Saturday, 22 August 2009
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5 Makeshift Furniture Pieces for Your College Apartment
Do you need some cheap furniture to create a living space in your college dwelling? Here are 5 creative things you can do in order to have the essentials cheaply and sometimes free. These furniture alternatives are super easy to install, versatile, and even simpler for breaking down, transporting, and re-using!
The file cabinet & door desk
Most important, is the desk. You will be spending copious amounts of time hunched over your desk studying and doing homework. It should be a big, sturdy piece of furniture to stack loads of books on. The cheapest way to achieve this is the filing cabinet & door desk. It’s simple: Get two filing cabinets and a door from Home Depot or Lowes. Stack the door on top of the filing cabinets and presto, you have spacious desk!
Estimated cost:
$ 20 for an unfinished door
$ 50 for two file cabinets
The exercise ball computer chair
You can’t have a desk without a chair. An exercise ball is not only very affordable; it may be the most comfortable computer chair that you have ever owned –especially for your back. Forcing you to balance and engage your abdominals, an exercise ball is ergonomically correct for your body. Just make sure you get the right size (the size recommendation is on the box and usually goes by your height). Exercise balls are also a great way to multi-task. When not used for a chair, they are excellent for body toning and conditioning.
Estimated cost:
$15 for one exercise ball
The milk crate bed frame
Make sure you get commercial strength milk crates. Don’t rely on cheap retail imitations. You can order them online for relatively cheap. If you can get them at grocery stores for free -even better! All you need is one mattress. Simply align the milk crates on the ground and slap the mattress on top. The milk crates make it easy to store stuff under your bed. They are also very versatile. If you decide to get another type of bed, you can always use the milk crates for other furniture like side tables, stools or book shelves. They are also great for moving!
Estimated cost:
$ Free! (or relatively cheap)
The cinder block book case
Cinder blocks and slats of wood are cheap and easy to come by. One trip to a hardware store will provide you with the two things you will need to create this trusty old piece of furniture. The amount of cinder blocks and slats of wood to get depend on how large you want your bookcase. For a bookcase with three shelves, 6 cinder blocks and 3 pieces of wood will do the trick. Simply layer the wood on top of 2 cinder blocks at a time.
Estimated cost: (depends on the size)
3 Slats of wood: $ 15
6 cinder blocks: $12
The trunk coffee table
An old trunk has lots of character. Not only does it make a vintage, eclectic piece to add to your apartment, it is also practical. Store blankets and other items you are no using inside. If you have an old trunk sitting around, perfect! But even if you have to buy one, they are not that hard to find. Keep your eyes open in thrift stores, or grandma’s closet. Old tea crates also make nice coffee tables. But they are increasingly hard to find.
Estimated cost:
$ Free! (or thrift-store prices)
Have you ever made make-shift furniture? What have you made?
Author Info: April Lentini likes to repurpose furniture and you will rarely find her shopping at traditional, “buy the whole room” type of furniture stores. She writes for http://los-angeles.apartmentguide.com
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About the Author
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- From: alentini@xanga
- Name: alentini
- About Me: I am a freelance writer living in the metro Atlanta area. I like all things girly and a few things geeky. I currently write for apartmentguide.com
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Comments (28)
Hm, interesting.
haha i will stick with my IKEA furniture, seems like a better, stylish investment :)
The door desk seems pretty cool, but it also seems too large for the average college living space! I know I wouldn't have room for it in my apartment. I built my own bookshelf (out of wood, but from scratch) for my apartment this year, though.
oo, love the door desk idea. I actually am in need of a desk.. this might be my solution XD Thanks for the idea.
Very cool. I've been needing a bookshelf and I may just use that idea. That desk is pretty cool.
great post! i love frugal ideas! keep em coming!
My college room was just large enough to fit a (single) bed, a small wardrobe (hanging closet), and a very, VERY small desk. I could barely walk between my desk and my bed, so none of these things would have worked for me... I always stored food in my suitcase under the bed, and anything else bulky on top of my wardrobe.
or if you're super broke, you can go to near campus college apartments @ the end of the year/quarter/semester and a lot of students throw out their furniture and leave it on the street. it's clean and brand new so why not?!
hehe, i know the apartments near ucla throw out really nice things lol. that's where i'm headed!
the desk i got from kmart is cheaper than that desk lol
This sounds like the bedroom that the most interesting person in the world lives in. I have got to get me all of those things. Goodbye sleek and stylish stainless steel. Hello, gross, plastic milk crates! Ha.
Seriously... I would feel some sort of internal strength of pride for having this sort of living arrangement... I actually didn't like the whole door-desk filing cabinet idea... But it does sound extremely practical. It sounds incredibly easy to move around too. I'd probably go all out on the cinderblock bookcase though and buy extra pieces of wood so the bottom of the shelf would be clear... And I'd have vertical wood on the sides nailed to the horizontal slabs, so the top piece of wood would stay in place. I'd overthink it and drive my pricetag up.
That's just me though!
These are some pretty thrifty ideas. Thanks :D
I like the first idea
Whelp, where's the cable spool dinner table? and while we're on the subject of straight-up hobo furnishings, you can find mattresses down at the dump that aren't too soggy during the winter!
i'm currently using my trunk as a computer desk ha!
Interesting ideas, but these would never fit into my dorm. ):
Interesting. Now I finally have a solid reason to get an exercise ball =).
I can be pretty frugal and I love coming by creative ideas for living cheap but these are kind of stupid. For one thing... my desk is just as functional and a million times more stylish than the door/file cabinet idea and it costed the exact same at Target.
@tiptoplove@xanga - hear hear! that's how we gained a couch, a floor lamp, a really nice wood table and chairs, an office chair, a side table, and a mini fridge. way cheaper than actually buying furniture! although transporting and cleaning them was not so fun...
@infinite_abyss180@xanga - ahaha yea my desk from ikea is actually cheaper than the idea listed here, it's probably more lightweight, and it fits in my small room.. whoever wrote this post forgot that college living areas aren't usually too big.
we use crates (not milk crates, and they all match!) for a bread shelf and we use 4 cinder blocks and a thicker piece of wood for a tv stand. My roommate loves being creative like that! And we got both our couches because people just threw them out =) we're in college so we have no qualms about getting second hand things, even if we have to do some hardcore cleaning.
My first bookshelves were cinder blocks and wood slats.
I have a few make shift furniture pieces in my room, and I've had them since I was young. I have a shelf made out of milk crates, and a night stand made out of an old spool. I also use those giant toy buckets as chairs, or just a place to put things.
Love it! Love the idea of having some of these items just in your house to kick it up a notch. I love exposed beams, a bare look to a room. Soft colors and lighting. Those things which are elegant mixed with those things that are completely well done crappy. It's fun. An example is the cinder block bookshelf next to some elegant scones and creamy or fashionable statements with wall paint. Those crate vehicles look like great fun for a house with a long wooden hall. Or a fun basement style game room. I don't know about the desk idea. It's like $60.00 at Staples to get a streamlined little computer desk. I mean if you need a drafting table, this is an awesome idea. If you can find a door with no bevels. I think I would end up hurting myself using an exercise ball as a chair, but doesn't it just kill two birds with one stone? I love the trunk as coffee table. We had one growing up and it's gone now. Replaced by side table that match. So sad.
http://www.SlouchBack.com offers a great option to provide comfortable seating while taking up no space! Instantly convert your dorm bed into a three person suede couch. To save money as well you can use a promotional code: SLOUCHATG
Quit whining about not finding cheap furniture, and just build it yourself!! Geez.
I have a trunk, love it! I used it as a couch in my dorm, I covered it with a large fluffly old comforter and some pillows. And I was able to store stuff in it. I'm poor! And like I always say, poor people are the most creative!