When I moved into my first “big girl apartment”, I spent a lot of time picking out my furniture, dishes, kitchen stuff and lamps. It was suggested that I just buy something cheap for now and then down the line I can invest in a nicer couch, knife set, etc. To me, that sounded like a waste of money when I could buy it right the first time and love it since day one instead of planning on getting rid of it down the line. Now that I am in my mid-twenties, I feel like I should be an adult who has her life figured out. Okay, so maybe this isn’t the job I imagined I would have and I should have more money in my savings, but I can at least have a pretty apartment with nice things, right??

Here are a few of the things that I think everyone in their mid-twenties should have in their apartment. We may not act like adults all the time, but we should at least have matching towels in our bathroom!

A Proper Dish Set

I have to blame my mother for my love of dishes because she has a dish set for each holiday and then multiple sets of just regular dinner plates. Before moving into my apartment, I was bringing a simple, classic white set of dishes, my Kate Spade navy blue ones and then a fancy Royal Albert hydrangea pattern dish set. I may have gone a little overboard with my dishes, but everyone should have at least one dish set that matches. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but try to have matching plates for four people in your kitchen.

Dish Towels

My favorite present to give people around the holidays is a Williams Sonoma dish towel set because they look so nice in a kitchen. I don’t have the budget to have everything I want from Williams Sonoma, but I can afford the matching dish towel set! Just having a matching dish towel set in a kitchen makes it look like you actually cook dinner every night and don’t rely on Uber Eats for most of your meals ha!

A Good Knife Set

When I moved into my apartment a few months ago, I bought a cheap set from Target and have regretted it ever since. This may sound dramatic, but I went for a cheaper version and I can physically tell the difference whenever I try to use it. I knew I wouldn’t do much cooking my first year and could save up for a nice set of knives from Williams Sonoma, but in the meantime, I hate my knife set. The good thing is if you buy a high-quality set of knives, you usually only have to buy them once and they last for years.

A Toolkit

While my family and I were looking at furniture for my new place, I was able to pick up a toolkit while I was there. You should always have a toolkit in your apartment because you may never need it, but when someone asks if you have a hammer or a screwdriver, you don’t want to be without one! It definitely came in handy when I had all of that Ikea furniture to assemble!

A Nice Headboard

Every single self-help book out there will tell you to make your bed in the morning. What looks even better is when you have a made bed and a really nice headboard. Beds can be expensive, but you can buy a basic bed frame and a nice headboard for less than $100 on Overstock.com. That is what I did and I love how pretty my bed looks. After so many years of the basic dorm bed I was given, I wanted to have an adult looking bed and I love how it turned out!

Splurge on Bath Towels

I have bath towels that I picked up at Target when I moved into my apartment a few months ago, but on my Christmas wish list, I have towels from Pottery Barn. Most people just buy whatever is on sale, but after you touch these towels from Pottery Barn, your life will be forever changed and you can never use a cheap towel again! They are so fluffy and cozy making them worth every single penny! If you don’t have the money or the care to buy overpriced towels, just make sure they match and that you have a set for guests!

Bedding

You know you are an adult when you have a nice set of sheets and a grown-up looking duvet cover. A year ago, I threw out all of my old bedding and got Jersey Sheets from Target. I then splurged and got a duvet cover for the summer months and two flannel sheet and duvet cover sets for the winter, one of them for Christmas obviously! Seriously, good bedding is a game changer!

Matching Furniture

I am sure an Aunt offered you a dresser and a grandparent had a mattress sitting in their garage not being used when you first got your new place. Try to say no nicely to free furniture because after a while nothing matches and you have an old looking couch next to a modern coffee table. You don’t have to buy all of your furniture at the same place, but try to stick to a style and color scheme while decorating.

Less Stuff

My final suggestion is to go through everything you have and try to get rid of everything that you don’t use. Before I moved into my apartment, I downsized like crazy and still found out that I have way more than can fit into an apartment! I try to just have one of everything that I need and to avoid clutter as much as possible!