The great thing about living near the University of South Florida is that all the things you need for moving into a new apartment can be found at IKEA. If you don't know what IKEA is, it's a huge warehouse with furniture, a restaurant and café, and showrooms to showcase some of the coolest Swedish furniture designs that are within a normal budget.
You could almost spend a whole afternoon looking around at all the new appliances, furniture, and accessories perfect for any apartment near USF. It can be a little overwhelming especially if it is your first time in the area and you are trying to prioritize what things you need for your USF freshman apartment.
Regardless of what you need, IKEA is sure to have things for making your USF apartment feel a little more like home!
Make a Small List of Things You Need
To understand what you need for your space, it's important to establish whether you will have roommates or not. If you have multiple roommates, it might not be worth buying a bunch of things. Instead, you might want to reach out to them to make sure there's enough room for everyone's belongings and, make sure that everyone is okay with sharing common household items like silverware and cups.
If you live in a 1-bedroom apartment near USF, living alone means you'll have to purchase more than others who live with other roommates might.
Establish a Reasonable Budget Before Visiting IKEA
When you are living alone and need to get everything yourself, having a reasonable range in mind for spending can help you before going to IKEA. Believe me when I tell you that it is tremendously easy to go over budget when walking into IKEA for the first time.
To make sure this doesn't happen, I suggest splitting up all the necessities into categories like kitchen, living room, bedroom, etc. Then you can decide the exact things you need first. Then, if you have any savings left over, you can buy things that you want for your USF apartment. Finding the right balance between wants and needs is the key to walking away satisfied with your IKEA purchases.
Don't Be Afraid to Order Things Online for USF Apartments
Sometimes something you need might not be in store when you get there. If you visit IKEA on a day that is more busy than usual, they might not have the thing you wanted. Instead, go early in the morning and at least a few weeks before you move into an apartment near USF to have more variety and availability of items.
Let's say you are looking for furniture for a USF apartment patio or balcony and can't find it, looking online and having it shipped to your door might save you the hassle of taking another trip to come back empty-handed. Also, if your car is too small to transport something, getting it shipped might be a better option anyway.