Shopping for Furniture for a Rental: Versatility in Furnishings

Have you ever noticed that whenever you move, the things that you have aren't quite what you need for the new space, and you always end up having to run to Ikea or something to buy something that'll fit just right into a new space. It never fails, at least not in my experience, and I've moved into a total of 9 different spaces in the time since graduating from high school. Every time I've moved there was something needed that I didn't have. Another lamp, a side table, a shower curtain rod, whatever.

If you live in a rental, it's almost a certainty that within a year or two, you'll be moving. Because of this, I think it's really important that if you're going to spend your hard earned money buying something to fit the place you are in, you want to make sure that things you buy are versatile enough to be used in many other places or situations. This is why when we decided we needed to buy a new couch, we went with a Karlstad modular set from Ikea.  We got the sofa & the chaise lounge.

Ikea

Right now, our chaise is attached to our sofa at the right side (from the view of looking at the sofa).  But, the great thing about Karlstad is that if we move & the setup would work better on the left, we can switch it.  Or, if they can't fit together at all, we can separate the chaise & put it in the corner of the room or in another room entirely.

Our couch also has a removable cover.  We got ours in Korndal dark grey.  But if in a new space a different color would look better, we don't need a whole new sofa, just a new cover.  Love that!  Plus, the covers are washable, which can come in handy.

Another idea is to purchase a dining room table with a leaf (or 2!) included.  Maybe you currently need a small round table, but anticipate needing a larger table sometime in the future.  You could purchase a table that at its smallest size, is a round table, but if you add the included leaves to the middle later, it will turn into a nice long table.  Something like this:

Furniture Shopping .com

We also have a bed frame that we use which is able to be adjusted for a twin, full, queen or king sized mattress.  We currently use it with a queen mattress, but if we eventually want to upgrade to a king, we wouldn't have to buy a new bed frame.

Buying things like these now could save you money in the future when you don't have to buy all new furniture to fit your new space every time you move.  Furniture can be expensive & an investment, so choosing pieces that are versatile is so important when you know you're not going to be staying in a home for a long period of time.

Do you have any other ideas for furniture that is able to transfer easily to different spaces?

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