Setting Up Your Apartment
Once you’ve arrived at your new place, the last step is to make it feel like home. Getting furniture, setting up utilities, and arranging whatever internet and phone options you need are the final pieces in your housing search.
Utilities
As soon as you sign a lease for an apartment, you should begin to setup your utility services. If you schedule your utilities in advance, they should be in good working order upon your arrival. Waiting until your move in date can leave you without power for a few days.
Contact the utility providers and set up an account for your apartment that will begin on the day that you move in. Make it clear to the companies that you are a new tenant, and are not responsible for any energy expenses prior to your move in date. You may need to have your landlord or realtor call the utility company to validate that you are a new tenant.
Cell Phone/Cable/Internet
Most cell phone carriers have a good signal in Boston. Most of the cable/internet service providers in the city offer special bundle packages for cell phone, high-speed internet access, and cable television (prices tend to hover around $100). If you do not already have a phone, or are looking to change carriers, bundle deals can help save some money on phone costs.
Furnishing Your Apartment
Most apartments in Boston are unfurnished. Furnished apartments are rare and expensive. Most students will either bring their own furniture, if they already have it, or buy or acquire furniture when they arrive in Boston. If needed, it is also possible to rent furniture on a short- or long-term basis through one of several local furniture rental companies. If you are in contact with the tenants who are vacating the room or apartment you plan to move into, you may want to ask if they have any furniture they wish to leave behind. In many cases people are happy to do this in order to avoid having to move large items.
For students who do not have their own furniture, here are a couple of options for getting the pieces you need.
Buy it from a local furniture store
Boston has no lack of furniture stores for all price ranges. Here are some stores that sell cheap or used furniture:
| American Family Thrift Stores 1698 Commonwealth Avenue Brighton 617-232-9694 |
Bernie’s Used Furniture 292 Concord Avenue Cambridge 617-864-1076 |
| Cobwebs 703 Centre Street Jamaica Plain 617-983-0154 |
Cook’s Used Furniture 373 W Broadway South Boston 617-269-1238 |
| Goodwill Industries 1010 Harrison Avenue Roxbury 617-541-1270 |
Hadassah Bargain Spot 1123 Commonwealth Avenue Allston 617-254-8300 |
| Putnam Used Furniture Outlet 556 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge 617-354-1742 |
Salvation Army Thrift Store 328 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge 617-354-9159 |
Find it on the OHR’s Furniture Forum
The OHR hosts a furniture forum on its main site where students can swap, share, or trade furniture with one another. While most pieces are for sale, some students (especially students who are graduating and moving on to residency) are willing to give away furniture for free, if the students who want it agree to come pick it up.
Find it on Craig’s List
Craig’s List has a huge bulletin board for swapping and selling furniture. Students who view it like a larger, non-school specific version of the OHR furniture forum won’t go too far wrong. Just like the OHR forum, Craig’s List has a number of posters who are just trying to get rid of pieces, and may give them away if someone can pick them up.
Find it on September 1
For the truly entrepreneurial, September 1 is the biggest move-in and move-out day of the year. Many students in undergrad-heavy neighborhoods like Allston/Brighton and Mission Hill leave old furniture on the sidewalk. While the vast majority of this furniture is too old or broken to use, some of it is salvageable, and all of it is free! A quick note: never take anything off the street that has a cushion on it – mattresses, couches, or chairs – because those can be great hiding places for bed bugs and other nasty critters.
