At a Glance:
How to Furnish Your First Apartment
First Apartment Essential #1: A Couch
First Apartment Essential #2: A Coffee Table
First Apartment Essential #3: A TV Stand
First Apartment Essential #4: A Dining Table
First Apartment Essential #5: A Bed
First Apartment Essential #6: A Dresser
First Apartment Essential #7: A Nightstand
Tips for Affordably Furnishing Your First Apartment
FAQ
That moment you get your first set of apartment keys is magical, and it’s just the beginning of the memories you’ll hold onto. Ahead of you lies countless nights enjoying the company of your best friends, exploring your culinary skills, and turning your first apartment into a reflection of your personal taste. But before all that can happen, you need to create a first apartment checklist to furnish your new place.
Not sure where to start? You’re in luck! We’ve put together a handy guide to first-time apartment shopping to get you off on the right foot. Take a look for tips from our interior design experts, financial advice, and apartment essentials for your living room, bedroom, and dining room.
How to Furnish Your First Apartment: Making a Plan
First things first — congrats! A first apartment is an important milestone for every new renter, so the last thing you want is to ruin the celebration with unexpected costs. Starting from scratch may seem daunting, but once you know how to buy apartment furniture, you can start decorating knowing how to stay within budget and in style.
We recommend assessing the three major areas of any apartment or studio: the living room, the kitchen area, and the bedroom. Here are a few pointers.
Furnishing Your Apartment | Living Room
Whether a studio or an apartment, the living room will most likely be the first thing you and your guests see. This is your chance to make a bold first impression with color, shapes, and patterns, or a cohesive interior design style.
Whichever avenue you choose to explore, remember living rooms in apartments are smaller than ones in houses, so keep them inviting, comfortable, and calm. Prioritize seating that encourages lounging or hangouts with company, and choose pieces that work with the natural architecture of the space. The last thing you want is an overstuffed sofa that dominates the area and makes it feel smaller and less intimate.
Furnishing Your Apartment | Bedroom
This is an intimate space, so remember to design your bedroom around colors that make you (and your partner) relaxed. Part of achieving that tranquility is fitting your bedroom with furniture that’s the right size for the space. We recommend starting with a bed frame and building your way around it. This will give you a chance to get a feel for with orientation you prefer, which will naturally dictate where any other bedroom furniture will exist.
Beyond furniture, you’ll need some privacy. Curtains are pretty affordable, and as an added bonus, they can provide a pop of color or patterns to kickstart the theme of your sleep space.
Furnishing Your Apartment | Kitchen/Dining Room
Everyone knows what they say about too many cooks in the kitchen, and the same applies to furniture. If you’re lucky enough to land an apartment with a separate dining room and kitchen, you have more liberty to explore table sizes and shapes, but if your apartment shares the space, think small and efficient.
Ideally, you will probably only need a table for two to four. Tables with expandable leaves are a great solution for providing more room to dine with company or just enough elbow room to dine in the company of two.
Of course, any plan for shopping for apartment furniture would be incomplete without a budget. As we mentioned, you’ll spend the majority of your reserves in these three areas, but how much should you spend furnishing your first apartment? According to the professional movers at Furnishr, it can cost between $3,500 and $5,800 to furnish an apartment.
With that being said, there are several tricks to cutting corners and saving some green, which we reveal after providing you with some inspiration for your very own first solo place.
First Apartment Essential #1: A Couch
Is it really an apartment unless it has a couch for you to plop down on after work? Couches for small apartment setups are more than just a living room staple: a couch can be a multi-purpose furniture piece that can get you along until you finish furnishing the rest of your place.
A couch provides a place to watch entertainment, and it can also provide a place to do work. You’ll also appreciate a sofa when you hang out with friends and family. And in a pinch, an apartment-size sectional sofa with a built-in mattress is great if you need a little more time to save up for a mattress.
Tips for Buying an Apartment Sofa:
- Pay attention to armrests. Rolled and padded arms are nice, but they can easily shave off a good six inches of space in a room.
- Dark sofas make a bigger living room feel cozier, but a small living area feel cramped.
- You’ll want to splurge on a couch since you’ll use it a lot, and it’s the most important part of the living room.
- And make sure to measure the dimensions of your living room multiple times to compare it with the size of sofa prospects. (This is a cardinal rule that goes for all furniture!)
Recommended Apartment Sofa:
This Benchcraft® Wixon apartment couch has all the right elements every new tenant could love. It’s upholstered in super-soft chenille material and is just what anyone needs to relax after work or during the latest blockbuster. It’s plush where you want it with generous back cushions, while its sleek track arms and frame play nice with space. As an added bonus, this pick comes with two complementary toss pillows.
First Apartment Essential #2: A Coffee Table (or Two!)
You know you’ve grown up when you place your morning cup of Joe on your living room coffee table before starting your day. Coffee tables (or cocktail tables, if you’re that kind of person) are affordable, yet they provide a lot of utility other than a place to keep your devices and beverages.
They provide a way to accent your living room without spending too much and can help give your space direction. If you’re saving up for a table, feel free to use the coffee table in the meantime.
Tips for Buying an Apartment Coffee Table:
- Short on space? Opt for a round coffee table. They have smaller footprints than square or rectangular coffee tables, with a look that’s different.
- Nesting coffee tables are a great way to double or triple surfaces with a space-saving design.
- Explore lift-top coffee tables that convert into a work desk or TV table.
- Glass coffee tables help make a space look larger.
Recommended Apartment Coffee Table:
We love the open concept of this Signature Design by Ashley® Kisper coffee table. It’s modern yet versatile, and the negative space helps create the illusion of expansion, which is nice if your living room is small. While simple, this brown coffee table is full of character with a wire-brushed finish and canted legs for a dose of mid-century modern design.
Verified buyer review from SUZYL: “the perfect coffee table for our small space.”
First Apartment Essential #3: A TV Stand
Even if you choose to mount your TV on the wall, a TV stand provides convenient storage for devices, books and magazines, and miscellaneous living room items you may want to hide. And like coffee tables, TV stands can also be used to create flow.
Bonus: If you live in an apartment studio, a TV stand is also a great way to gain wardrobe storage without having to use a dresser, which can look out of place in the living room area.
Tips for Buying an Apartment TV Stand:
- Buy a stand that is just big enough for the size of your TV. This will save you square footage and keep your area from feeling unbalanced.
- Adjustable shelves give you flexible organization for living room essentials.
- Look for cable cutouts! Most TV stands have them, but you’d be surprised.
Recommended Apartment TV Stand:
This Signature Design by Ashley® Gerdanet TV Stand would make a perfect addition on any first apartment checklist. It’s affordably priced yet full of style, from its hairpin legs to its butcher block wood design. You’ll also appreciate open shelving to display your décor and pictures, as well as shelves behind two doors — perfect for your electronic devices, movies, and other living room items you want to hide.
Verified buyer review from Suzy9090: “perfect for space.”
First Apartment Essential #4: A Dining Table
If there are two reasons we recommend why you should buy a dining table, it’s because:
- It encourages you to eat at home, which can help you save money after you’ve moved into your first apartment.
- If you’re anything like other workers nowadays, you might be working at home, and a table is a great place to get work done.
Tips for Buying an Apartment Dining Table:
- Look for space-saving features such as an expandable leaf or an apartment dining table with built-in storage.
- Shop for a dining table that matches its surroundings. This will prevent the area from feeling cluttered.
- Shopping for dining room sets can be more cost-efficient than buying a dining table and chairs separately.
Recommended Apartment Dining Table:
Dealing with limited dining room space? Hack it with the Liberty Furniture Thornton II 3-piece dining table set. The beautiful trio in a dark wood finish comes with two drop-down leaves to expand for company, and knocks down when it’s just you and one more. It’s accompanied by two crossbuck side chairs upholstered in easy-to-clean faux leather for a dash of style and convenience.
First Apartment Essential #5: A Bed
A good night’s sleep is essential, and placing your mattress on the floor has several disadvantages. Not to mention, a mattress will most likely be one of the more expensive items you buy, so you want to make sure to protect it by placing it on a bed frame.
That’s why, along with a couch, a bed frame should be one of your first priorities on your first apartment checklist.
Cost and sleep wellness aside, there’s also the fact that it’s easier to build a bed frame in an empty bedroom than in one that is crowded. The last thing you want is to go to bed frustrated.
Tips for Buying an Apartment Bed:
- Measure your bedroom to determine which mattress size works best for your space.
- Clean lines work best in tight bedrooms.
- Low-foundation bed frames are great for creating the illusion of a bigger space and work better with thicker mattresses.
- If you have the budget, consider storage bed frames for additional stowaway space for seasonal items and extra bedroom essentials.
Recommended Apartment Bed:
Clean, attractive, and affordably priced: the Homestyles® Bungalow bed frame is a complete package that will look great in your first apartment. Crafted in Acacia wood with handsome panel headboard upholstery, this bed set makes a subtle statement that pairs with several bedroom designs.
First Apartment Essential #6: A Dresser
Unfortunately, not every first-time apartment renter will get lucky enough to have a large closet. That’s why dressers are so handy. Even if you have a small closet, a dresser can hold a ton of articles, and you’ll even save a few extra bucks by skipping the hangers.
Of course, what you put in a dresser is up to you. They’re also great for organizing books, electronic devices, jewelry, and more. Go ahead and use it as a TV stand, too, if you decide to include a television in your bedroom.
Tips for Buying an Apartment Dresser:
- Take a moment to determine how many drawers you need. For instance, are you sharing with a partner?
- If you plan on using your dresser as a TV stand, make sure the dresser is well high above the bed for better viewing.
Recommended Apartment Dresser:
If you’re a fan of our bed recommendation, then the Homestyles® Forest Retreat dresser is the perfect complement to its rustic-yet-contemporary design. This six-drawer dresser is fashioned in exotic tropical grained wood with crossbuck side details with a natural finish that is a nod to organic design.
First Apartment Essential #7: A Nightstand
Trust us, a nightstand seems like a non-essential, but you’re going to want a place to keep your phone, a glass of water, or your keys other than the floor. The good news is you don’t have to use an actual nightstand — even an affordable side table with no drawers works. However, nightstands with compartments are pretty affordable, so if you can, opt for these kinds of nightstands and enjoy a bedroom that is less cluttered and more relaxing.
Tips for Buying an Apartment Nightstand:
- Some manufacturers sell nightstands as pairs, which is a great way to save money and double storage.
- Into tech? Look for nightstands with built-in USB ports.
- Don’t be afraid to mismatch nightstands. It adds just enough character without looking off-balance.
Recommended Apartment Nightstand:
Continuing with the wood theme is the Signature Design by Ashley® Piperton nightstand. The standout on this nightstand is its wood drawer front that contrasts a dark charcoal finish on the rest of the piece. Enjoy open shelves along with a drawer, providing just enough storage for your bedroom essentials and a few extras.
Verified buyer review from AZIZAA: “the perfect size of what I was looking for.”
Tips for Affordably Furnishing Your First Apartment
Did any of our recommendations make it onto your apartment checklist? Hopefully, they did, but even if you have your eyes on something else from Colder’s furniture catalog, it’s important to discuss how and when to buy furniture to save you money. Consider these tips.
- Take advantage of sales days. Sometimes, you don’t even have to wait for a holiday. End-of-the-season sales are a great time to snag a great deal on furniture before new inventory hits the sales floor.
- Don’t be afraid to explore scratch and dent furniture. You can save hundreds of furniture pieces that can easily be restored with some DIY.
- Did you know Colder’s has furniture promotions all year long? Make sure to check them out!
- While saving up to purchase furniture is the best option, you don’t need your entire budget in cold hard cash. Consider buy now, pay later credit lines that are easy on your wallet.
- Take time to explore furniture outlets, too. These are great places to find last-chance furniture pieces at huge discounts.
Decking out your first apartment should be a fun experience. Take our tips and give yourself a moment to think about how you want your place to function, how you want it styled, and the maximum budget you want to stay within. If you need more inspiration, feel free to visit one of our four furniture showrooms across Milwaukee to find affordable furniture to get your first pad looking good.
FAQ
How much does the average person spend on furniture for an apartment?
The average person spends between $3,500 and $5,800 to furnish an apartment. This includes essential pieces like a sofa, bed, dining set, and storage. The cost can vary based on your style preferences and whether you buy new, secondhand, or opt for premium brands.
How do people furnish their apartments?
Furnishing an apartment typically starts with the essentials—think a comfortable sofa, a sturdy bed, and a functional dining set. Many people also mix and match new pieces with secondhand finds or budget-friendly options to balance style and cost. Accessories like rugs, lighting, and artwork tie everything together for a cozy and personalized space.
How much should I expect to pay for furniture?
Furniture costs can vary widely based on quality, brand, and materials. A basic living room setup might cost around $1,500–$3,000, while higher-end options could go well beyond that. Setting a budget beforehand and focusing on key pieces, like a quality sofa or mattress, helps ensure your investment lasts.
Where to buy apartment furniture near me?
If you're in Milwaukee, look no further than Colder's for stylish and affordable apartment furniture! We offer a wide range of options to fit any space, from cozy sofas to versatile storage solutions. Visit one of our locations or shop online to find the perfect pieces for your apartment.
Why Trust Colder’s?
Since 1942, we at Colder's pride ourselves on offering value, selection, and service. Serving Southeastern Wisconsin with four showrooms that stock quality name-brand furniture, appliances, and mattresses, Colder’s is sure to house exactly what you are looking for. And if you can't find it on our floors, chances are, we can order it for you. As a local, family-owned company, we are always doing our best to provide the highest value at the lowest cost to everyone who walks through our doors.
Colder’s is committed not only to continuously offering can’t-miss sales but also to working with each customer, making sure that you take advantage of every possible markdown — that’s our best price guarantee.
Shop Furniture at Colder’s
Don’t put off happiness — shop furniture online for your entire apartment for unbeatable prices at Colder’s. Our friendly experts are always happy to help you fulfill your first apartment checklist, whether you call us at 414-476-1574 or use our online chat feature. Better yet, stop by one of our Colder’s locations in West Allis, Oak Creek, Delafield, and Grafton, Wisconsin to touch, see, feel, and experience home products that fulfill your dreams. Visit us today!
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