One of the first things you’ll want to do when arriving on campus in the Fall is buy furniture for your room. Hopefully you started planning for the room essentials, but if you haven’t, it isn’t too late. Here are a couple of tips on how to deck out your room without breaking the bank.

Make A Budget

It is always important to set limits on the projects you are spending money on. It might be tempting to just buy anything you have the money for at the beginning of the year. However, there are ways in which you can limit the amount of money you spend and still have a well-furnished room. As a freshman at Stanford you won’t meet your roommate until you arrive, so try to have a conversation about sharing certain appliances (microwaves or refrigerators for example) or buying any large pieces of furniture for your room. There isn’t a normal amount of sharing that occurs between roommates and much depends on what people are comfortable with, but each set of roommates should have this conversation as it can save time and money when trying to find furniture.

Craigslist

Craigslist is a site advertising items like books, glassware, lamps, and furniture, among others. Some people, especially when moving, are willing to sell items quickly and cheaply. If there are a few pieces you need for your room, looking on Craigslist would be a good start. https://sfbay.craigslist.org/

Stanford Groups

Stanford students have taken it upon themselves to create communities to buy or sell items. This includes couches, futons, televisions, and other furniture that are not longer needed, and that you might want. Two of those resources are the Free and For Sale Facebook group for Stanford students & SUPost.com which is like Craigslist, but just for the Stanford community. These resources are especially convenient if transporting furniture would be an issue for you.

Pro Tip

Towards the end of spring quarter, you should get in touch with friends that you have made who are older students -- and especially graduating seniors. They will have accumulated a lot of the things you might want, such as books, futons, microwaves, fans, refrigerators etc. People will need to get rid a lot of their items each spring, so if you have the foresight to buy/store these items, you could have a fully furnished room in the fall.

Additionally, FLIP and Students for a Sustainable Stanford (SSS) have had over the past years a “FLI Drive” where they’ve collected furniture at the end of Spring Quarter from students that would rather donate items than deal with selling or storing them. There is a signup sheet that is sent out prior to the start of Fall Quarter to FLI Frosh. Items are given out based off of a lottery. If you have more questions about the FLI Drive contact someone in FLIP or SSS.

If you any encounter any issues or broken links email stanfordfliguide@gmail.com