Most of us have been there. And by there we mean trying to get a few pieces of furniture together to set up a first apartment. The average first job doesn’t pay the kind of salary required to instantly furnish a new apartment with trendy pieces.

Many first-time apartment dwellers rely on hand-me-downs from their parents’ or siblings’ existing homes. You could be getting comfort, quality and class in the form of leather recliners but you could also get that floral couch from your mom’s sunroom. How do you make it work?

Making Old Furniture Functional

When family members hear you’re moving out on your own, many will volunteer some furniture. Of course, it’s done with love but the furniture may be a little worse for wear or perhaps nowhere near your design preferences.

The good news is that there’s always a way to make pawnshop-bought, inherited or mismatched furniture look functional and pleasing. We’ve got some tips to help you do just that.

1.     Embrace an Eclectic Design Style From Day 1

There’s no point in walking into your first apartment with ideas of uber-modern design styles and branded accessories. Train your brain to look for functionality above style—at least until you start receiving a proper salary.

By that we mean, opt for items that serve a purpose. Here you want to ignore colours and design styles. Examples of the basics you’ll need include:

• Couches to sit on
• Table to eat at
• A bed to sleep on
• Cupboards to hang clothes in

You can always invest in a few neutral or bold-coloured throws to hide a hideous looking couch and an awful table can be covered with an affordable tablecloth. Tell yourself that this will be the eclectic phase of your design choices—your items encompass a broad range of styles, colours and patterns.

2.     Invest in Slipcovers and Throws

You’ll be happy to learn that even the ugliest couch can get a fresh face with a simple slipcover, for a fraction of the price of a couch. Since slipcovers are available in a wide range of colours, you can easily find a shade you like.

You can also drape throws or large pieces of fabric over items such as old headboards and bed sets. If the headboard you’ve been gifted is not your style, a few large continental pillows with bold coverings can be used to hide most of it from view.

3.     Re-invent the Furniture

The last thing you want to do is hurt anyone’s feelings, so instead of refusing a piece, re-invent where possible. For instance, dressers can be given a new life by switching out the traditional knobs for more modern, glass options.

There are also many fun and modern ways to decorate dressers with paint. Alternatively, you can darken or lighten the stain of timber furniture to give it a whole new look.

4.     Seek Out Mismatched Items

If your whole home—small as it may be—is made up of mismatched items, it will look less like a collection of hand-me-downs and more like an intentional style design. Here are a few ideas:

• If your dining table is missing one or two chairs, look in your family’s basement or local thrift shop for another two that have a similar style but have different fabrics.
• Rather than look for a three-piece sofa set, opt for two or three individual chairs to fill up your living room space—use neutral throws to bring them together.
• If your parents don’t gift you the lift chair recliner of your dreams, look for a statement chair to bring your living room to life.
• Don’t spend you entire budget trying to get everything in your kitchen to match—opt for odds and ends from the kitchens of everyone you know.
• Create a small office workstation in any empty corner of the lounge to avoid having an open space that draws attention—that way you can have a designated space to answer emails and check social media.
• Consider creating coffee or even bedside tables out of old suitcases—there are several fun ideas on Pinterest.
• Add unusual photo frames and candle holders all around your apartment to accentuate that you enjoy weird and wonderful décor items.

As you start earning the money required to start creating your design style, be sure to pass your odds and ends on to someone else who’s just starting out. That way they also get to have an apartment with an eclectic style!

Final Thought

Moving into your first apartment can be exciting. It’s the start of a whole new chapter in your life. However, finding furniture to use in your apartment may present the biggest challenge.

It’s always a good idea to welcome second-hand or gifted pieces of furniture. With a little TLC and some out-of-the-box decorating skills, you may easily convert those items into functional statement pieces!