When it comes to furnishing your first apartment, there is always a budget to consider. What you can get with your money is vastly different from store to store. A while back, My First Apartment compiled an excellent list that compared the cost of buying your furniture essentials at several different stores. As a self-professed bargain hunter and decorista, this list stuck me as an important tool for all first time apartment owners, so let’s compare again. Below you will find a list of items from Ikea, Target and Pottery Barn, with links back to some great examples from each store, that will furnish a typical 1BR apartment.

Grab your budget and your shopping list and let’s get shopping!

Living

via Pottery Barn

Sofa

Pottery Barn: $899 (price varies depending on fabric type and size of sofa)

Target: $349.99

Ikea: $349

Chair

Pottery Barn: $599

Target: $160

Ikea: $269

Side Table

Pottery Barn: $299

Target:$35.99

Ikea: $12.99 (price varies depending on color)

Coffee Table

Pottery Barn: $399

Target: $119.99 (price varies depending on color)

Ikea: $39.99

Floor Lamp

Pottery Barn: $180

Target: $69.99

Ikea: $49.99

Dining

via Target

Table

Pottery Barn: $599

Target: $149.99

Ikea: $99.99

Chairs

Pottery Barn: $149 each

Target: $143.99 for set of 2

Ikea: $49 each

Bedroom & Office

via Ikea

Bed (Queen Frame)

Pottery Barn: $799

Target: $499.99

Ikea: $399

Mattress (Queen)

Pottery Barn: $1,125

Target: $229.99

Ikea: $159

Dresser

Pottery Barn: $1,399

Target: $229.99

Ikea: $199

Night Stand

Pottery Barn :$599

Target: $99.99

Ikea: $39.99

Desk

Pottery Barn: $699

Target: $149.99

Ikea: $99

Table Lamp

Pottery Barn: $149

Target: $32.99

Ikea: $18

If you add up our selections, Ikea comes in at about $1,800 ($900 for Living/Dining and $900 for Bedroom/Office), Target is a tad higher, about $2.250 ($1,000 for Living/Dining and $1,250 for Bedroom/Office), and Pottery Barn is much higher at $8,000 ($3,300 Living/Dining and $4,700 Bedroom/Office). Now, keep in mind these are just examples of what you might get in these stores if your Great-Aunt Doris hands you her credit card and sponsors your shopping spree. For the rest of us, My First Apartment has many posts that show you how you can furnish your first place with much lower budgets, or even when you literally have no budget at all.