This blog is an extension of the one written by the charming
Gabby Cruz called "Apartment Hunting"!
In my experiences, the hardest part of moving actually isn’t
moving … it’s getting settled into the apartment. To me, the idea of chairs,
tables, furniture, dishes and curtains are perplexing. Not because I don’t
understand I need these things, but rather because I have no idea where to
begin! What do I need? How much does it cost?
Questions like
these cause me to loose sleep, sometimes anyway!
I recently moved
and found myself with the following furniture: a bed and two bookshelves. That
was it. Nothing else! No dishes, no tables or chairs, nothing. I also owned a
LOT of books and believed I needed to have bookshelves, however I soon found an
alternative + answers to a lot of my other problems.
THE NO BOOK-SHELF BOOKSHELF –
Windowsills. The bar that sits outside the kitchen. The upper sections of
closets. All these places can be sued to arrange books for easy access.
This is the kind of bar I mean |
THE NO COFFEETABLE TABLE – We lovingly
call this a “hobo” table because of the simplicity. I took four fedex boxes
and, after having centered them together, I used two shelves that I didn’t need
from my bookshelves as the “surface” of the table.
I was able to find
a “dining room” table from Wal-Mart for about 20 dollars, as well as a rather
decent Futon where the ends of the “couch” click up to form arms if you need
them. It cost less than 170 dollars, a bargain when you consider how UTTERLY
expensive couches are.
This is what I bought! |
While I know the
idea is iffy, try Craigslist. As long as you *ALWAYS CALL THE PERSON WITH
FURNITURE AND NEVER GO ALONE TO A STRANGERS HOME* you can find some great
bargains, however (possibly) be prepared to drive a little bit. I found many,
many great couch/bed options that were less than 100-75 bucks, however the
trick was just getting to the locations.
As my friend Kat
and I learned, U-Haul does NOT provide the hitch attachments for cars if you
plan on using a trailer that is pulled by your vehicle. We wound up having to
pay almost 200 dollars for the Hitch, Ball, and electrical installation necessary
to get her car up and ready for pulling the trailer. We THOUGHT we’d only be
spending 20 bucks, but it almost cost 100X that amount. Be careful!
My cat, Bella, approves of the new futon |
1 comment:
I would have to agree that it's not the move that's difficult but the settling in. Many renters are particularly fond of decorating their homes so moving to a new home can be quite a challenge because of this especially if they reside in small rentals.
Post a Comment