College Dorm room & furniture deals?

[DearDaisyinDurham]

Are you sending a student off to college or re-stocking a return or even setting up an off campus apartment? Where do you go for furniture & housewares - Target & IKEA? All suggestions appreciated, especially stores in the Central Florida area

 

[edk35]

We also got stuff at Bed Bath and Beyond last summer (our dd will going back in Aug. for her 2nd year) and used all those lovely coupons. You can use expired ones too. I have a huge stack I keep in my glove box in my van so I have them with me always. Have fun...... Freshman year is an expensive one. Thank goodness....we will not be spending hardly anything this time.

 

[Taja]

Mine was all hand-me-downs. Neither parents nor I had the budget to furnish my off-campus apartment. For housewares, my mother allowed me to take some of her extras--two saucepans and one small skillet, plus a few food prep items (knives, spatulas, large spoon, etc.). Fortunately, apartment was furnished and I just had to bring linens--again, from supply at home, nothing new. And a desk lamp--that was not part of the decor and I needed it for studying!

I don't know what stores are in central Florida, but here are some stores I can think of. You can check their websites for locations.

Big Lots!
Cost Plus World Market
WalMart

Check to see what resale shops might be available in the area. Consignment shops, as well as those that sell stuff from hotels and restaurants. We have one that is called either IRCA or ICRA--never can remember. They have other locations in the US. Merchandise always changes.

 

[DearDaisyinDurham]

We also got stuff at Bed Bath and Beyond last summer (our dd will going back in Aug. for her 2nd year) and used all those lovely coupons. You can use expired ones too. I have a huge stack I keep in my glove box in my van so I have them with me always. Have fun...... Freshman year is an expensive one. Thank goodness....we will not be spending hardly anything this time.

Mine was all hand-me-downs. Neither parents nor I had the budget to furnish my off-campus apartment. For housewares, my mother allowed me to take some of her extras--two saucepans and one small skillet, plus a few food prep items (knives, spatulas, large spoon, etc.). Fortunately, apartment was furnished and I just had to bring linens--again, from supply at home, nothing new. And a desk lamp--that was not part of the decor and I needed it for studying!

I don't know what stores are in central Florida, but here are some stores I can think of. You can check their websites for locations.

Big Lots!
Cost Plus World Market
WalMart

Check to see what resale shops might be available in the area. Consignment shops, as well as those that sell stuff from hotels and restaurants. We have one that is called either IRCA or ICRA--never can remember. They have other locations in the US. Merchandise always changes.

Thanks Taja & edk35!! Much appreciated!

 

[Sagginit]

my dorm had lots of hand me downs. my brother moved from dorm to apt as i moved from home to apt. we also moved in with my stepfamily so we had lots of extras around. anyone you know may have surplus items? i second bed bath & beyond. my mum started buying for both of us early, like may and kept the stuff in boxes, buying as it went on sale. i also got a few great deals on things that were not musthaves by waiting til mid or end of sept. big stores like target have college collections and after everyone is in school they clearance it out. i got fun stuff like throw pillows, blankets, a cool comfy chair that way. stools, lamps, message boards are other items you may be able to scoop up on sale if you wait. if you are moving by car/truck you can also use coupons to stock up on food and toilettries to save student money on these things when you get there.

 

[lilosurf11]

When I started college three years ago, I wish I had invested in storage bins. Holy cow, they are so much better than printer paper boxes!! A few essentials:

Bedsheets (2-3 pairs)
Storage bins (for shoes, paper, etc.)
Room decor (posters, bulletin board, plants, photos,etc.)
iPod, computer, printer, headphones, movies, cds
Wall hooks (ones that you pull off)
Paper, pens, pencils, markers, crayons, etc.
Cups, a few utensils, plates

Hope this helps!

 

[Sagginit]

ohhh and they make several cube style organizers. my brother had this wire one that was sucky, i bought those plastic yaffa (sp?) cubes to organize and was able to use them in closet, out of closet, and even used two stacked one year as a nightstand. if you could get those particle board cube/shelf units at a store they would work as well. i like that everyyear i was able to reconfigure them to my dorm room and it was easy to move, just flip back and pick up the crates and go. i still actually ahve my old books stored in those plastic crates in a spare closet in my house. a worthy investment .

 

[NotUrsula]

Check with the college. These days so many kids have a throwaway mentality that many colleges hold "yard sales" at the end of each semester to get rid of all the furnishings that are left behind in the dorms.

 

[Shmily1]

Dorms here have the furniture so all you have to bring is personal stuff. I bought most of DS20's stuff at JCPenney his first year. It was all 50% off so I stocked up!

 

[DearDaisyinDurham]

Thank you all, that's very helpful!!!

 

[Coll0610]

At the University of Illinois, there used to be a guy who would go around at the end of the semester and pick up all the furniture that the students were throwing away. He would clean it up and repair it all summer and store it in a warehouse. When school started in August, he would sell it to all the students moving in. So you might find some deals around campus when the students are moving back in.

Remember that dorm rooms aren't that big and you shouldn't need much furniture for them. One thing I did really appreciate was a fan. Although our dorm was supposed to be air-conditioned, sometimes it got pretty warm. The white noise can also be helpful when you are trying to study or sleep. If you have a way to move it back and forth, it would probably be cheaper to buy a small frig than to rent one, but I rented one because my parents didn't want to deal with moving it. Check with the roommate before you buy anything big - you shouldn't need 2 tvs, stereos, frigs, etc.

A lot of dorms have twin extra long beds, which use different sheets, so check that too.

 

[Sparx]

Walmart is definitely not a budget buster for furniture. I bought a 5 shelf bookcase for 25.00 and a desk for 40.00 a few weeks ago. Towels for 4.00 and kitchen ware like spoons/mixingbowls ect were very affordable.

I bought a coffee table at target for 30.00 too!

 

[DearDaisyinDurham]

Great ideas, thanks!! Any more??

 

[Kate and Pete]

For an off campus apartment, I'd definitely check Craig's List for furniture - tables, desks, chairs, couch...can all be found for waaaaaay less than Ikea and Target. Good luck!

 

[cbg1027]

Ikea is always a great place. But if you want even cheaper, I LOVE craig's list for used furniture!
My mom's rule is that you never buy upholstered pieces or mattresses from people you don't know. But for a dorm room you don't really need any upholstered pieces.

I have scored some really great pieces on craig's list. And in a college town in the summer, there are TONS of ads. You just have to weed through and find the kids who didn't totally abuse their stuff. It won't be anything too high quality, but for a dorm room you don't want to put really nice stuff in there.

Almost all the furniture in my 2 bed/2 bath townhouse is used. I got most of it from people I knew that were moving and selling things. A couple pieces were 'curbside specials' - pieces that were left out for trash pickup that I 'rescued' and rehabbed. And some pieces are things I fond on a craig's list!
I got a nice solid small desk with a hutch for $75 from an ad on craig's list.
My favorite piece is my coffee table - got that from a student who found the piece and rehabbed it himself. I got the table, with delivery, for $50!

 

[chloelovesdisney]

If you are getting used furniture from Craig's List just check it carefully for bed bugs.

 

[Zoesmama03]

My dad loves Tuesday Morning in Lakeland, he finds deals on home decor all the time.

 

[Fyrefly]

I'm a garage sale/used furniture fiend for decorating my new apartment. I'm a grad student so I ended up in an unfurnished apartment instead of the furnished undergrad style I used to have.

Check the newspaper too, a lot of people who just want to get rid of furniture might not have the tech know-how to use Craigslist. I ended up with a sleeper sofa loveseat for $100 from a guy who just wanted it out of his house. Now we have a guest bed!

Yard sales are super. I got 5 stools for $10 total to put around the island in my new place, and a pair of table lamps for $10. You can sometimes even haggle, especially if it's late in the day and the item is big and the owner doesn't want to haul it back inside.

Estate sales often involve nicer items than people throwing out their "junk" for yard sales, but if you go to one of them it's important not to haggle too much or be disrespectful (probably goes without saying but I stumbled upon one by accident and stopped by and watched people try to tell this poor grieving man that his mother's nice Sunday outfits were only worth $5 while he tried to be polite).

Bed, Bath and Beyond and their never-expiring 20% coupons furnished me in the dorms.

I'm learning the joy of IKEA, but there is something else you might not know, is that there is an As-Is room. Stuff there can have some dents or scratches on there (whatever if you're a broke student), but is often heavily discounted. Sometimes it's just pieces from their showroom that they no longer have the packaging for so they can't sell proper. And then that deprives you the pleasure of putting it together yourself! So sad... We got a second full-sized sofa with attached chaise for our apartment there, ended up being about $450 when it should have been over $550, and the loveseat prices STARTED at $400 in bad colors, so there you go.

 

[DCbride]

Also if you student is sharing a dorm, check with the roommate before you buy anything. DS made a list and he and his roommate split everything. They will room together for the 3rd year in a row in the fall and we have not had to purchase anything since that first summer.

We took both boys to IKEA and basically bought everything there. The room came with bed, dresser, desk. We bought rug, microwave, fridge and 2 decent desk chairs. DS has thanked me several times over for purchasing a nice desk chair since the room standard is a wooden one.

 

[DearDaisyinDurham]

If you are getting used furniture from Craig's List just check it carefully for bed bugs.

OMG! that would be awful, thanks for the reminder!