Best Cheap Furniture

[KnickNut3]

I'm getting a new apartment that I want to fill with new furniture. I want decent quality stuff but want to stay in the "budget" range. Can anyone with experience contrast Ikea, Target, Walmart, or any other options? If I choose anything but Ikea, I'm assuming most of my shopping will be online and I won't be able to see it in person. However, any trips I've made to Ikea have been terrilbly painful experiences.

Thanks.

EDIT: I'm in Manhattan, so garage sales would require renting a car and going God-knows-where, and acquiring pieces one-by-one without a car would be difficult (and renting a car multiple days impractical).

 

[vi edit]

Got an Ashley furniture nearby?

 

[SN4p]

Ikea is great, but it's a bit of work.

My whole apartment is Ikea furnished and it looks great, after about 4-6 hours of building shit.

 

[sandorski]

Ikea. It's not just cheap furniture, it's cheap furniture specifically designed for Apartment/Small Spaces living. Other places just sell furniture at a Low Price.

 

[acheron]

ikea.

 

[Baked]

Garage sale. But you gotta get up early and be there before the mexicans. IKEA is fucking expensive.

Originally posted by: KnickNut3
However, any trips I've made to Ikea have been terrilbly painful experiences.

Elaborate on this.

 

[K1052]

Ikea.

My condo has some tight turns which make getting furniture in certain places a PITA. Ikea is cheap, gets assembled in the desired room, and I won't cry if I have to toss it when I move out.

 

[evident]

Originally posted by: Baked
Garage sale. But you gotta get up early and be there before the mexicans. IKEA is fucking expensive.

Originally posted by: KnickNut3
However, any trips I've made to Ikea have been terrilbly painful experiences.

Elaborate on this.

i agree w/ garage sale. there will always be some heavily discounted furniture of variable quality. you can get away w/ a steal of high quality furniture for cheap, whereas w/ ikea you get mediocre quality furniture at an expensive price

 

[geno]

Craigslist.

 

[Bu B3ar]

ikea.

It is cheap, but good quality. The assembly isn't really as bad as everyone always jokes. It comes in pieces, but that's because you can mix and match a lot of things. I've bought two tables, dressers, night stands, book shelves...all went together no problem and still look/function great.

I just recently moved and had to furnish as well, so your best bet is to mix and match. Some places are better for certain things, and definetly garage sale it up!

Enjoi the new place :beer:

 

[Insomniator]

Ikea for cheap furniture, but it is not of good quality. Anyone that has 'real' furniture can attest to this. Good quality furniture can not usually be moved by 1 person....

But yeah, Ikea has lots of cool stuff for relatively cheap prices. Good for apartments and dorms. Easy to get in and out of places too since you can build it in the room...

 

[Gothgar]

I've bought a few things at Target, and their stuff seems to be very good quality for the money.

I have bought stuff at Ikea and Walmart before, and I still suggest Target if it needs to be new, if not, Craigslist by a billion

 

[funkymatt]

ikea. you can get some of those rancid meatballs while you're there.

check craigslist- you can find better built furniture for a fraction of the price and you don't have to worry about "almost all the parts" being there. also garage sales.

 

[Jeffg010]

Look for a sears scratch and dent not sure if one is in your area.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Originally posted by: SN4p
Ikea is great, but it's a bit of work.

My whole apartment is Ikea furnished and it looks great, after about 4-6 hours of building shit.

A bit of work? Have you EVER put together furniture before? It's the easiest furniture EVER to put together. I put a sofa table from them together Sunday night, took 10 minutes. A few other pieces of furniture (end tables, TV stand) took no time whatsoever. (TV stand was more intricate, but end tables - screw the screws into the legs and then into the table surface)

Compared to the O'Sullivan stuff (or compareable) you get from Target/Walmart, and IKEA is cake. (Having worked for Office Max and Staples and having put together furniture for people before, I've put together my fair share of cheap furniture on a weekly basis)

 

[KnickNut3]

Thanks for the suggestions so far.

Craigslist may be a bit more difficult, as I live in NYC and have no car. Would rather pay to get stuff delivered or rent a truck for 1 day. Would be too difficult to get stuff piecemeal, I would think, unless someone has other suggestions. Garage sales are obviously out unless I go marauding around the outer boros or NJ.

As far as the terrible experience: I went in just to get a desk, didn't find what I want, and it took me 2 hours to get through the whole place, pushing through people the whole way.

 

[Babbles]

Ikea.

I think Target is a bit overpriced for their stuff, which is maybe only a half-step better than Ikea. I never have found anything at Wal-Mart that would be worthwhile to buy.

 

[ivan2]

if not ikea, i think crates and barrels? what about pottery barn and pier one?

 

[PottedMeat]

Target or Ikea - for their solid wood stuff.
Ikea you have to test their stuff out though - sometimes they're fairly rickety.

Walmart has shit.

 

[kami333]

Garage sale furniture is ugly. I'm not a huge fan of carvings/scrollings, rounded edges, heavy wood. I like straight and black/birch so Ikea is perfect for me, unless I want to fork $1000+ at the chic furniture places.

 

[evident]

Originally posted by: ivan2
if not ikea, i think crates and barrels? what about pottery barn and pier one?

last time i was at crate and barrel things were not cheap. pier one has pretty nice stuff for cheap sometimes, if you can find a sale. my gf has this sweet looking lamp from there for $50, orig. $200.

 

[kami333]

Originally posted by: ivan2
if not ikea, i think crates and barrels? what about pottery barn and pier one?

Crate and Barrel stuff is pretty much the same quality as some of the mid-range Ikea stuff, just twice the price.

 

[InflatableBuddha]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH

Originally posted by: SN4p
Ikea is great, but it's a bit of work.

My whole apartment is Ikea furnished and it looks great, after about 4-6 hours of building shit.

A bit of work? Have you EVER put together furniture before? It's the easiest furniture EVER to put together. I put a sofa table from them together Sunday night, took 10 minutes. A few other pieces of furniture (end tables, TV stand) took no time whatsoever. (TV stand was more intricate, but end tables - screw the screws into the legs and then into the table surface)

Compared to the O'Sullivan stuff (or compareable) you get from Target/Walmart, and IKEA is cake. (Having worked for Office Max and Staples and having put together furniture for people before, I've put together my fair share of cheap furniture on a weekly basis)

:thumbsup: Ikea FTW. It is dead easy to assemble (and fun! ) and reasonably priced. Don't go for their absolute cheapest line and don't go for their most expensive items either. Mid-range is fine.

I have a dresser, end table, computer desk, leather computer chair, bookshelf and kitchen table and chairs all from Ikea. Great stuff.

First priority though is to hit up friends and family for stuff they may be getting rid of. Not as easy if you have to rent a car, but at least you won't be on a wild goose chase at garage sales. I landed a couch from a friend, my bed from neighbours and I have my grandmother's coffee table.

 

[Nik]

Ikea, Target, and Walmart all have about the same terrible quality of furnature. Which store has the least number of dirty rednecks to deal with while shopping? Pick that one

 

[thirtythree]

Originally posted by: KnickNut3
Thanks for the suggestions so far.

Craigslist may be a bit more difficult, as I live in NYC and have no car. Would rather pay to get stuff delivered or rent a truck for 1 day. Would be too difficult to get stuff piecemeal, I would think, unless someone has other suggestions. Garage sales are obviously out unless I go marauding around the outer boros or NJ.

As far as the terrible experience: I went in just to get a desk, didn't find what I want, and it took me 2 hours to get through the whole place, pushing through people the whole way.

Check IKEA's website to find what you want and check availability. You'll probably want to walk through the whole store if you're getting lots of stuff anyway. If not, there are shortcuts. Just get a map.