Two Apartments, Furnished Secondhand and Hand-Me-Down

If you’ve been wondering why I’ve gone quiet this summer with barely a project to show for it, here’s why: I was helping move two kids out of the house. It was not only stressful, trying to plan everything while spending as little money as possible, but also deeply emotional. Finding furniture and planning has kept me distracted, which helped with the emotions. My husband didn’t have that outlet, and it’s hit him harder, and he’s been really sad without something to focus on. I told him to focus on our furry babies now because that also helps a lot.

We ended up renting the U-Haul for both moves on the same day, since they’re now living just 0.8 miles apart.

The college apartment living room, dining room and kitchen furniture

Finding furniture for my daughter’s college apartment was mostly guesswork. I didn’t have any real measurements, so I eyeballed the sizing based on photos, videos, and general proportions.

Here’s a screenshot of a video my daughter sent me touring their 5 bedroom/2 bathroom apartment. I used it to eyeball the sofa sizing. It was super risky, but it thankfully worked out great.

Because of the alcove where the window is, it had to be two separate sofas and not a sectional. And the one sofa had to fit into the alcove.

The Facebook Marketplace listings

Besides other things I already owned, like the mirror, throw pillows, salt lamp, white round dining table, wishbone chairs, planter on the ground, plants, and a hanging planter I made several years ago, I added Facebook Marketplace finds.

Lots of pretty used sofas slipped through our fingers because we needed sellers willing to hold their pieces for us until moving day, which is why I didn’t even attempt to bargain with anyone. It certainly helped when I told them our story. Most people aren’t willing to hold their pieces for sale!

Below are the two sofas and ottoman that we ended up getting. You are probably thinking, “Yikes, really?”

Google image reverse search is great for finding out where pieces listed on Facebook Marketplace originate from. This sofa and loveseat are a Raymour & Flanigan Maverick set, in wide-wale corduroy, and it’s actually a bit of a unicorn now. Raymour & Flanigan has since redesigned the Maverick line into a modular sectional system, so this older, fixed-frame version isn’t sold anymore. Because it was one solid piece, it was also difficult to move.

Originally, the set retailed for $1,500–1,800 combined, and I bought all for $300. My husband said I should have paid less, but I disagree because they were also willing to hold the sofa until moving day. We couldn’t have accomplished the move without that extra bonus because we don’t own a truck big enough to move a sofa or have anywhere to store a sofa, let alone three sofas.

That is the Threshold Vass Accent Table, originally retailed for $120.00 and later lowered to $96. I bought it for $20.

I wanted a large wooden tray for the ottoman and found a great one for $10.

I also found the non-slip 7.5’x10′ KOZYFLY Farmhouse Rug for less than half the price of a new one at $40. The lady I picked it up from said she never even used it, and it definitely looks brand new.

The only things I purchased new were the very affordable floor lamp, the ivory pillow covers, and the placemats on the dining table (which still need to flatten out).

I love this rug and can only recommend it, even if you buy it new. I’m contemplating getting one for our home too.

Do you guys remember the black wishbone chairs that I used to have in our dining room? They look great in their small kitchen since the appliances are also black.

The college apartment bedroom

And my best Marketplace find was for her bedroom. This free fluted dresser! Yup, I said FREE!

I added these 6″ plastic hanging planters, and this set of artificial plants with 5″ pots fit them perfectly.

We did have to buy her a bed, though. I couldn’t find a storage bed on Marketplace. We bought her a lift-up hydraulic storage bed (my son bought one for their place too). It is so great for small-space living, and we have zero regrets. And we bought her this cheap mattress for the bed. She says it’s super comfy.

She brought her desk chair from home, which isn’t in the photos yet. And the white Ikea desk is my son’s desk that didn’t fit into his apartment but fits perfectly into our daughter’s. It looked brand new before my husband got a hold of it and scraped up all the sides and top. I was so mad and added a desk pad to hide some of the damage.

She brought the pouf from her room, but I ended up bringing it home again since there wasn’t enough room. I also had to buy and hang the Lowe’s blinds, and I added the vanity mirror.

As a reminder, here is a photo of her freshman Morgan Hall dorm room, where you can see that we reused a lot of items.

I forgot to take photos of her bathroom, which is pretty cute with black and white penny tiles and a pink scalloped shower curtain. Maybe next time.

One of her roommates surprised everyone by bringing a 65″ TV, so now they need a stand for it and I’m hunting for it on Facebook Marketplace.

My son’s one bedroom apartment

My son’s apartment is a different story. His girlfriend is decorating it herself over time, so I don’t have many photos from there because it is still pretty empty. My part was more behind the scenes: sending them a few Marketplace listings, helping plan out furniture sizing using only vague measurements from the apartment listing, and tracking down their sofa.

They knew they wanted a small-scale L-shaped sectional, and once again I had to track one down and find someone willing to hold it until moving day.

My son’s small sectional is the Nadler Sectional from Rooms to Go, and we bought it for $250.

They weren’t totally sold on the sofa at first, so I put together this mockup to help them picture it in the space, paired with a rug, lamp, mirror, and coffee table. It gave them a clearer sense of how it could all come together, and the idea was that they could slowly add pieces like these over time rather than furnishing everything at once.

We donated the throw pillows because they were stiff and uncomfortable, and we added some of my old throw pillows here too.

The counter stools in my son’s apartment were also a Facebook Marketplace score that my son’s girlfriend found. They got 3 for $75, and they’re still over $200 each when purchased as new stools. These are in great condition and an amazing find.

My son’s girlfriend also bought the TV stand, $25 desk, and dresser on Facebook Marketplace.

I don’t have listing images for the dresser and TV stand.

This isn’t quite goodbye since our daughter will still be home for school breaks, and my son and his girlfriend are even talking about adopting a cat, which would make me a very happy fur-baby grandmother (the only kind of grandmother I’m signing up for right now). They’re only 1.5 hours away, so no matter what they need next, we’re not far.