My oldest son just graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in computer science and he will be working at Amazon starting in a couple of weeks. We are so proud and excited for him, and he is really excited to be moving into an apartment with air conditioning after going 4 years without in Seattle which is not very pleasant. He is going to be moving into his first adult apartment in downtown Seattle and after 2 years in the dorms and 2 years in an apartment with rented furniture, the time has come to do some adulting and get some furniture.
I have done some shopping for him (ok, this is probably an understatement since I created multiple Pinterest boards for him) and have some recommendations. He is fortunate to have some budget at his disposal from his remaining education account to support these purchases.
Below are some of the picks from the Pinterest board I created. The selection criteria were quality, budget-friendly, and stylish for a guy getting his first place. In fairness, I would put most of these finds in my own home so guess my personal taste also placed a part. Check these out if you are looking for some similar finds.
Sofa
The sofa has been the most difficult find. I am requesting (ok, requiring) that he get a sofa bed because it is a one-bedroom apartment and he may need extra space for say when a friend wants to stay over after a night on the town or his mamma wants to crash his place. Most sofas have a very long lead time because they are generally being manufactured to order, but COVID has even had a significant impact on the fast furniture brands like IKEA. Ultimately he would like to get the second sofa below from IKEA sofa bed but it is on backorder with no ETA so it is the the Novogratz sofa for right now which is readily available, very inexpensive ($333), has fold down back for sleeping and has awesome reviews 4 star with over 6k reviews on Amazon and 4.3 stars and over 4k reviews on Wayfair.
Rug
As always, my rug criteria is a tufted wood rug because our family tends to end up sitting on the floor even when there is a perfectly good sofa in the room. You can definitely go cheaper with a polyester rug but I have found that it is best to spend a bit more and get something that is comfortable. I like the first one below because it adds some color to his apartment which is bound to be shades of grey. I have a the rug with the diamonds in my dining room and it is fantastic and was a steal at under $400 for a 8×10. No final decision has been reached here as the rug is not critical for move-in day.
TV Console
Kids do not want TV as much as their parents as they are generally on their phones or computers even using those devices to watch TV. However, my son is being gifted a TV and will probably want to watch more TV when he has an apartment all to himself with a comfy sofa rather than a shared living space.
Coffee & side tables
These are still up for discussion. We did not have coffee tables when my kids were little because we used the floor space for playing. As a result, my son does not see the need here but I have still pulled together some options and he may ultimately decide it would be nice to have somewhere to put the dinner plate or a drink eventually. Side tables are also on pause but have inclued a few options here that I like.
Kitchen table and chairs
I pulled together a bunch of great options here that amounted to many varieties of tulip tables and mid-century chairs. This was one area where we had very different taste and he is going with a bar height table that he picked on his own. A little too rustic/traditional for me but love that it is something he picked and loves.
Desk
Desks are one area where you really can afford to save money. We have purchased about 4 of these desks now and they are fantastic. Unfortunately, I have a couple in CA that I need to get rid of now that the new office with a new desk is complete but not worth moving them to WA so we just purchased another one. I expect he will be burning the midnight oil here working to make project deadlines. Not so different as the past four years but this time there will be a paycheck which is important because rent. Check out this post with some additional desk options if you want to see more.
Mattress/Bed
Other than the air conditioning, I think that having a quality mattress is also something he is really looking forward to. When we moved a year ago we purchased new mattresses for every room except the master bedroom – you would not be able to pry my Technogel mattress from my dead hands but it certainly is not a first apartment, or even a first house, type of budget mattress but looks like the price is around 50% of what we paids so definitely should you may want to look into for premium mattress. We purchased Puffy Lux mattresses for my son’s room and the guest rooms in our house and everyone has enjoyed them so that is what he went with. Plus they ship quickly in a small box which is quite convient for the move.
For the bed frame, we did a lot of checking on the dimensions of the eventual winner because he wanted something with a high back that would extend above the pillows and it is interesting how many marketing pictures make it look like the headboard is tall but when you look at the customer uploaded pictures (thanks customers – so helpful!) you see a different story.
Nightstands
The nightstand purchase is on hold until he moves in and determines how much space there is on either side of the bed. He will likely need to choose between 2 small nightstands or one large. Not to worry, lots of good options here. I went a bit more premium here as I could not find any low-end that was stylish.
I still cannot believe that I had a kid in college, let alone a college graduate but it is so fun helping to decorate his apartment. I hope this round-up has provided you with some options that might be great for you, or your kids, as well!