Furnishing To Make Your Friends Comfortable

By Victoria Robertson on October 25, 2015

This article is brought to you by CORT, a subsidiary of Berkshire-Hathaway and the world’s largest furniture rental and relocation services company. To learn more about how we can help college students like you, click here.

When furnishing an apartment, you typically lean more towards comfort or more towards practicality. In most cases however, the comfort of others is an oversight, especially when you are furnishing a place for the first time.

So to help you first-time apartment owners furnish your new apartments appropriately, here are some furnishing tips to follow to make sure your friends are comfortable when they visit.

1. Have Plenty of Seating

Photo Via: yelp.com

One of the easiest ways to make your guests uncomfortable is to not have enough seating for them when you’re entertaining. It’s never a problem to pull in an extra chair from another room, but what happens when you don’t have the extra chair to use?

You should be focused on not only buying furniture that’s practical (couches instead of chairs), but also on thinking about rooms where extra seating can be stored. Whether you keep a few folding chairs in a storage closet or have desk chairs/table chairs nearby that can be brought out for guests, there needs to be a back-up plan when your regular seating isn’t enough.

There’s nothing more embarrassing (or uncomfortable) than having your guests sit on the floor. So think ahead and make sure that this isn’t a problem come time for friends’ visits.

2. Avoid Clutter

Photo Via: http://www.kwazuzulwazi.co.za/

On that same note, having too much stuff is just as big of a problem. If your guests can’t even get into your apartment without running into excess furniture items, there’s a problem.

Furnishing your apartment is a lot like decorating it, and you don’t want to overdo that on either account.

So keep a “less is more” mentality, get the essentials and then determine if there’s enough room for other items that you want, but may not necessarily need in the apartment. No guest wants to feel more cramped than they need to, and that’s exactly what over-furnishing an apartment does.

Apartment spaces are small, and oftentimes can be much smaller than you remember them during your apartment tours, so pack light and you can always go back later and add more.

3. Have Table Space

Photo Via: http://www.abundantearth.com

When furnishing an apartment, many students forget that table space is just as important as seating in seating areas. When you’re entertaining, you’ll need somewhere for guests to set their things, their drinks, their food, etc.

Make sure that you are looking into end tables and coffee tables when furnishing, as a few of these will not only make the space more inviting, but it will make it much more practical and comfortable for your friends to use when they visit.

4. Make Things Easily Accessible

Photo Via: http://mocoloco.com

A lot of new apartment owners tend to overdo it with the storage space, and it’s usually very difficult for guests to find things.

If you know you have guests coming over, and you keep some essentials (such as toilet paper, soap, blankets, etc.) in odd places, move them to more accessible areas.

When living in an apartment, space is scarce, so if overdoing it with storage makes sense, just keep in mind that this can potentially make your guests uncomfortable. So long as you know that ahead of time and are prepared, this aspect shouldn’t be a problem.

5. Have Extra Supplies

Photo Via: http://r1.coleman.com

Finally, even if you aren’t living in the most spacious apartment in the world, you need to keep some spare items handy for when you have guests visiting so that 1) they don’t feel like they’re inconveniencing you and 2) so they are comfortable staying with you.

To accomplish this, you need to have items they may need on hand. While you may not have space (or money) for a pullout bed, keeping an air mattress in a closet is the perfect way to be prepared for even the most unexpected of visits.

You should also keep spare pillows and sheets as well as any other items an overnight guest might need.

The more prepared you are on this end (even if space is limited) makes it appear as if you want your guests to stay with you and that you enjoy having them over. And if that’s the case, that’s exactly how you want them to feel.

There are many ways to make your friends comfortable when furnishing an apartment, and so long as you’re keeping them in mind as you’re doing so, it’s a breeze.

So by keeping these quick and easy tips in mind during the furnishing of your apartment, you shouldn’t have any problems with keeping your friends comfortable when they visit.

Looking for a more convenient way to furnish your off-campus apartment? Rent stylish furniture from CORT and save time and money. For more information on furniture rental packages, click here.

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