The furniture provided in your dorm room has maybe two advantages: it's already there, and it's free. Unfortunately it's usually ugly as hell. But do you have to deal with this ugliness? I say no way, José (or whatever your name is). Here are some tips on how to furnish on the cheap.
Hand-me-downs
If you thought you were going to escape social hierarchies when you left high school to go to college, boy were you mistaken. There are many bonuses to befriending seniors - cool points among friends, no-fake-id-required alcohol source - not the least of which is access to sweet furniture when they leave school. Your senior friends no doubt have their share of beer-soaked couches, mismatched end tables, and marijuana leaf posters that they would be more than happy to get rid of on the cheap (maybe even free!)
Thrift Store
Okay, so you haven't made senior friends yet? It's fine, I mean you're a loser, but it's cool. Just kidding... or am I? Anyway, for the senior-deprived, thrift stores can be a great alternative. An added bonus is that the furniture might not be beer-soaked and the end tables might actually match. Unfortunately marijuana leaf posters may be few and far between (depending on the thrift store). But there's always AllPosters for your classic college poster needs. Furniture is bound to be cheap at these stores and if you shop at Goodwill or the Salvation Army you are supporting a good cause.
Grab and Go
It is an unspoken rule that anything left on the street is up for grabs. We still have an office chair from the last time we did a grab and go down the block. Sure, the seat falls through the bottom if it's not padded with 4 or 5 yoga mats (also a grab and go find) but it was free, and isn't that the most important part? In college, yes, it is.
Bed, Bath and Beyond
Maybe you're not the second-hand type. Maybe you care less about your furniture having character and more about it having all its required parts. Either way, 3B, BB&B, Triple-B, B-Money-Mack, whatever you want to call it, has some good stuff at fairly reasonable prices. Word to the wise: Bed, Bath, and Beyond will package up anything you order online and have it waiting at a location close to your school. Pretty cool if you want to do some summer shopping and have it all ready for you when you get to school.
IKEA
Ever the favorite of starving artists, hipster kids, and Swedes everywhere, IKEA puts the fun in furniture (like if you take out the "r"... and chop off the "iture.") For the uninitiated, IKEA makes you to walk through their whole showroom writing down Aisle and Bin numbers. And then they graciously let you (read: save lots of money by forcing you) to haul it out of their warehouse and build it by yourself. In all honesty it's not that hard to put their stuff together and in general you get great quality for very little money. Obviously it costs more than the couch that's been sitting in the vacant lot across the street for 3 weeks, but the chances of STD transmission are decidedly lower. So get your screwdriver and hammer and get ready to assemble!
Did we miss something? Let us know where you got all the sweet furniture in your dorm by posting a comment below!
Very useful info. Hope to see more posts soon!
roller blinds perth
Lamino Armchair - A Timeless Design
The Ekström Lamino chair was designed in 1956 by. It is an excellent example of this style with its simplicity and trademark curves and elegance, so much so that it was named "The Best Swedish Furniture Design of the Century" in 1999 and also won the I.M.M Cologne Award for best design in 2003.
With its matching four-legged ottoman, the Lamino is designed specifically for comfort. The chair and ottoman are covered with soft sheepskin, which can be ordered in grey, brown, white, sand, or basic black. The natural colors of the heathered sheepskin look naturally elegant when balanced against the oiled wood of the chair legs and arms.
There is a huge variety of wood from which to make your choice. Some of these choices include beech, oak, cheery wood, and teak. Also there are different choices in lacquered wood such as oak, walnut, and cherry wood. You can also choose stained, black beech. The large selections that are available will make this chair suitable for any home and also for any room in your home.
For an additional charge, you can pick a very nice, high quality leather cover for your seat. This upgrade is very well worth the additional cost. There are some other fabrics that can be special ordered. These include Tonus, Canyon, Tonica, Flora, Divina, and Hallingdal. The wide variety of options for covers, patterns and woods will be valued by buyers. The buyer gets to create their own custom option by mixing and matching the variety of options.
The chair is evidence that the Swedish style is gaining popularity over here. This style is easily recognizable by its pale wood and fabric shades, straight lines, and simple geometric curves and shapes. This style conveys a hip, contemporary, clean, streamlined look in any space. chair can best be showcased with Swedish styles utilized in hardwood floors, sheer pale curtains, minimalist spaces, and understated hints of gold and blue.
The Ekström Lamino chair is the perfect choice to compliment your decor, regardless of whether you are looking for a chair to add to your modern or an elegant center piece for your existing interior design. You can choose from any number of wood and fabric combinations available by visiting a store near you or accessing high-resolution photos at our on-line site.
The Swedish chair is the elegant but comfortable design from in 1956. design of the century in 1999 and comes with a four legged ottoman. Made for comfort, this furniture is upholstered in gray, white, brown, sand or black sheepskin to contrast with the woods, which can be oiled beech, cherry, walnut, oak, or oak/teak. It is also made in stained black beech or lacquered oak, cherry or walnut to fit every decor. Other options for this chair include fabric or leather upholstery in many colors and varieties.
Our school brings poster sales all the time but buying them and trying to get them to suit you and your roommate can be touch (we ended up one year with ninja turtles, david beckham, maroon 5, and random guy and girl rolling in the sand... interesting combo...) This year I bought 8.5x11 photo paper and found pictures online to create a montage of mini-posters. I bought the semi-gloss finish and they look like real posters. This way you can tie them all together and make about 25 for only $10. I used hot guy celebrities but put all the pictures in grayscale with a white border. It came out really great and gives me some eye candy to oogle when I should be studying...
Anyone who has ever lived in a dorm knows that space is limited no matter how much stuff you back or don't back. Every corner seems to be full by the end of the first week. The most useful thing I've found is milk crates. If you raise your bed they fit perfectly underneath. Use them to store everything from extra notebooks, electronics, textbooks, anything. Best part is, you can hide them out of view by putting a flat sheet under the mattress so that it hangs down over them. They're absolutely wonderful.
furniture can be cheaper at Walmart and Target than at Ikea....sure it won't be the nicest furniture but It'll do.....tables, chairs, mini fridges, etc. Just go to google and find Walmarts and Targets near you.