that...and my old couches with slip covers until I get new and better stuff - hopefully soon!!!

For me my apartments were all very small and very temporary - so I new that when I eventually bought I would have a much bigger space and it would be permanent so I waited...

But if you plan on staying for a few years in an apartment - and it is a decent size, I would definitely invest in a few nice pieces that you think you would carry over where you go next....it will make apartment dwelling more enjoyable when you have what you like and make it your home.

I agree with all of the above. Its good to find some solid pieces that you will be able to use down the line...it will help you enjoy your current home, be a good use of your cash and (if you are strategic) will also serve you well in a house one day.

We were first in an apt and bought inexpensive couches, tables etc thinking we were going to buy a house soon. Well, we moved into a condo instead and the inexpensive couches (less than three years old) are very shoddy looking. Such a waste of money. I'm embarrassed when guests come over - I hate them!

Since we're going to be here at least a few more years we just went out and bought couches that are nice but durable and will hold up well for a family room one day. I wish I had done that from the beginning...I didn't spend much more but the value is so much better!

Our current dining room area is also small. So we bought a nice Canadel set that will one day work in a kitchen.

I hope this helps.

I live in a small 2 bedroom apt.
We only bought a new LR because if it fits here, it will fit anywhere and we loved it & needed a new one, so we spent a good amt on our LR set, actually it was a gift from my MIL.

As for a bedroom, we won't buy here because we can not fit the ones we would want to buy.

As for my kitchen set, I have a huge eat in kitchen here, but don't know if we will have an eat in kitchen when we move so no new kitchen set yet.

No DR here, so no DR set yet, but if I did have a DR here, it would depend on the size of the DR because I want the table chairs, china cabinet, end piece (forget what its called) etc.

I'd say if you have no restrictions on space, and plan on staying in the apt. for a long time, buy.

Keep it simple, dont go crazy but your home no matter whether an apt or house should reflect you.

We have a small one bedroom and we just got basics, no matching living room or bedroom set. I know this place is temporary and I rather spend the big bucks when we have a house.

The couches I referred to in my post were from IKEA (the Ektorp line). Ektorp has slip covers which may have been part of the problem...the back cushions lost all their form just after a year and I am constantly rotating them!

Maybe others have had better luck with their uplostered furniture?

I have a few pine pieces from IKEA too - coffee table, tv stand and buffet from Ikea too (ABO line - I think it has been discontinued). They are good quality and have held up well.

I would love a new couch, but I am not ready to get rid of the old one...so we are waiting until we get into a house and we can use it for a rec room couch...

I've been concentrating on things that are easier to move...


we have 2 dressers from IKEA that are really solid...they were the higher end prices...but I know DH had a cheap dresser from IKEA and it fell apart pretty quickly...

that's why we bought the ektorp - at that time we had 2 cats and we liked the idea of being able to wash the slipcovers.

the back pillows started losing their form within the first year. when people sit on them the cushions sag to the front....so i have to rotate them nearly every day. (drives me bonkers!) note that we do not have a lot of company and it is often just me and DH. not very durable in my opinion!

i do have a friend who has an upholstered couch from ikea and hasn't had any problems.

after a very long search we finally found something we liked that was durable and w/in our budget. our new furniture is coming this saturday.

as far as slipcovered couches are concerned...i know pottery barn has them. i think their prices are a bit high but many ladies have posted that they really like their product. do a search.

my only other suggestion is to try huffman koos. In this month's issue of Home Magazine there is a spotlight on savvy furniture on a budget. They highlighted a Broyhill sofa that looks like it has a slip cover but is really upholstered
Broyhill upholstered couches

Good luck!

We have a few pieces from IKEA and they have held up really well. Our entertainment center is from them, and it looks brand new. Granted we've only had it for a year. . . but it hasn't broken!

Our couch and loveseat is also from them. It's the wood frame couch that you put together yourself. Our front door is very small - you can't fit a 23 inch wide couch through it. So we had to get something that was in a box that we could put together in the apartment. When we leave we know we'll be leaving those couches cause we have no idea how to get them out!

We also have not done anything spectaular to the apartment other than paint it. It's a very small LR and Kitchen, and most of our stuff is hand-me-downs that were still in great condition. We'll probably take all of this along with us when we buy a house just so that we have something to use when we first move in.

We have done a lot of cosmetic and low cost changes (replaced closet doors & light fixtures, painted).

We bought a nice living room set - we are pretty confident that any place we move would accomodate it but went lower end on the bedroom. Our room now is huge but I didn't want to fill it with furniture in case it won't fit into our master bedroom when we get a house or town house.

I think if you are going to be there for a while you may as well settle in and make it nice for now. I am not saying spend a fortune, but definitely put your stamp on it. Seamen's & Macys often have great sales with low or no interest promotions - it's really only a little more expensive then say Ikea.

I agree with the select furnishing view. Keep size and function in mind. Especially if you are planning on being there for only a few years. Dont invest in anything you cant take with you. Look for furnishings that can potentially be used in more than one room.

When we moved into our house we did they typical move of the dinette set into the eat in kitchen, the LR set into the den, the desk from the bedroom finally got an office etc. I have a large 3 peice Thomasville wall unit that has now been split between the LR and Den. It works but I would rather have a smaller piece in the Den. Its one of those too good to get rid of pieces that I would rather not have. So what I am trying to say is be careful with big pieces.