I might be an exception and not a rule, but I’ve never actually bought furniture. Every single piece in my apartment right now, except the couch (which is my roommate’s) was taken from my mom or her friends or some other random family member. A lot of it’s not necessarily my style, but it’s all comfortable and well-made, I can feel good that the only trees killed to make my dining and kitchen sets have had a decent chunk of time to be replanted, and, most importantly, I got enough stuff to furnish an entire apartment for the cost of renting a truck and driving to Illinois to Texas.

A lot of my friends didn’t want hand-me-downs from their parents, which is their perspective I guess, but I can be comfortable in the knowledge that if my roommate sitch or relationship tanks, I’ll still be able to take the shelves out of my hutch and live in it.