Nothing is better than this bed (and other silly apartment questions)

[Jester]

Quoth hinakiba777

Nothing is better than this bed

Quoth hinakiba777

Now a friend of mine is arguing with me that the price of the mattress (900+ CDN after taxes) is too much for me to be spending on a bed, and I should just forfeit the $150.00 and buy someting less expensive.

Your friend is not going to be sleeping in the bed. You are.
Your friend is not going to be the one forfeiting $150. You are.

So, the question is, is the bed that good? Can you get a bed of equivalent value that you love as much (as you clearly WANT THIS BED BADLY) for less than $750? If you can, then forfeiting the money is a business decision. If you can't, then you probably should get the bed, as it is clearly something you want. And tell your friend you don't need people telling you what to do...you already have a mother.

I won't comment on whether it is too expensive. You say the price is standard there, so why would you expect to find something as good or almost as good for less? Alternatively, if you want a good bed and feel you deserve it, why would you throw away $150 just to "save" some money by getting a cheaper, inferior bed.

Quoth hinakiba777

Here are some descriptions and floor plans, which one is best?

I could say what is best for ME, but I am not you. Only you can decide which is best for you. You need to sit down and figure out what your priorities are, and how each space meets those priorities. It SOUNDS like your priorities, as you inferred them, are best met by A or C, but only you can make that determination. It does sound like you are not thrilled with B, and that D is not a real option, as they have no openings.

Quoth hinakiba777

Storage containers can be bedside tables and coffee tables right?!

Beside tables, of course. Coffee tables? A bit trickier. For college residences, I always thought that that was what cinder blocks and wood were for.

[patiokitty]

In the past I've used sturdy Rubbermaid bins with wood and nice sheets over them to hide what they were. Not only does it give you storage options but it also keeps them hidden in plain sight Milk crates also make good storage options and they can be set up in pretty much any configuration you want - if you don't plan on returning them to wherever you 'borrowed' them from you can prime and spray paint them so they look like they belong in your space. Or even NIC cubes from Nice Idea (I've seen them in Canadian Tire and Walmart) are cheap storage alternatives that can be set up in various configurations - I used a couple of sets to make an entertainment stand that held my TV, various game systems, games, and movies (I now have an actual entertainment stand - my son uses the NIC cubes in his room for storage options).

I found in the many times I've started from scratch with nothing but clothes and a couple of blankets that functionality matters much more than how good things look. You can replace the ugly makeshift stuff as you can afford it. I used folding lawn chairs at one point instead of actual living room furniture because at $5 a chair it was cheaper than a couch and chair set at the Salvation Army and it meant people didn't have to sit on the floor Cover them with a blanket and go...pretend you're camping in your living room LOL

I have experience starting with nothing and building up from there, and five years after I started my last round of starting over we have a fully furnished home. Well, with the exception of dressers but between closets and baskets we're doing grand!

[Food Lady]

I like those plastic 3-drawer carts as storage/short tables. I have on in the hall closet. I set stuff on top that needs to go out the door with me and when I come in, I set my purse there. The drawers hold socks, scarves, and gloves. (The third drawer is used for storage in a closet elsewhere). Do look for discarded items now; people are doing spring cleaning. I have a round cafe table (literally from a restaurant) that someone left on a curb. Luckily it fit in roomie's car. I put a tablecloth on it and it sits in the living room. It's a place for a lamp. I also have bench by the front door I paid $1.50 for at a yard sale. My shoe basket fits perfectly under it. The best thing is that I picked up and moved across the country, which brought out my parents' generosity. They saw what I needed and gave me quite a bit of stuff.

[Food Lady]

Oh, patiokitty ninja'd me. Yes, kitty, baskets are awesome. They can be magazine/book racks, shoe storage, a type of "junk drawer", storage for blankets or folded clothes. I have a square one with a hinged lid that is right next to me as I sit here in my easy chair. It's a side table, and inside are extra blankets. I'm pretty sure it was less than $20 on clearance at Target.

[ArcticChicken]

Spring is the best time for curb shopping, especially if you live near a university, especially a high-end university. You wouldn't believe the things people throw out when they're too lazy to haul it home. Furniture, clothing, small appliances, computers even, though with the popularity of laptops that one's more rare nowadays.

[Seshat]

Quoth Andara Bledin

As for the bed question, if you find you can get a comparable mattress set for less than $850, then letting the $150 deposit go is not "wasting it," but making a decision to not throw good money after bad. Just because you made a decision doesn't mean you're married to it; sometimes you have to admit that you made a mistake and recover what you can rather than soldier on and trade frugality to assuage your pride. If you can't find something for a savings after losing the deposit, then keep it as you have it and be happy that you got what you were after.

Andara (and Jester) are both correct: this is a valuable principle for life. Don't throw good money after bad.

However, if you can't find an equivalent bed for <price of this bed>-<deposit> or less, and the quality of the bed is worth <price of this bed> to you at this stage of your life: get the bed.

And yes, milk crates, cinder-blocks-and-wood, cardboard boxes, plastic storage units and the like are perfectly good storage for right-now.
As you move on in life, get actual cupboard space. Good storage means everything has a place and can live there, and you don't have clutter. That said: try to keep clutter down by not having more than you use.