apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

give her the $$$ and let her sort it out. it'll be a learning experience.

Or better yet, don't give her the $$$ and let her sort it out. Scrounging for hand-me-downs and bargains is part of the grad school experience!

I went to grad school out of state. I bought both secondhand pieces and ones from a furniture rental store that were super cheap while I was there. After 2 years, I sold everything to the next wave of grad students. For 2 years, I think you can live with anything so long as it's functional. Heck, I'm an architect, and function beat aesthetics at that point in my life...and saved me a bundle both in upfront costs and the cost of potentially moving it when I left.

Let your daughter put together her own place with her own money - Kids don't appreciate things that are just given to them, and your daughter needs to develop her own style and resourcefulness.

Have the daughter come over to this site! In the weekly chats section. And she could ask about various stores or ideas.

Many of the people here are actually willing to help out and have good tips!

I definitely suggest that she visit the Small Cool contest archives. Places like Eduardo's or Roxy's for ideas on small spaces and ways of arranging things in a studio.

Eduardo had lots of found objects and bargains. Roxy's was real small and she did a great job.

There's more to getting an education at school, there's all the rest, like budgets and bills and arranging stuff and prioritizing.

There are TONS of free things all the time, so that she might be able to track down basics for naught. For instance, a couple of my small bookcases, wood, nothing fancy, came from getting on the elevator at the exact moment someone else was taking the bookcases down to the dumpster.

He says "Need bookcases?"

I said "Yup!" and he even carried them to my apartment door. The two bookcase are also about the right size to make a desk.

She can learn how to adapt things for different uses. Like why not use a metal filing cabinet set up for hanging files for folded sweaters and pants, that are actually FILED between the hanging folders?

Sounds odd, but I bet it would work. And the same regular filling cabinet can be used for cookware and dishes, which is a lot easier to access than the back of a cupboard or cabinet.

You could probably make most everything out of a bunch of filing cabinets. Tables and desks. End tables. Book storage.

Imagine the ease of pulling open a deep drawer, as filing cabinets have, with your spare shampoo, soap, all the girl stuff like hair spray, body lotion. No digging in cabinets, and bathrooms don't always have great cabinet space for that stuff.

That's only if she finds it for free. But it's one example of using imagination to create what she needs. And only SHE will know what she needs. Which MAY evolve very quickly and change.

She can set up a Flickr account with images of her new place, and people here can go over and make suggestions on what might work.

I agree - if she's in grad school, you should let her do it herself. If it's your money, she's not going to feel comfortable picking stuff out that SHE likes - so her place isn't going to be her own. She's an adult - let her grow up!

a grad student is not a kid, although an awful lot of people are perfectly comfortable spending their parents' money. a lot of people don't know it isn't their money too.

ikea. craigslist.

my daughter and i are doing the same thing right now. we shop together. it is an easy way to get a busy kid to fit you into their schedual happily. one thing we particularly enjoy is our trips to ikea. it is a couple hours away so it feels special. we use their software to design and redesign the roon. it has been very helpful for space planning and i am amazed how many functions you can fit in a tiny space without crouwding it. it just takes a lot of thought. we also like target and overstock.com.

I'll reiterate, thrift stores (search on Yelp) and Craigslist. Also, alleys. There's no rush to fully furnish her place, let her feel out what her needs will be. When I was in grad school (all of two years ago), I did most of my work at my large kitchen on my laptop. I had plenty of room to spread out my papers and books. A desk at that point wasn't really necessary.

It might also take her a while to get a sense of whether she wants to start investing in "keeper" pieces or whether she's happy with temporary, scavenged furniture that are cheap and functional.

It'll really be up to her to get a sense of how she needs her space to work.

I am a graduating Kellogg student. You and your daughter should check out the for-sale section of the new student web board - there's lots of great & cheap stuff available, and it's already in Evanston!

I think you should sue the school. You certainly have grounds.

bepsf: "Kids don't appreciate things that are just given to them" <- You never accepted any gifts on your birthdays?

On topic: Ikea and thrift shops.

Um, let her put her own apartment together? I'm going to guess that your idea of stylish is quite different from hers.