6 Ways to Furnish Your Apartment on a Budget

Whether you’re relocating on a budget or you just want to give your apartment a face lift without paying a fortune, getting affordable furniture for your space can be a pain point. Furniture can get expensive—especially if you’re seeking to re-furnish your entire home–but if you know what you want, when to purchase, and where to look, you can easily save some money on the furniture you’ve always wanted. Here are some ways to get your hands on some cheap furniture for your apartment.

Make it Useful

To save some money when purchasing furniture, look for pieces that are functional. This is especially true if you live in a smaller space, like a studio. Consider kitchen benches that double as storage and couches that convert into pull-out beds or futons. While these items in and of themselves may not be significantly cheaper, it will reduce your cost of buying additional items like shelves, bookcases, and blow up air mattress for guests.

Shop Online

Shopping for furniture online is one of the best favors you can do for your wallet, and it’ll save you some time, too. It may sound obvious, but retail stores have to pay overhead charges to cover the cost of their lease and to pay employees. To cover these costs, retailers tack on a little extra to their items’ price tags. If you order online, though, these overhead charges are greatly reduced. You will then pick up your furniture from a warehouse or the item will get shipped directly to your home. Either way, you’ll likely end up paying less if you order online. Plus, there are plenty of sites, like Overstock, with ongoing sales; since it’s online, you won’t have to make multiple trips to a store to check and see if there are any sales going on when you’re ready to buy.

Know When to Shop

Speaking of being ready to buy, there’s often a better time during the year to purchase your furniture. Many retailers generally debut new products in April and October of each year which means that, in order to make room for the new arrivals, out-of-season furniture is typically discounted two to three months prior. July happens to be a great time to buy; stores often offer huge discounts in order to balance their decrease in summertime sales. This all depends on the specific store, of course, but it’s a great rule of thumb. If you want to find out exactly when a particular store is expecting a load of new products, simply ask the manager. You might just end up getting great prices on furniture that would otherwise be full price during peak season.

Keep it Simple

The majority of people seeking to purchase couches and other large pieces of furniture are looking for a neutral color—black, tan, brown, or white. If you’re on the hunt for a green suede couch or a red glider and ottoman, you’re probably going to spend more. Unique pieces of furniture are not the most commonly purchased items—demand is low—therefore supply is low. Since the supply is low, retailers can raise the price of the product. Instead of looking for these hard-to-find, large pieces of furniture, try buying colorful rugs, lamps, decorative pieces, and other small ticket items that will create the same color scheme in the room for much less.

Keep it even simpler and rent a furnished apartment. This way, you won’t even have to think about how much you spend on furniture; it’ll already be there waiting for you.

Skip Name Brands

It’s easy to get caught up in brands and labels. We’re all a little guilty of wanting to splurge on those must-have modern furniture pieces, but when it all boils down to it, a couch is a couch. You might be surprised at the number of quality pieces of furniture that look similar to name brand ones, but aren’t going to cost you a fortune. There will be different ones at various price points, but keep in mind that a lesser known name does not translate into a lower quality product.

Go Used

Listing sites like OfferUp and Let Go have thousands of posts for people wanting to get rid of furniture in your area. Plus, not all “used” furniture is necessarily used at all. Often, stores sell floor displays at a fraction of the cost. Similarly, if someone returns a piece of furniture for whatever reason, you may sometimes be able to snag the item at a steeply discounted price. Don’t forget to check out thrift stores; they always have a few hidden gems.

Furnishing your home can be expensive. Fortunately, there are several ways in which you can save money when purchasing big ticket furniture items. Keep it simple, don’t be a brand snob, and find out when it’s the best time to buy your furniture for your apartment. You’ll be savoring the savings in no time.

This article was updated on 8/20/18.