How Graduates Can Furnish The Flat Cheaply

 There’s student living, and there’s graduate living. Post-uni is a hodgepodge of lifestyle choices where you transition from an aspiring student to a young professional. For many people, graduate life is the first time they live alone and that calls for a number of new encounters: from purchasing white goods to sorting bills, decorating rooms and lifting heavy sofas up flights of stairs.

Moving To An Unfurnished Flat

Most student flats are furnished, so you don’t have to worry about purchasing chairs, beds and sofas. For graduates wishing to have their own goods, it’s likely they will choose an unfurnished apartment and build a collection from scratch.

If you have the funds to go through IKEA and purchase a matching bedroom setup then good for you. Otherwise, you’ll be grateful for the local charity shops…

Charity Shops Are Your Friend

In our experience, 90% of graduate homeware, furniture and utensils can and should be bought from charity shops. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not a case of sifting through random bric-a-brac in the hope that you’ll strike gold.

Many charity shops stock quality assured, refurbished items at a fraction of the price of their retail counterparts. Some, such as the British Heart Foundation & Salvation Army, even supply their own removal service! It is not uncommon for graduates to snap up a three-piece suite at under £80 if they look in the right place.

Inherit From Fellow Students

After exams, thousands of students ready themselves to leave uni and seek their fortunes elsewhere. Having gone through 3 or 4 years in the same city, most people accumulate a bunch of things they will no longer need. Everything from cutlery, boxes, chairs, tvs and towel rails will be flogged for no money at all; people are desperate to get rid of them!

1. Ask your fellow graduates if they have any homeware to spare. Those of them that are travelling far will not need their toasters, kettles or microwaves. Many others who buddy up will find themselves with duplicate items. Reach out to your inner circle and see who needs rid of what. Chances are they'll be grateful to be relieved of the burden.
2. Take a walk through local student areas around June/July. In a rush to clean their houses and pass the landlord inspection, many students leave items outside the house in the hope that passers by will take them. Just make sure they have labelled it as free and, if in doubt, give them a quick knock!
3. Search Facebook, Freecycle or Preloved for your local SU or item-sharing groups. Many students will take to the internet to flog their homewares.

These are the methods graduates use to acquire cheap, quality furniture when they move into new accommodation. You can do the same. Follow the steps in this article and you’ll find yourself with a fully furnished home at a fraction of the retail cost. Go you!