Moving to a new city, leaving your parents’ house, or considering your first solo place? You’re probably wondering: how much does it cost to furnish an apartment?
Whether you’re perusing other articles on the cost of furnishing an apartment, browsing catalogs, or asking friends and family, it can get confusing. What should you buy first? What if you’re on a strict budget? How much should you spend if you’re ready to settle in with solidly-made pieces that have a designer’s flourish?
I did the work for you, calculating a range of costs to furnish your one-bedroom apartment:
- I put together three lists:
- Just the Basics – the furniture you need in order to live in your new apartment
- One for Settling In and having friends over
- And if you’re Here to Stay – what you need to give your apartment a fully polished feel.
- I whittled low to mid-priced furniture lists from 62 stores down to four based on:
- Variety of offerings
- Relevance of style
- Personal experience
- And quality for cost.
- I shopped for the highest and lowest priced items per store, of only those rated four or more stars, for each Basics furnishing on my list. I then focused on two stores – one higher and one lowest priced – for those Settling In or Here to Stay.
- I grouped prices into low, mid-range, and high.
It’s always possible to find more expensive stores and, therefore, to blow through my top range. Thrift stores, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, estate sales, and garage sales can push prices below the lowest costs in this article. Except for mattresses, feel free to explore gently used options.
When I lived in an expensive city in my 20s, I found two amazing armchairs left by the curbs of nearby houses (I should properly say mansions). Friends helped me haul them to my first apartment, where I reupholstered both for the price of the fabric and a rental sewing machine. Your costs, too, may vary.
The goal here is to give you a starting point, with well-researched price ranges.
The Basics give you a place to sleep, eat, and watch TV
You may not want or be able to furnish your whole apartment in one fell swoop. Perhaps you simply need to know what it’ll cost to move in and live there, on your own or with your partner, immediately. A bed to sleep in, a couple of seats at the kitchen island, somewhere to lounge in the living room with a few close friends.
For this Basics starter set, the lowest price point totals $587. Averaging the top prices at the least expensive store with the low end of the mid-priced stores comes in at $3,031. Wanna splurge? For $19,991 you can max out the top item prices at any of the stores.
These prices include a bed frame, mattress, two counter/barstools, and a couch.
Settling In? Include space to entertain friends and to work
You made it through the first month or so, have caught your breath, and have bagged those first few direct deposits. It may be time to shop a bit more and start Settling In. Look for a desk to spread out for workdays at home, or when you’re studying for your night classes. A dresser means easier access to your folded clothes. Consider a table and chairs to have a few people over for dinner and armchairs in the living room so you aren’t all sitting next to each other on the couch.
For these additional pieces, $695 gets you the least expensive, yet well-rated, items at our lowest-priced store. A middle budget of $4,118 includes a mix of top-priced furniture from the low-end store and entry-pieces from the next tier. Looking to impress? If you’re willing to drop $20,391, the highest priced furniture options in our mix would all be yours.
For these totals, you’ll be purchasing a desk, six-drawer dresser, a kitchen table and four chairs, and two soft armchairs for the living room.
If you think you’re Here to Stay (for now), fill your apartment with coziness and art
Like your apartment? Feel comfortable enough at work to spend any signing bonus? Got a few new clients? You may feel Here to Stay – at least for now – so get ready to fill in those blank spots. And to make your apartment cozier and more sophisticated.
This is when you spring for a few area rugs – one to curl your toes around when you get out of bed in the morning, and the other to warm up the feel of your living room. If you haven’t already done so, a nightstand lamp, and of course a nightstand to set it on, make your bedroom more comfortable and ease the transition from dark to day.
Your living room may be crying out for an entertainment center to house the TV – or to surround it, hanging on the wall, with storage space – and a coffee table for drinks and apps. Add a floor lamp in the corner for softer lighting when those overhead seem too harsh.
Insisting on the lowest price points in our mix means $378 will set you up with all of these things. Mixing top prices from the most affordable store with low ones from the other gives you a mid range of $3,259. Maxing out your new credit card? Get only the best of the mix for $34,035.
These prices include two area rugs, ten pieces of wall art, a table lamp, nightstand, coffee table, entertainment center, and floor lamp.
| Includes | Low Cost | Average | Highest Cost | |
| Basics | Bed, kitchen chairs, couch, and a few furnishings | $587 | $3,031 | $19,991 |
| Couple-Year Stay | desk, dresser, entertaining table and chairs, armchair | $695 | $4,118 | $20,391 |
| Long-Term Stay | Area rugs, nightstand and lamp, entertainment center, coffee table, floor lamp, wall art | $378 | $3,259 | $34,035 |
| Total Furnishings | Variations of all above items | $1,660 | $10,408 | $74,417 |
What separates the different price ranges?
In the kitchen
At the low end of prices for chairs, stools, and kitchen tables, you’ll see metal frames and durable surfaces made of plastics like melamine and polypropylene. Mid price ranges move into wood veneers, brass, glass, and solid woods. Top prices? Think velvet or leather chairs and highly-designed concrete tables.
Living room materials
Lower prices for living room sofas net you cloth upholstery and lighter structures. As prices increase, so does the size of the couch, along with the solidity of the materials. At the top end, you’ll find leather or velvet, and some recliner couches. Interestingly, the least expensive sofa options often double as sleepers.
For the rest of the living room furniture, you’ll go from particleboard, fiberboard, and paper filling in the low table and entertainment center prices, to higher end solid wood and steel. The base of your highest priced lamps may be Italian marble, and you may choose to pay top dollar for fluffy Mongolian sheepskin covering your armchair.
Bedroom furniture
Metal may seem stark and basic for a bed frame, but it’s available at affordable prices, and is sturdy and long lasting. Mid-range prices can get you storage as well as more style, with materials including fiberboard, particle board, and steel, or, alternatively, simple platform beds covered in fabric upholstery.
Lowest-priced mattresses are thinner, and as prices increase, so do thicknesses and layers of memory foam, springs, and support.
Total apartment furnishing costs
Adding up the costs of all three phases – Basics, Settling In, and Here to Stay – costs range from a low total of $1,660, to the mid-range at $10,408, to the premium package cost of $74,417.
Create your budget ahead of time based on your needs, taste, and outlook. Then take the time you need to turn your apartment into a home. Plants sold separately!
* To arrive at the price ranges in this article, IKEA (in 35 states), Scandinavian Design (16 states), Pottery Barn (40 states), and CB2 (15 states) were chosen to represent low-to-mid-range furniture retailers. The top prices were selected from the highest-cost individual items at these same stores. Each will deliver most orders placed at their websites. All figures were correct at the time of publication and may be subject to change.
