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Pimping out your new pad doesn’t require the expert touch of Nate Berkus (that one was for the ladies). Below you’ll find the where/what/how to guide for gathering all the fine furnishings you need to make your new living situation Shaggy 2 Dope (that one was for the juggalos).

Furnishing Your Apartment

By Erin Kandel
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Quick Tips
  1. Plan your pad – Make sure you take measurements of your place and think carefully about where you want to put large pieces of furniture before you go on a shopping spree. The only thing worse than an empty apartment is a cramped apartment with no room for your bed (or you).
  2. Décor decisions – You don't have to become the next Martha Stewart to decide on a décor style that suits your tastes. Furniture you find ugly, mismatched, or unappealing won't make your place feel like home.
  3. Bargain buys – Getting furniture doesn't have to be expensive. There are plenty of thrifty outlets you can explore to find that perfect couch: flea markets, garage sales, and the Salvation Army are all solid bets. If all else fails, you can always turn to your family and see if grandma's vintage armoire is up for grabs.
  4. Get it on the 'net – Buying furniture online is faster, less of a hassle, and in many cases cheaper than trucking over to Ikea and hauling your dinner table home yourself. Furnish your place from the comfort of your own computer, and be sure to check out online-only sales.
  5. From trash to treasure – Don't be a snob about rejecting old, used, or slightly damaged furniture. Paint, sandpaper, wood primer, and slipcovers can work wonders and give sorry-looking furnishings a new lease on life.

I never thought I’d miss my college dorm room furniture until, staring into the barren, white-walled expanse of my first apartment, I truly realized that it was gone. Overwhelmed by the emptiness of it all (well, all three rooms of it), I had a sudden distorted nostalgia for all those

Apartment Hunting 101

By Chris Zoia
8/12/09
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Welcome to the real world, recent grad. If you just graduated last June, chances are now’s the time you’re frantically searching for an apartment—one of the most stressful and overwhelming challenges

Top 10 Ways to Go Green in Your First Apartment

By Christopher Schonberger
7/31/09
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These days, it’s not so much “go green or go home” as “go green in your home.” Making some environmentally friendly tweaks in the crib is not only easy, but it will also cut down on your gas, water, and electricity bill. Everyone wins!

The Refrigerator Lock

By Joan Mitchell
2/19/09
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Thieves suck. They suck even more when they’re your roommate. And they suck the most when they repeatedly steal your food from the fridge (even if the food isn't expensive, it's the principle of it all). Well – fret no longer

Vampire Electronics Suck Your Cash

By Stuart Schultz
10/29/08
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I have a friend. And her father used to be cheap. For example, he'd ask his wife to use as few pieces of toilet paper as possible after going to the bathroom. However, along comes the environmental movement (which, by the way, we're all for), and instead of being cheap

Life 101

By Dan Marley
10/03/08
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How much of a man are you? Is that a sexist question? Popular Mechanics has a quiz that tests basic “manliness,” but it would be more appropriately labeled as a test of

Buying a Mattress

By Christopher Schonberger
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Quick Tips
  1. Make the Measurements – Don’t go on a bed-buying quest before you have measured your room and assessed the viability of moving large items into your building. If that California King mattress doesn’t fit through the door or into the elevator, then you may just end up looking overzealous.
  2. Think as an Investor – Barring any disasters or sudden decisions to move abroad, a good mattress should ideally last you a decade. I don’t have to tell you how many nights of sleep that is…it’s a lot. Consider putting some time and money into the buying process.
  3. Negotiate – Mattress merchants come from the same stock as used car salesman. Don’t be afraid to bluff a better deal to shave some dollars off the ticket price.
  4. How Do You Sleep? – Some people are thrown off by this question, but it’s commonly asked during the mattress hunt. If you know you’re a side-sleeper vs. a back-sleeper, you will want a different level of firmness and this factor can help cut down the options.
  5. Plan Ahead – While some chains and local warehouses can deliver you a mattress next day, most places will take longer to ship and you may have to wait for your bed to be in stock. Unless you want to be sleeping on an air mattress for the first few weeks in your new apartment, think about buying before you move in (but not before you’ve had a chance to measure the room).

Beds can be copped for anywhere from $0 (if you find them in a dumpster) to $2,000+ (if you go high-end or require the comforts of a Tempur-Pedic mattress). But if you are going to choose a single item to spend a reasonable amount of money on in your new apartment, a respectable bed is

Buying Renter's Insurance

By Julie Fishman
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Quick Tips

  1. Don’t risk it – Two common myths worth debunking are that landlord’s insurance protects the tenant and that renter’s insurance is expensive. So, after paying $150 a month for 1,000 channels, isn’t it worth $17 to protect the precious flat screen you watch them on?
  2. Get tailored – Renter’s insurance protects you from the most common disasters and larcenies, such as fire, lightning, smoke, theft, and vandalism. But you can ask for additional protection for region-specific disasters if you live below sea-level or on a fault-line. Take care to tailor your insurance policy to fit your specific needs—it’ll be worth it.
  3. Bountiful benefits – Renter’s insurance covers all of your personal belongings as well as the medical and legal expenses associated with personal injuries. It will also pay for temporary housing in a similarly priced apartment if yours becomes unlivable due to fire or another disaster.
  4. Inexpensive insurance – Polices run between $150-$300/yr, and increasing the deductible will lower that price. It’s easy to dismiss, but you’ll be kicking yourself for passing on insurance when your friend lights his fart at your birthday and incinerates your couch.
  5. Documentation – Write a list of all your personal possessions including prices and receipts and be prepared to present it in the event of a disaster. Keeping a written (and even a photo/video) record of your property is the key to reimbursement.

After college graduation, there are often a series of other graduations: Natty Ice to Bud Light; 1990 20” TV to 2007 42” Sony flatscreen; $150 canvas futon to $1,500 leather couch. But what happens to all of that accumulated wealth in the event of lightning or larceny

Buying a TV

By Charlie French
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Quick Tips
  1. Know the Lingo – Buying a TV can be intimidating if aren’t familiar with the “maven-speak” that salesmen use to dupe unsuspecting victims. Brush up on the major TV terms before launching a full-throttle flat-screen hunt.
  2. Make Some Measurements – Bigger is not necessarily better if you don’t have a space that accommodates the size. For a rule of thumb, measure (in inches) the distance between your couch and spot where you’ll put the TV, then divide by 2.5; this should be your upper limit for TV size.
  3. Assess Your Habits – Do you generally watch Gray’s Anatomy and Lipstick Jungle when you get home from work, or do you have Sunday football viewing sessions and marathon gaming sessions? The lighting of the room and the things you watch are key determinants in choosing the right TV.
  4. Pick a Price Range – As with most consumer goods, the conversation about what TV to buy is going to change as you step into different price brackets. You can find a solid TV at most price points (within reason), and determining one from the start will greatly expedite the process and help you avoid paying for something you don’t really need.
  5. Buy Last Year’s Model – When comparing the same model of TV over two years, there are generally few differences beyond a fancier polish and an extra input. So buy the older one, because it will be a lot cheaper and the quality will be the same.

Either you recently graduated from school or you finally got a job with a big enough salary to upgrade your TV-watching experience. In any case, let me be the first to say congratulations, and welcome to the world of high-definition. Unless for some unknown reason you rocked a large flat panel HDTV in college, this will be your first opportunity to really get down and dirty with a home entertainment system in your own place.

Buying a Couch

By Chris Zoia
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Quick Tips
  1. Measure up – Before you even attempt to haul a huge couch into your box-sized apartment, take measurements of your place and plan out how you’ll arrange your living room. It’ll save you much strife; it would suck if you bought your dream sofa only to discover you can’t fit it through your doorway.
  2. Futons and loveseats and sofas, oh my! – Think about what your requirements are before you choose which couch to buy. Futons and sofa beds are great if you plan on having a lot of guests. Loveseats should be a no-brainer if you don’t have a lot of space (or cash).
  3. The price is right – Unless you’re sitting on a couple thousand dollars’ worth of spare change and you never plan on moving out of your place, forgo the $3000 lounge couch. You can find plenty of affordable alternatives at Ikea, Bed Bath and Beyond, Target, or Sears for less than $500. If you do plan on going all out on the couch of your dreams, check out higher-end department stores like Crate and Barrel and Room and Board.
  4. The bargain bin – For those on a really tight budget, Craigslist and Facebook are good places to look for great deals on used couches that are still in good condition. Also, be on the lookout for sales—you can easily buy a sofa for a quarter of its retail price. The truly adventurous can always nab one off the street for free if it’s not totally compromised.
  5. Learning to let go – If your pet (or your drunk guest) concludes that your sofa makes a fun soft-n-squishy toilet, it’s time to get a new one. Small stains can be taken care of with some rubbing alcohol, or you could have the whole sofa professionally cleaned if you’re sentimentally attached to it. But oftentimes it’s just cheaper to buy a new couch that doesn’t leave occupants with bizarre rashes.

A couch is the epicenter of your new life of independence—it’s where you socialize and where your friends sleep; it holds remnants of most of the meals you’ve ever eaten at home; and it serves as a repository for a small portion of your monthly income

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