College years mean independence, which often means your own space. Yet, new space means a deposit and almost no money left to furnish your new room or apartment.

Welcome to your college years.

Fortunately, there are plenty of places in New York where you can find all you need to decorate your space for less, from furniture to picture frames, from silverware to cute floor mats.

First of all, let us start with some friendly advice:

One should never buy a second hand mattress- think bedbugs- you are on your own on that one.

However, when it comes to a bed frame, desks, couches and all the sit-on, lie-on, eat-on necessities, there is a place to visit.

The Green Village Junk Shop
276 Starr Street, Brooklyn, NY 11237
(718)456-8844

Located a block away from the L train in Bushwick, this place is your one stop shop for used furniture. It is bed bug free and full of well-kept chairs, tables, couches, desks and dressers to furnish a bunch of apartments. They get shipments in constantly, so they never run out of stuff. It is also great for theatrical props. They carry antiques and clothing, which they sell by the pound. Psst, they even have pianos and stuffed animals for sale.

Now, that you have the skeletons to the new apartment or room, curtains and lights and random things are necessary. This is when you go to:

Pearl River
477 Broadway # 1, New York, NY
(212) 966-1010

Here is the store that ranges from clothing to notebooks and everything in between. All for cheap. If you feel that you need plates this is the place. If while there, you pick up some slippers for running around the house on Sundays, some paper to write your notes on, a Buddha to replace the one you lost, and a bamboo plant for every room: there will be no one to blame.

If you want more choices as to what to adorn your bedroom with, then visit this other store.

Surprise, Surprise!
91 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10003
(212)777-0990

This little store of wonders, carries furniture as well, but pricey for the quality. However, the lights to decorate a room, the trash cans and the kitchen utensils make it fall into this wonderful guide, ha. It is also a good place to find yoga mats, key rings and plain random stuff.
Now, if you are one of those who consider themselves too-good to shop at a Brooklyn thrift store, here is the solution: a thrift store in Manhattan, because bed bugs cannot reach the classy island, right?

CURE Thrift shop
111 East 12th Street, New York, NY 10003
(212)505-7467

Full of hip and branded vintage clothing and restored used furniture, it is one of the classiest thrift stores around. For those who have the money to spend on used items, this is the place to go. There are books and shoes to choose from as well, because those book shelves and dresser need to be filled somehow.

Now your new apartment is starting to feel more like home. And in the event of needing more things to fill the space with, now you have a few shops where you may be able to find good deals on useful things. Relax and call independence in to sit on your new couch, before you start your school work on that, yes, vintage new desk.

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