How To Furnish Your Apartment on a Budget: Get Ready to Save Hundreds

This post is all about how to furnish your apartment on a budget!

Just moved into your first apartment and looking for budget friendly furniture and decor!? I’m sharing all our inside tips on how we furnished our apartment on a budget, where we shopped for affordable decor, and how we made our place feel like home!

My boyfriend and I moved in together last August, two years out of college, and we furnished our entire place with pieces we love all within a strict budget. It can be really hard to find quality decor and furniture for a reasonable price so I wanted to share how we did it and how you can too!

how to furnish your apartment on a budget

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links which means I receive a small commission if you make a purchase from one of my links. Thank you for supporting Sunday Mimosas Blog 🙂

Before I get into the tips, just know that it takes time to accumulate furniture and decor for your place, whether it’s your first apartment or a new home. You can’t buy everything all at once! I know how hard it can be to see all the Pinterest-worthy decor and want your place to look exactly like that. Trust me, I felt the same way. But, furnishing an entire apartment is expensive, so just know that with time you’ll be able to do it.

Want to see everything we’ve bought for our apartment? Click here to Shop Our Home!

Here are my top tips on how to furnish your apartment on a budget!

1. Make a List of Wants and Needs

First thing we did about 5 months before we moved into our apartment was make a list of items we owned, wanted and needed. We created a Google Sheet that we could both add to whenever we thought of ideas. I suggest doing this if you’re moving in with your significant other or have roomies! This will make it so easy for everyone to see what you already own and what still needs to be bought.

Focus on finding all the items you need to buy, before you focus on buying any decor or non-essential pieces for your place! Here’s a list of 25 essential apartment items to get you started.

2. Furnish over time

Furnishing an apartment can be extremely expensive, especially if you’re starting from scratch. Take your time and buy the absolute essential pieces first. In my mind, a bed would be the most essential item. Everything else can wait.

You don’t NEED a coffee table. You don’t need two matching nightstands. Those are all things that you can buy once you save more money. Refer back to your Wants vs. Needs list you made; what items can you wait to buy?

3. Check Facebook Marketplace

FB marketplace or Craigslist can be a great way to find furniture pieces for cheap! I like to look on FB marketplace for desks, coffee tables, nightstands, TV consoles, and things that don’t have fabric. I’m kind of skeptical about buying couches, chairs, mattresses, bar stools and anything like that just because you don’t know what it’s been through.

Back in college, we did get a really nice sofa and couch for $100 off Craigslist, but I don’t think I’d do that again!

If you’re up for a DIY project, you can find furniture from FB or Craigslist and easily paint or update the pieces to fit your style which will make them feel brand new.

Want a free monthly budgeting template!? Download the exact budgeting sheet I use to organize my finances!

Guaranteed to make budgeting, tracking your expenses and paying off debt SO much easier!

Click Here to Download your Free Monthly Budgeting Template.

4. Find furniture in your neighborhood or on the street

Would you believe the sectional, chair and ottoman we have in our living room was found on the side of the street in my parents’ neighborhood!? My neighbors were dragging the sectional set out of their house and my dad saw, so we ran down the street to grab it!

It is in such great condition too! In the summer months, I highly recommend keeping your eyes open for furniture on the side of the road. You can find some good things!

We actually ended up finding a set of four patio chairs, another couch, a nightstand and artificial trees as well! I swear we’ve had such good luck finding furniture in our neighborhood.

5. Ask friends, family, and coworkers

A ton of our furniture is actually from friends and family that we’ve accumulated over the last two years. When we first moved into our apartment our coffee table, nightstands, tall dresser, and desk were all my boyfriends’ college roommates’ old furniture. We had two TV stands- one from my Grandma and one from my dad’s coworker and a chest from my old roommate and two lamps from my Aunt.

As you can see, almost all of our furniture was given to use from people we knew! This really helped us out, so we didn’t have to buy all the furniture all at once.

If you know family or friends that are getting rid of furniture, I’m sure they’d be happy to give it to you. There’s no harm in asking and it can save you a TON of money when you first move in.

6. Shop All the Sales

We’ve found the best deals for furniture and home decor on the Day After Thanksgiving, Memorial Day and Labor Day! I watch for sales year round, and those are the specific sales that we’ve found the best deals on furniture. We bought both our living room TV and console for under $400 on the Friday after Thanksgiving. What a steal!

So, if you’re looking for bigger furniture pieces similar to those, I recommend waiting to buy if you can. That’s what we did! We moved in mid August and we used our old college furniture for a few months until November when the sales were so good!

The Best Places to Shop for Budget Friendly Furniture!

Okay, let’s talk about the best places to shop for furniture and home decor!

Where to Buy Furniture

We’ve found tons of budget friendly furniture pieces from Amazon, Nathan James, Target, Walmart and Home Depot. If you want to shop the pieces we’ve bought for our home, I’ve linked all of our furniture here!

Where to Buy Decor Pieces

There are so many stores to shop at for affordable decor pieces! Here are a few of my favorites: HomeGoods, T.J.Maxx, Target, Walmart, Marshalls, Amazon Hobby Lobby, World Market, and Kirkland’s. Recently, I’ve bought a lot from Kirkland’s and Target.

Target recently came out with a Studio McGee Collection and it’s absolutely beautiful! I was shocked at the prices, because they’re so affordable, but the pieces look so expensive!

Looking for more tips on cute (budget friendly) ways to decorate your apartment!? This post shares 10 of the best affordable decor hacks!

My Best Tip for Decorating Your Home: Only Buy Pieces You Truly Love

Lastly, I want to share one of my favorite tips for decorating your home! Which is to only buy pieces you truly love! If you live by this tip, you will fall in love with the place you call home.

Surprisingly, living by this tip has helped me save a lot of money too. Before purchasing anything, I have to make sure I absolutely LOVE what I’m buying. If I’m hesitant or the item doesn’t speak to me, I don’t buy it. This has allowed us to save money and create a home that we both love!