B & I have been living in our apartment for threeeee whole months!
& tbh, we’ve been LOVING it.
Furnishing it was a bit of a struggle at first because the Pinterest algorithm started to learn your amiguis a little too well, if you know what I mean 😅
After calling the apartment to know the layout of the exact one we’d have, drawing diagrams of where we could put furniture, & spending countless hours scrolling through Facebook Marketplace to see if we found any winners, I can say it was all worth it!
In this blog post, you’ll learn how B & I mindfully furnished an apartment we LOVE on a budget that felt right to us. If you’re moving soon or just want to change things up, keep reading to get inspo on how to get these done with intention!
Before Moving In…
First thing’s first: if you’re moving in with someone, it’s helpful to make sure you’re on the same page about the living situation.
You shouldn’t only be talking about big things like what area you want to be in, how much you want to spend on rent, etc., but you should also be thinking about things like color schemes & what items are really important for you to have.
- Are we going for Alexa or record player vibes?
- Casual & airy or sleek & industrial?
- Workout area? Meditation corner? Office space?
- When would you ideally be fully “settled?”
& the other thing, I’m pretty sure everyone reading this wants to be financially responsible & balance curating a dream home while staying on track for financial goals. So with that being said…
- What are the most important things for you to have?
- Do you want to buy everything secondhand? Certain things? Nothing at all?
- How much are you willing to spend?
Thankfully, B & I are very similar. Neither of us watch too much TV, we love working on side projects (like, uhhh, what you’re reading now lol!), & we were going for a minimalistic vibe. We wanted our home to feel cozy, but not cluttered.
But even though we knew we valued similar things, we still had intentional conversations before coming to this apartment.
Get Clear on Your Values
It will never cease to amaze me just how many things come back to our values.
I do have a free workbook on learning your core values if you’re interested, but in this case I’m also talking about physical items that are important to you.
Knowing you can’t get state of the art everything, what is important for you to spend a little more on?
I’ll give you some examples…
- We both really value our time but are obsessed with clean floors, so we decided to get a Roomba.
- We value our health & love cooking meals at home, so we got a good knife that would make that easier.
- We value organization, so we got Command hooks to keep things spick & span.
- We value cleanliness, so we got an ice scoop (with a magnetic handle so it can dry in-between uses!).
B loooves calling me out when I’m starting to get distracted!
He had to tell me about 42 times to get off of Facebook Marketplace when I started a search a month before the move (& begged him to buy a bed we couldn’t store anywhere 😅).
He questioned me when I wanted the 2.0 versions of the Roomba, the vacuum, etc (when I had been a victim of good marketing & it didn’t really make sense to get them).
He let me be excited about our new space while reminding me that we have bigger financial goals that will stay relevant wayyyy past the dopamine of a new purchase.
This is a reminder that the person you choose to be with matters SO. Much!
I’ll get more into the nitty gritty details of what we splurged on, saved on, & what we found a middle ground on…
Splurge!
For splurging, it wasn’t just about what we got, but how many we got.
Don’t girl math your way into “saving money” by buying more. If you actually need it, & you can get it on sale, I’m allll about that! But if you’re spending money just to spend it, please reconsider!
Pots & Pans
The most expensive household item we own (aside from tech) are our pots & pans by Hexclad. They are made with a blend of stainless steel, cast iron & a Japanese ceramic.
Before moving here, we lived in a house where we were able to use these. We loved how they were non-stick but didn’t contain PFA’s like teflon…
But even with that, we didn’t know if we wanted to take the plunge. The day we moved in, we went to Marshall’s & got some stainless steel ones.
I kid you not, I did not cook for two weeks because I absolutely despised how everything stuck! After that, I couldn’t buy them fast enough!
These are a joy to cook in (I never thought I’d say that—am I…a señora?!) & I cannot wait to keep using them for decades to come.
Use my link to snag $100 off your first purchase!
Plates & Bowls
I cannot explain to you how long I spent crawling Pinterest, Facebook Marketplace, Target, Ikea, etc etc etc to try to find plates that we might like.
We even tried going to some thrift stores to see if they had sets, but alas! Nada.
Until…
These plates were exactly the vibe we were going for. & while they were a bit spendier, B convinced me we didn’t * need * the giant set I originally wanted, so we ended up getting the smallest set available.
We’re obsessed with the color! Our vibe is California Casual & these very much align with what we wanted. They’re durable & haven’t chipped yet! & we love how the lip comes up to keep sauces in.
I do wish they were a bit smaller, as the big plate is BIG. But there are worse problems to be had lol, so it’s not a huge issue.
Use my link for $20 off your first purchase of $100 or more!
Floors
Growing up in a Latin household, we were big on cleaning (see my blog post about Latina approved non-toxic cleaning products!). But I remember realizing how much time it took.
When I moved to the Bay Area to be with B, we lived in a house with a Roomba. There were SEVEN of us total, & it was always clean because this little robot was set to go every day at 11:00AM.
Consequently, getting a Roomba was a non-negotiable when we moved into our new place!
While it was definitely more expensive than just getting a broom lol, we’ve saved an unexplainable amount of time! & we also got one of the cheapest models, since it’s just the two of us & we didn’t mind manually emptying the dust bin every time.
We’ve named her Roombie, & though we are so grateful for her, the battery dock stopped charging appropriately a few months in & so we have to put weights on top. We’re not sure if only ours is faulty, but it doesn’t impact how she functions.
This is probably one of the best purchases we made! Lmk if you have a Roomba or if you have any questions before you take the leap.
Middle of the Road
There were items that we knew we wanted, but we didn’t spend the most ever for a few reasons:
- We are still in a more transient point in our lives, so we wanted items that we wouldn’t mind parting with or that would be modular enough to work in any space
- We simply would’ve rather had the money to spend on other things
Couch
We got the smallest couch in the store that had a chaise. I wanted one that was slightly larger, but B reeled me in lol. We love the chaise is reversible, so no matter what space we use it in, we can have it face whichever way we want.
We also got the matching ottoman, not only to use to put our feet up & for storage, but it makes a makeshift queen-ish sized bed for when we have guests over!
While I wanted something slightly larger & maybe with a pullout bed option, I’m glad we got something more affordable that also fit with our Cali Casual theme.
Bed
Similarly, our bed is nicer than anything I’ve ever had, but it wasn’t the cheapest option either. We love the headboard & it feels regal & grounding all at the same time.
We considered just getting something from Ikea or finding something on FB Marketplace, but we opted to get something new & we wanted it to be sturdy so that it would last longer.
Television
B & I don’t watch that much TV. Like, at all. We might watch one or two shows a week, if that! So getting some top of the line, 75 inch, blah blah was just not super important to us.
But we also didn’t want something that would be grainy & pixelated!
We opted for something higher quality but it isn’t huge, by any means. & honestly, it’s been perfect for us!
This is a great example of finding a middle ground, where we were willing to spend a bit more for it to be better quality, but we weren’t willing to spend more for it to be larger.
Knives
Sheesh, I love a good knife! We wanted to get some good Cutco knives, but ended up just opting for the most expensive knife available at Target, which was this one by Henckels. It’s worked really well so far!
Rather than getting multiple knives (like I wanted to hehe), we started out with just ONE knife & we jussst got a smaller paring knife from the same brand.
Save Save Save!
How we saved had to do mostly with two factors: where we spent & uhh, just not spending lol!
While we went a couple of thrift stores to see if we scored any good finds, we didn’t find anything at all (womp womp wooomp).
The first day we moved in, rather than going to somewhere like Target to get the bulk of our items (we basically started the home from scratch!), we opted to go to Marshall’s. We found great things like silverware, shower hooks, etc etc at a fraction of the cost!
We were able to snag some great deals from Facebook Marketplace, like our TV stand & our counter stools.
& another way we saved a lot was just by not buyings in general 😅
For example, I had pinned a dozen examples of gorgeous entry-way tables. I had my heart set on having one, we knew where we wanted to put it, but later we decided it wasn’t a need. Same went for a shoe rack!
I also wanted to get a different hamper that was more aligned with our color scheme—I even had ours up on FB Marketplace! But then we realized the one we had worked fine & it didn’t make sense to spend on that.
I know that when you move in you want to get settled in ASAP (I know I did!). But if you can wait jusssst a little bit, not only to look at different stores or wait for a sale but also to see if you actually need/want something, you’ll be on track to save some serious cash!
Basically, spend resources on whatever you want…but make sure it’s what YOU want!
Don’t get things because your tia would be appalled if you didn’t have it, don’t feel embarrassed for wanting to invest on what’s important to you, & do what feels intuitively right for you 🤎
Moving is a beautiful time where you get to form new habits, curate an environment that aligns with your goals, & have fun getting creative. I hope that empowers you in the midst of all the shifts happening!
If you need some more inspo, check out this blog post on how I moved an impressive amount of times & how I use a HABITS framework to create sustainable habits!
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