This is the condundrum I've been dealing with. I just moved and I have a lot of decent pieces that I either current love, serve me well, and/or with a little tweaking (paint, slipcovers) will be great. But I do need to round out things to accomodate the new home. I'm trying really hard to not just go to IKEA and buy everything, but also not wait months to find THE PERFECT piece at a flea market because I don't want to be living without stuff for a while. It's all about striking the balance for sure...and not blowing my meager budget right off the bat.

i bought nearly all my furniture at ikea off the bat because i couldn't afford better. as i see pieces that i love (and can afford), i replace the ikea bits and donate them. i've been here nearly 6 years now and my house is furnished beautifully. i'm still on the hunt for a couple of side tables (and a great tree slab to make into a dining table!), but the majority of my furniture has been upgraded, and it was virtually painless.

The most important thing is to know yourself and know when to save and splurge based on how you feel about your style. Save on trendy things, but splurge on those designs that you know you'll keep enjoying.

Sillyputty, I did exactly the same thing!

As far as storage, there is no reason to buy new bookcases and storage pieces from ikea every time you move. I have had modular storage--specifically the CUBITS storage system--for over 7 years and 3 different apartments, and in many different configurations. Something like cubits is very flexible, easy to rearrange, and durable. I got a couple sets off ebay and couple off craigslist, but you can find new sets at smartfurniture.com and similar stuff at the container store.

@Stam487 -- hold out! I loooooove me some Ikea, but I get more frustrated by looking at interim furniture (and I have plenty of it) than I would by waiting for the right piece. It's not always about splurging on the cost, but it can be splurging on the time and effort it takes to find just the right piece. It's been and exercise in discipline, but whenever I get the urge to buy something that is only good enough for now, and not for the long run, I just tell myself to put that money and effort towards finding the right thing.

"Save on occasional use items." This means don't spend $65 on that ceramic berry bowl being promoted two posts earlier.

Something to consider is that I've found ikea furniture (at least the big pieces) like dressers re-sell very well through craigslist. Sometimes ikea is necessary in the short term and its nice to know that these pieces (if in good/perfect condition) re-sell very well. I've sold two ikea dressers at 65% of the price I paid nearly 2 years after I originally bought them. At 50% for some other pieces as well. All in all I think I paid like $30 to have a 6 drawer dresser for two years thanks to craigslist!

Once again, Bee for Brian FTW.

@Bee for Brian I was thinking the same thing when I saw that berry bowl! I was also thinking about the Simplify your Life article here about how not to have different glasses for wine and for martinis.

The best advice I ever received about decorating was that you should spend your money on the things you touch and use every day- such as luxurious sheets and towels, gorgeous rugs, and beautiful, durable upholstery for everyday pieces. You do get what you pay for in these cases and the better quality pieces will last much longer. Plus, you get so much more pleasure about of the things you use everyday than you do the items you use once a year. Most people can't tell or won't notice if you have inexpensive drapes trimmed in discount trim or reproduction art work as long as the room goes together.

The second best piece of advice I received was to always make your own pillows. If you buy half a yard of $100/ yd fabric it is still only a $50 pillow. Most of us spend at least half of that for a cheap pillow from Target.

The Eames chair which detracts from the big-box store sofa... and prompts commenters to yell about cliche status symbols.

I say splurge on mattresses, sofas, and office chairs. Work surfaces... eh. If you're moderately handy you can easily make a cheap desk at the right height.

Splurge on art that you love, and a good-quality rug if you're a rug person. Basically, anything you can't make or customize yourself. Art would get moved into the Save column if you're an artist yourself or can make crafty things to decorate with. Dressers and any kind of storage can always be painted or altered to fit your style. You probably don't know how to build a couch, though.

I agree with the saving on storage and less-used pieces, but I have to point out that the "statement" armoire is also storage, and should really fall under Save.

@Bee for Brian: What I'm getting from this is maybe start out with only a berry cup ($21), or just stop eating berries ($0)... ;)

My thoughts are that furniture is for a house, so you should choose your furniture in part by how long you plan to stay there. No matter what, not everything can make the transition to a new place--some things are going to be too small, too big, or somehow just wrong.

Second, with the exception of a good mattress and maybe a desk, it's much better to do without than to have the wrong thing. So what if your books are in boxes for a while? As long as you have someplace to sit, eat, and sleep, you'll live. Cheap and easy is great as long as you like it. Stuff you don't really like will quickly become stuff you hate and takes way too much energy to get rid of.

Last, craigslist is a fantastic resource for easy-in, easy-out. You can pretty much be sure that if you bought it on craigslist, you can sell it on craigslist, and you can probably get just as much if not a little more than you spent originally.

Just never let anything in the door that you don't like. Don't do it. Life's too short. Just wait for something better, or wait until you can afford something better!

When I last moved six months ago, the movers required me to sign a waiver stipulating that they would not move anything from Ikea. Their reasoning was that particle-board furniture is not meant to be moved from one place to another, as it falls apart easily, and they didn't want the hassle.

Just something else to consider when acquiring furniture.

The stuff I have saved on have also been the pieces that I have fallen in love with from the Moeller Table on Craig's List for $400 to the Kandinsky Chair I bought at a flea market for $150. Big ticket items I find have a short shelf life.

I splurge on artistic, unique, or quality furniture. It's unfortunate that when I have a vision for a room I will do what it takes to meet that vision. If I can't find a company that makes the piece I need I won't hesitate to have it made.

On the other hand I've been able to find quite a few of these missing pieces in thrift stores and Habitat for Humanity Restore so it evens out. For example I found my kitchen buffet for $30, my bedroom credenza for $35, and my huge wormwood Mexican storage pantry for $125 from thrift stores. The bed I want costs $2000...because I can't find anything like it anywhere else I am willing to pay that price. It will be the focal point and I consider it a piece of art like any art collector.

Spend on anything that is upholstered - chairs and couches. Save on anything that can be painted or refinished and bought at a thrift store.

This could be a whole other post because if you have kids, there's a good chance you're too afraid to splurge on something for fear of it being destroyed within seconds. I've wanted a new couch forever. That just ain't happening.

ITA with the "hold out" motto. I have right now furniture, what I call "interim furniture" filling in for items that I am still looking for and everytime I look at them I think why are you in my house. Unfortunately a lot of these items are needs. IE- kitchen table, tv stand etc. It takes a long time to make a house a home.

I just had the experience this last November of going from living out of a rented bedroom to owning a 2 bedroom condo, so it had to be furnished from the ground up. My biggest splurge was definitely a sturdy and stylish sectional sofa. My office desks were Ikea, but everything else I bought from 2nd hand or craigslist, pier one for dining chairs (got lots of gift cards that I used) and I got my beautiful antique dining table as a family heirloom. I'm still missing lots of 'accent' pieces (ie, non necessities, like a buffet, display shelves, dressers for the bedroom) and the walls are pretty bare, but I've run out of money and we have what we absolutely need. The rest will come over time, when I find the right pieces for the right price. I'd rather wait than run out to Ikea for everything else. :) It's more fun to search for the right things anyway.

diny, those seem like very silly movers. Many things from Ikea are not particle-board and are well made and can easily be moved, and many things from non-Ikea sources are particle-board and/or as poor quality as you'd see in the lower-end Ikea pieces. Using a general "Ikea" label is very silly.

We were given 95% of our furniture when we got married (all used, but still a major blessing since we are still young students) so I am definitely in the "interim furniture" mode. I am trying to make what we have work as best I can because I know that while the furniture we have is temporary we will probably have most of it for 10 years. My solution has been to tweak things so that I like them more by painting, reupholstering, or changing the hardware on the things I know will be around for awhile. That said, one day I am going to kick the 902 couch to the curb because while we are greatefull to have a couch I will one day have something prettier for my guest to sit on.

Everythingistaken, I agree! I could not have been more annoyed at having to move my Ikea pieces separately. Feh!

When buying new furniture, ask yourself whether you like to redecorate a lot--in which case it's best to be thrifty, or if you buy furniture and keep it forever--buy quality pieces that last a lifetime. I agree that it is absolutely worth it to invest in good mattresses. I also think that it is worth investing in good upholstery--sofas and chairs--that can be recovered down the road. I do have plenty of Ikea pieces in my own home--I consider them "placeholders" in most cases until I find or can afford the higher quality pieces I want.

Diny, I've never heard of movers not moving anything from Ikea! My movers didn't make me sign a waiver about moving anything. I'd choose different movers next time.

I want to add that building something can be cheaper, and can give you something unique and very satisfying, so it's win, win. I am not a carpenter, or even a handyman, but I decided to try building my son's bed when he grew out of his toddler bed. I did a lot of searching online until I found a plan that suited my tastes--simple, modern, utilitarian--and that I thought was within my abilities--no power saw use, for example. I figured, hey, it's a boy's bed, why not experiment and see if I can do it myself? The bed turned out pretty good, and my son likes the fact that daddy built it for him. I also got a lot of pride over doing something for myself and trying something new.

Gaining some confidence, later on, when my wife and I upgraded our bed, we splurged a bit to buy a latex mattress, but I built the bed. Again, it was cheap, and took a little thinking and effort, but now we have this rather unique bed and it has really made the bedroom ours. I even felt confident enough to modify the original plan a bit. We love our bed, and I think it's my favorite thing in the entire house, now. I definitely show it off when we have company.

I am certainly tempted to lay down some dough for an Eames chair, but I honestly think that every time I looked at it, I would think, man that is beautiful, but is it really worth $800? Whenever I look at my bed, I think, that is beautiful, and I built it! You can't beat that.

I moved into a new place about 9 months ago. I've taken the "wait and see" approach to most of the furniture. Yes, there is some Ikea (the dreaded Expedit) and two Poang chairs. The guest room in particular has next to nothing in it. Actually, it is over crowded but has no "guest room" furniture in it - instead it has become the staging room for other rooms. Wait and see has paid off tremendously - I lucked into free "warm industrial" nightstands that were old vintage lab stools, curator's cabinets that needed refinishing etc. Thinking of the guest room (or similar less utilized rooms) as staging rooms rather than a room that needed furniture immediately has been a huge money saver.

@beann66 Thanks for the words of wisdom! I'm going to do my best!

@beanne66 apologies for mispelling your name the first time around.

Be aware that no matter what you buy, you are going to live with it longer than you think. This can go both ways.

We bought a plastic 'etagere' - 3 units of 5 shelves each - about 30 years ago to use in a short-term living situation. We intended to throw it away but it turns out that they come apart and pack like a dream. So we are still using them, for storage in the basement, many houses later.

On the other hand, we bought a hand-made solid cherry dining room table for quite a lot of money. It's beautiful and we are still using it. However, I kind of wish it were not quite so long-lived because I'd like a change. My style has changed over the years and I'd really love a marble topped Saarinen table.

Bizarro. I have IKEA stuff that has moved 2-3 times and is in fine shape.

I have a lot of "for now" furniture but it serves its purpose and works in the space I rent now. If I ever buy a permanent space, I may choose more expensive things that will be perfect for that space and will last a long time.

Save on things that will inevitably get beat to sh*t. If you have messy kids or clawsy pets, don't shell out for a pricey Amy Butler area rug like I did only to have it become a designer scratching post. It looks OK still when I vacuum, but NOTHING like when it was new thanks to our untrainable kitty. Be realistic—if you and your family of five is torn between the Kalstad with removable washable slipcovers and some fancy-ass Gus Modern sofa, buy the Kalstad. Don't be an idiot. I speak from experience. :)

I guess it all depends on your style and interests. I only buy used/vintage items when it comes to furniture (not including my mattress of course!) We bought a sofa from craigslist that is vintage and incredibly built. I invested in reupholstering it and having a custom slipcover made. I feel a responsibility to not add to landfills as much as possible.

I am not gonna splurge on any furniture and have it be ruined by my year and a half old toddler. We did splurged on the kitchen stove but it's already got dinged by the toddler after a year. Another thing is we plan to move in a few years to a bigger house so the furnitures we have now will probably not fit in the new house, so why bother splurging. It's Ikea all the way in the mean time. I do have vintage pieces from Craigslist and thrift stores to mix it up a little.

I just moved into my apartment a year ago, but snce I've been renovating every single room, i have to show restraint on the furnishings side. So far, I've spent $$ on a magniflex memoform mattress, a danish Hans Olsen dining set and art. I plan to purchase a few more pricey items (large rug for the living room, a few chandelier and light fixtures). These are the items that I will be using often (daily) /and or give the room its unique character or style. I just recently bought an upholstered IKEA reading chair from Craigslist ($40) since I can't afford a Bertoia on my wish list. And I bought champagne flutes at a thrift store. I definitely troll Craigslist for items like appliances, shelving, occasional tables and mirrors, since I feel that they are not as key to a room's look, and it's my way of not contributing to creating a need for disposable stuff.

Pay a lot (if necessary) for the stuff you really need and the stuff you really love. Best tip, though: Buy as few things as possible that don't fall into one of those two categories. If you're buying less silly crap, you have more money and so you can afford better quality on the meaningful stuff.

"The Eames chair which detracts from the big-box store sofa..."

Evidently the writer of this entry doesn't know what the word "detracts" means. Hire a f*ing copy editor.

Splurge on beds, couches, desk chairs, art, towels, and dressers. You think im crazy, but you use your dresser every single day. You need a good sturdy dresser to keep your clothes safe and clean after a long time of opening and closing dressers, you would be surprised how easy a cheap dresser breaks.

Splurge on mattresses, pillows, sheets, bath towels and cookware. It's relative to your financial situation, but splurge on those items to the best of your ability without incurring debt. Other items involve so many variables, as other comments have demonstrated, it's tough to have general guidelines.

The only true splurge in my house was our oh so comfy king size mattress, which was the best gift ever from my inlaws.

Everything else was either Craigslist, or free, with the kids furniture purchased from Ikea or West Elm. We did spring for some entry level dining chairs from Room and Board, but they are already ruined and scratched four months later.

I have three kids six and under. Nothing that doesn't breathe is safe for long in our house.

I agree that storage is so life-style specific. We just moved into a garage unit in our complex (after winning the waiting-list lottery, booyah!) and haven't even gotten around to organizing our bike stable in the garage. After two months, I finally figured out how to do the main room. It was four months before I figured out how to do the study, and it's still a work in progress. We had a hard time with our bookshelves since I've found that I've had to entirely replace my bookshelves at least twice in the last seven years when they just wouldn't hold up anymore to the new needs of a new space.

I think my big splurge here will be a small chair for my study to double my seating options.

I just got married and moved from a big historic house to a small modern apartment, already full of my husband's stuff. I had to get rid of several of those 'keep forever' pieces. Here's what transitioned well:
--bookcases, since we have tons of books. I have two 10-year old bookcases from Target that are holding up great, plus 4 that I had custom made at one of those unfinished furniture places.
--my rugs
--my art
--my kitchen items, since we are cooks
Almost none of my large scale or antique furniture was a good fit in our new place. Believe me, I was sad to see some of it go, especially my "splurge chair" from Mitchell Gold which was simply too large in scale. My conclusion is, spend money on your passions (books and cooking in our case). If you buy something else, keep in mind that you may not recoup any money on it, and you may not keep it forever, so the cost should be related to how much you will enjoy it during the time you own it.

i buy with patience, only spending my hard earned money on things that will be "lifers"-things i can see sticking around with me for life.

Same as with many folks posted above, we splurged on a sofa (well two, now that we remodeled the basement of our small 50's bungalow to add a room for entertaining)! I bought made-in-the USA, hardwood frames, down cushions, very durable upholstery in livable neutral colors... by far, these two pieces are the most expensive things we have ever purchased, but they are also WELL used and loved. And I hope, in classic styles that will still look great in ten years. Both are sectionals of medium size that I hope can make it to our dream house one day.

The other splurge: Our stove/oven (Electrolux, though I don't particularly recommend the brand this had the chef-style features I wanted - like an extra hot searing burner, etc.). We couldn't manage Wolf, but this was still a big splurge for us. It was worth it.

We also bought reasonably supportive, and mid-priced office chairs -- which while not lovely are not OVERLY offensive looking. It took me 1.5 years to "splurge" modestly on this and it's made a HUGE difference in my health, back pain, headaches, especially as I work from home.

The rest is hand me downs, ikea, self-made art, and DIY. And a few lucky cast-offs and client returns from my parents' interior design firm (like the honeycomb shades from Hunter Douglas that just fit our windows and happen to be the *exact* putty shade of our walls!).

One other note: We saved the most on LABOR. I don't recommend skimping on this when it could compromise expensive projects, but if you can do it well, do your homework, and take your time it can be worth it. We have done everything ourselves, from all of the work in building a basement living space from the concrete up (that means we built the stud walls, did the drywall, lighting, built the bathroom, did the electrical; luckily my partner had some elec. experience in the marine corps) to building our landscaping retaining walls. A lot of research went into to every single project beforehand, so we could do things as close to "professional" as possible. Quality work and lasting improvements vs. things that are clumsy, inelegant and cheap was important to us.

It was great to read everyone else's advice as I move into finishing furnishing the new basement living area.

I am moving into my first home in the next few months once the tenant's lease expires. I have decided to:

SPLURGE on
- Lounge suite: http://arthurg.com.au/ - the Boss sofa, a Cooper chair and a Benson statement chair with fabric from Warwick Fabrics - total around AUD15K (OUCH but so comfortable, excellent quality, unique custom pieces and I will love it forever)
- A new bed with a custom headboard - after sleeping for 15 years on a bed I bought in college for $120
- Stereo: I bought a component system for around 2K that I am hoping will last me a LONG time. My parents still use the one they bought when they got married 35 years ago!
- A floor rug: I have a year to save for this one as I won't really need it until next winter.
- The house itself: I bought something small so that I don't have to fill it with furniture!

SAVE ON
- Television: I am not buying one
- Coffee table: After reading an article here I have decided I don't need one - thanks AT!
- Laptop: This is my 'cinema' and office in one, and I just got something pretty standard as I don't need all the whizzbang features
- Kitchen table and chairs: my mother very kindly bought me a nice set as a gift, but otherwise it was going to be something out of the Quokka - which is like an Aussie version of craigslist
- Art: I print my own travel photos etc. I also buy from etsy and the like.
- Bookcases: The one Ikea item that will never ever date.
- Fridge, washing machine, dryer are all hand-me-downs from friends who have coupled up and had two of each item.
- Crockery: rather than buying a set, I just get mis-matched pieces from antique stores and flea markets. You can get amazing plates for 2 or 3 dollars and while they sometimes look a bit naff on their own, they are great when matched with others - the cheerleader effect! Best bit is that it doesn't ruin the "set" if one is broken.
- Glasses: I have a few nice glasses for wine and the rest are from Ikea

It also helps that over the past decade, I have been creating my own "glory box" - a trunk filled with cutlery, crockery, pots, pans etc. My family writes wishlists each year for christmas and birthdays, so a lot of these are presents from various events. The rest are things I bought on gift cards from my credit card rewards - I put everything on credit, pay it off monthly, and then get 200-300 worth of department store gift cards every year.

Mostly, I buy good quality stuff that isn't in fashion, so can't go "out" of fashion. I also buy one or two pieces instead of getting whole sets, eg with things like saucepans, people often buy the whole cooking set and end up with at least 2 sizes they never use.

Does anyone know anything about the two chairs in this photo? I have two I restored myself, although they have fabric seats but they are my favorite and I know nothing about them.

Contrary to the poster's suggestion, we splurged on dining room chairs. If you enjoy lingering over leisurely meal with relaxed conversation, there is no greater killjoy than than squirming on a hard, uncomfortable chair!

The way I look at it is, I'd rather live with hand me down throw away items longer than have a house full of furniture I marginally like. Also, great design and great deals can be had in one if you are willing to take your time and look.

I've bought a lot of things off craigslist, used them for a year or two, then sold them for what I bought them for! This way you still have a sofa to sit on, and don't lose $$ when you upgrade down the line.

Happy shopping!

The (beautiful, pricey) Eames chair DISTRACTS attention from the (cheap) sofa.

The cheap sofa DETRACTS (subtracts from) from the Eames chair.

So the correct word was DISTRACTS.

The English language is full of traps...

I splurged on things like sheets (hate cheap sheets), towels, rugs, futon, eating utensils, toaster, the rest are good solid pieces I either picked up at second-hand stores or were gifts from generous friends. I chose my items with care whenever I could, because I do share the same view as others that I would rather do without than have cheap marginal things.

quality/right find is worth waiting for - as long as you have something to use in the interim. i spent 8 months searching for the perfect sofa, which now (13 years later) needs to be recovered. most of my furniture has been inherited from family members, so when i find something i really really love enough to replace another piece full of memories with I likely buy it.

I believe that furnishings play the most important role in the giving the right finish to any home.