Cost to furnish a condo

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tennisplyr
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Cost to furnish a condo

Post by tennisplyr »

We are thinking about downsizing from a single family home, 3 bedrooms, 3 baths to a 2 bedroom condo. One thought is to take very little if any of the furniture with us. What do you think would be a rough cost of furnishing a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, living room, dining room, kitchen with new stuff....wild approximations are welcome. Thanks!
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jstrazzere
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Re: Cost to furnish a condo

Post by jstrazzere »

tennisplyr wrote:One thought is to take very little if any of the furniture with us.
Why?
What do you think would be a rough cost of furnishing a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, living room, dining room, kitchen with new stuff....wild approximations are welcome. Thanks!
It depends solely on how much and what kind of furniture you like. There is no way for anyone to realistically estimate. I'm sure you could do it for just a few thousand, but you could easily spend many, many thousands.

But you can do it yourself quite easily. Go to the website of your favorite furniture store, pick examples of your favorite furniture and you'll have your rough cost.
It should take you no more than 20 minutes.
stan1
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Re: Cost to furnish a condo

Post by stan1 »

$2,000 to $50,000+ -- depending upon what you choose.
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ResearchMed
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Re: Cost to furnish a condo

Post by ResearchMed »

stan1 wrote:$2,000 to $50,000+ -- depending upon what you choose.
Sounds about right.

Or that oh-so-special oriental carpet could take most of the 50k.

IMPOSSIBLE for us to know, given the extreme range of costs/quality.

Some people start with less expensive, but plan to replace piece by piece.
Others want to do it all from the start.

Hint: If there are young children, re-think the 50k oriental carpet and anything "expensive".
When our children were young, the furniture was pretty cheap, and we didn't care (not TOO much) when they surprised us with crayon drawings on the coffee table, etc.
Spit up on the sofa, okay..... deal with it. It's not the baby's "fault", etc.

But from the downsizing, I'm guessing you are past child-proofing stages.

But the above questions: WHY leave EVERYTHING behind?
Are you selling it furnished? Many buyers have their own tastes and/or their own furnishings.

RM
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ChrisC
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Re: Cost to furnish a condo

Post by ChrisC »

tennisplyr wrote:We are thinking about downsizing from a single family home, 3 bedrooms, 3 baths to a 2 bedroom condo. One thought is to take very little if any of the furniture with us. What do you think would be a rough cost of furnishing a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, living room, dining room, kitchen with new stuff....wild approximations are welcome. Thanks!
We downsized from a single family, 5 bedroom, 4200 SQF home to a 2 bedroom condo, 1300 SQF several years ago in the DC metro area (when the last child became independent) and then recently upsized to a 5400 SQF home in retirement (thinking about having the entire family, grandchildren included, under one roof for holidays). We still have lots of stuff in storage from all the moves, but we're almost 90 percent done with furnishing our new home. When we moved into our condo in 2006, we partially furnished the living room and one bedroom with new stuff for about $9500, which included a sofa, chair, recliner, bedroom headboard and end table purchased in North Carolina, an oriental rug, Bose system, TV, and an expensive piece of glass artwork that we picked up at an auction.

I'm thinking that this all depends on your tastes and the type of condo you're furnishing. A new 2 bedroom, 1700 Sqf condo in a high-rise in the Battery Park area of NYC might require different and perhaps more expensive furniture than if you're furnishing a 1500 sqf garden-style beachfront condo off at Hilton Head, SC. So without knowing the location of the condo, the square footage, and the type of condo, you're asking people to make wild generalizations that might not serve any useful purpose except for being a SWAG (stupid wild ass guess).
Last edited by ChrisC on Sun Nov 16, 2014 5:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
livesoft
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Re: Cost to furnish a condo

Post by livesoft »

In the style of Nouveau Grad Student, I think it would take less than $100.
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jridger2011
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Re: Cost to furnish a condo

Post by jridger2011 »

I would say easily $5,000 to $50,000. The reason why I am saying this is because even really cheap beds/mattresses will still be at least a thousand with mattress, boxspring, bed frame of good quality. Buying a cheap couch only makes sense if you move often, but if you're always home or having people over, you need something that could last. Good couches are not cheap.
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Re: Cost to furnish a condo

Post by magazinewriter »

I would plan on $25,000 to $30,000 if I was furnishing a 2-bedroom condo from scratch.
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Re: Cost to furnish a condo

Post by mlipps »

We spent $7,000 at the outset for a 1 bedroom apartment. I didn't keep track of things we bought after that, but it's a few hundred more. The stuff we bought at the beginning was nice; the rest is mostly cheap stuff that we're just getting by with, and a few odds & ends from Craigslist.
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Re: Cost to furnish a condo

Post by tainted-meat »

If you are patient, you can find quality items on Craigslist. Look for hardwood chests, coffee tables, etc. You can get better used items on Craigslist and for a lower price than you can buy new junk (particle board). A sofa or mattress is something that should be bought new. I've recently seen whole bedroom Ethan Allen sets for 1/4 of the purchase price that have been well taken care of.
Michread
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Re: Cost to furnish a condo

Post by Michread »

about 5K/room; 2 bed, living & dining = 20k which includes lamps, shades/curtains & other
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autonomy
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Re: Cost to furnish a condo

Post by autonomy »

Depends. Are you shopping Ikea/Craigslist/local discount furniture store or West Elm/Pottery Barn/Restoration Hardware?

P.S. geez, people, and I thought I was spending a lot of money on furniture... (Crate & Barrel/Ikea)
P.P.S. you can buy 15% off coupons for Crate & Barrel on Ebay (just bought one for $5 and saved several hundred $$ on a couch)
poker27
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Re: Cost to furnish a condo

Post by poker27 »

For our 3br townhouse we spent about 12k, but we brought some stuff with us. Is prolly budget 10k
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Re: Cost to furnish a condo

Post by Alex Frakt »

stan1 wrote:$2,000 to $50,000+ -- depending upon what you choose.
My wife and I have a 3BR condo furnished with IKEA (kids' rooms, bookcases, all the little stuff like end tables, rugs and trashcans), CB2 (dining room table, bar stools), Cost Plus (chairs) and Room and Board (couch, bed, dresser). Total is around $7000, most of which is the 3 Room and Board pieces. We once visited the 3BR condo of one of my wife's colleagues. They have almost the same setup and very similar tastes, but their low end furniture was Room and Board (kids room) and the high end was from lines like Ligne Roset. The total cost was around 10x what we spent.
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Wricha
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Re: Cost to furnish a condo

Post by Wricha »

If you starting with nothing and buying new (pretty good stuff).- $30k did a 3 bedroom $40k nice not over the top. No window treatments but everything else.
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Re: Cost to furnish a condo

Post by snodog »

We furnished our 2 bedroom condo last year for about $5000. We were tired of our 20+ year old furniture and wanted a more modern look. Bought everything online from Amazon and we are very happy and we've gotten many compliments.
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Re: Cost to furnish a condo

Post by JMacDonald »

One thing to be careful about is the size of the furniture. The rooms of condos can be much smaller than houses so you need to adjust the size of the furniture. I found out the hard way when my couch did not fit when I moved into my condo. :oops:
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tennisplyr
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Re: Cost to furnish a condo

Post by tennisplyr »

Thanks all, very helpful. I too am tired of my old stuff and really don't want to move or store it.
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Leemiller
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Re: Cost to furnish a condo

Post by Leemiller »

Here is one estimate:

http://laurelberninteriors.com/2014/03/ ... sh-a-room/

I think if you make a list of everything you need for a particular room then you can price it out, depending on what you'd like to spend.
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Re: Cost to furnish a condo

Post by camptalcott »

I'm going through this with my townhouse. It can be as much or as little as you want.

I just purchased curtains for 5K. I love them and will have them forever.
Now I've had horrible experiences with Ikea and other bargain brand furniture so since I tend to keep "pieces" for a long time, I get the best quality for the best price that I can.

I have a walnut coffee table that I love and have had for over 25 years. sucka cost me a couple of grand 25 years ago but it's withstood a couple of kids, dogs, relatives with cigerattes and still looks awesome.

As Leemiler suggested, make a list of every thing you need/want. Then scout on magazines and furniture stores to see what direction your style may take you. For example, the dark heavy woods that I once loved really won't work in my new townhouse so I'm leaning toward more modern clean lines.

above all, don't immediately go for what's cheaper. Don't know about you but I tend to keep my room furnishings for decades. nothing worse than a couch that looks horrible 5 years in. IMO

Remember this is your living space, you're going to be spending a lot of time in it.
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Re: Cost to furnish a condo

Post by grabiner »

JMacDonald wrote:One thing to be careful about is the size of the furniture. The rooms of condos can be much smaller than houses so you need to adjust the size of the furniture. I found out the hard way when my couch did not fit when I moved into my condo. :oops:
And wait until you actually buy the condo to buy any new furniture that you want to keep there. When I bought my condo one year ago, I looked at several different condos with different sizes of dining rooms; it was important not to buy a table first and then find that it didn't fit in the dining room.
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Re: Cost to furnish a condo

Post by lululu »

livesoft wrote:In the style of Nouveau Grad Student, I think it would take less than $100.
Start with a mattress, everything else can come later :)

I never bought something unless it was exactly what I wanted and intended to keep for a very long time. This slows things down, but the result, I think, is happier.
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Re: Cost to furnish a condo

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tennisplyr wrote:We are thinking about downsizing from a single family home, 3 bedrooms, 3 baths to a 2 bedroom condo. One thought is to take very little if any of the furniture with us. What do you think would be a rough cost of furnishing a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, living room, dining room, kitchen with new stuff....wild approximations are welcome. Thanks!
We bought a 3 bedroom lake condo last year, furnished the whole thing (including a frig and washer/dryer) for about $12,000.
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Re: Cost to furnish a condo

Post by HomerJ »

livesoft wrote:In the style of Nouveau Grad Student, I think it would take less than $100.
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Re: Cost to furnish a condo

Post by jlawrence01 »

The FIRST question is "for how long?"

When my wife and I were broke and just starting out, we hit the thrift stores and IKEA and did it for about $400 a room MAX. Of course, after ten years or so, the furniture was wearing out.

Then, we bought new furniture from Amish craftsmen to our specifications which averaged $3-4K per room. That furniture is now 20 years old and will easily outlast us. (It is pretty cool to open a dresser drawer and it slides like the day we got it.)
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Re: Cost to furnish a condo

Post by reggiesimpson »

Check the other condo owners (post in clubhouse) for their furniture sales (moving?). Buddy of mine bought out and entire neighbor for a few hundred dollars. Pots pans cutlery.etc. the whole shootin match!
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Re: Cost to furnish a condo

Post by midareff »

and that 84" 4K Sony TV was how much? Crate and Barrel or vintage Scandinavian Teak and Italian leather?
protagonist
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Re: Cost to furnish a condo

Post by protagonist »

tennisplyr wrote:We are thinking about downsizing from a single family home, 3 bedrooms, 3 baths to a 2 bedroom condo. One thought is to take very little if any of the furniture with us. What do you think would be a rough cost of furnishing a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, living room, dining room, kitchen with new stuff....wild approximations are welcome. Thanks!
Most furniture loses a huge proportion of its value as soon as it leaves the showroom.

When I moved into my current home I bought much of my furniture second-hand, a lot of it off Craigslist. The thing about furniture is that, unlike cars or electronics, what you see is what you get....it is very easy to evaluate condition/quality by simple inspection. I bought two large, beautiful Scandinavian teak kitchen/dining room expandable tables with matching chairs, a Laine sofa and an Ekornes Stressless reclining chair with ottoman (beautiful-look it up), as well as some smaller pieces. I also bought a cherry bed for my guest room, a large antique chest of drawers and a large desk, as well as some other items. I don't think I paid more than $1500 for all of that, and most of it is in perfect or near-perfect condition. If I bought these things new they would have cost a lot more- I would guess in excess of $10K. It did take some time and some running around.
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Re: Cost to furnish a condo

Post by camptalcott »

protagonist wrote:
tennisplyr wrote:We are thinking about downsizing from a single family home, 3 bedrooms, 3 baths to a 2 bedroom condo. One thought is to take very little if any of the furniture with us. What do you think would be a rough cost of furnishing a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, living room, dining room, kitchen with new stuff....wild approximations are welcome. Thanks!
Most furniture loses a huge proportion of its value as soon as it leaves the showroom.

When I moved into my current home I bought much of my furniture second-hand, a lot of it off Craigslist. The thing about furniture is that, unlike cars or electronics, what you see is what you get....it is very easy to evaluate condition/quality by simple inspection. I bought two large, beautiful Scandinavian teak kitchen/dining room expandable tables with matching chairs, a Laine sofa and an Ekornes Stressless reclining chair with ottoman (beautiful-look it up), as well as some smaller pieces. I also bought a cherry bed for my guest room, a large antique chest of drawers and a large desk, as well as some other items. I don't think I paid more than $1500 for all of that, and most of it is in perfect or near-perfect condition. If I bought these things new they would have cost a lot more- I would guess in excess of $10K. It did take some time and some running around.
You know Protag, I've heard this before and I have to say I totally think it is how you look at furniture.

For me, my home is my castle. I know that sounds tripe but it is my ultimate "zen" pad. As a general rule I think I'm a middle of the road frugalista. I have to have furniture in my house that 1) I love not just like and 2) is extremely well made as I tend to keep pieces 20 years or more.

Furniture is probably one of the few "items" where I think the value is not in the price. I got a lot of teasing (and offers to try and hand make) on the cost of my draperies. After months of searching and not finding what I wanted, I finally found some custom made ones that I want to cover myself with ala Scarlett ohara. every time I look at them or think of them I smile. Yeah, I know I'm a weird women.

Anyhoo, furniture is probably one of the few things where I'll pay a kings ransom for style and quality. that and kitchen gadgets but I'm a amateur baker so that stuff turns me on.

I've been running around to estate sales and all I can find is junk other people don't want. I'll check out craigs list.
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protagonist
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Re: Cost to furnish a condo

Post by protagonist »

camptalcott wrote:
protagonist wrote:
tennisplyr wrote:We are thinking about downsizing from a single family home, 3 bedrooms, 3 baths to a 2 bedroom condo. One thought is to take very little if any of the furniture with us. What do you think would be a rough cost of furnishing a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, living room, dining room, kitchen with new stuff....wild approximations are welcome. Thanks!
Most furniture loses a huge proportion of its value as soon as it leaves the showroom.

When I moved into my current home I bought much of my furniture second-hand, a lot of it off Craigslist. The thing about furniture is that, unlike cars or electronics, what you see is what you get....it is very easy to evaluate condition/quality by simple inspection. I bought two large, beautiful Scandinavian teak kitchen/dining room expandable tables with matching chairs, a Laine sofa and an Ekornes Stressless reclining chair with ottoman (beautiful-look it up), as well as some smaller pieces. I also bought a cherry bed for my guest room, a large antique chest of drawers and a large desk, as well as some other items. I don't think I paid more than $1500 for all of that, and most of it is in perfect or near-perfect condition. If I bought these things new they would have cost a lot more- I would guess in excess of $10K. It did take some time and some running around.
You know Protag, I've heard this before and I have to say I totally think it is how you look at furniture.

For me, my home is my castle. I know that sounds tripe but it is my ultimate "zen" pad. As a general rule I think I'm a middle of the road frugalista. I have to have furniture in my house that 1) I love not just like and 2) is extremely well made as I tend to keep pieces 20 years or more.

Furniture is probably one of the few "items" where I think the value is not in the price. I got a lot of teasing (and offers to try and hand make) on the cost of my draperies. After months of searching and not finding what I wanted, I finally found some custom made ones that I want to cover myself with ala Scarlett ohara. every time I look at them or think of them I smile. Yeah, I know I'm a weird women.

Anyhoo, furniture is probably one of the few things where I'll pay a kings ransom for style and quality. that and kitchen gadgets but I'm a amateur baker so that stuff turns me on.

I've been running around to estate sales and all I can find is junk other people don't want. I'll check out craigs list.
(laughing....) That makes sense. There are things I will blow a wad of money on as well. Saxophones for example. Still, you would be surprised how nice my furniture is.
That said, if you have an idea of EXACTLY what you want to create, my technique may not work for you. Or if it could, it may take a much longer time than you are willing to invest. It probably helped that I had a very frugal girlfriend at the time with a fantastic eye for aesthetics and design.
I agree that it is important to smile when you walk around your house.
What kitchen gadgets would you recommend?
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