Expats are by nature nomads. Our living space isn’t home in the traditional sense but it is the place we go to relax, unwind and take shelter from the stresses of being a stranger in a strange land. The first few months I was in Beijing, I didn’t bother to decorate. I wasn’t going to be here long enough for it to matter right? Wrong. Several years, one pandemic and a few lockdowns later I know something important. A comfortable home is a necessity because being an ex-pat can push you to your physical, emotional, and mental limits. It is incredibly important for your family’s mental and emotional health and well-being that they have a place that feels like home to return to at the end of the day. But when you will only be spending a few years in a place it can be hard to justify spending a lot of money. So don’t break the bank.
Here are a few Beijing, budget-friendly life hacks that made my apartment feel a little more personal and cozy. I hope these tips help you and your family create a Beijing nest you love too!
Start by Buying Used: WeChat is your friend. People are always selling or flat-out giving away gently-used things as they move on to their new apartment or next adventure. There are tons of second-hand buying and selling groups, including 2nd Hand Beijing Bargains, live LIGHTER live BETTER!!, Moving Sale and Buy. I got a beautiful coffee table for RMB 250 from a family who was leaving at the end of their contract. Out of curiosity, I looked up the retail price and it was RMB 1500!
Two other options are the WeChat app Movin, which is a worldwide ex-pat online yard sale where you can sort search results by country and region. You should also check out The Bulk House’s semi-regular swaps where you can drop off your own gently used items and pick up someone else’s abandoned treasures for free.
The Bulk House
70 Beiluogu Xiang, Dongcheng District
东城区, 北锣鼓巷70号
IKEA–No Assembly Required Bargains: I am shocked by how many people have no idea of the bargain furniture area tucked away in the back corner of IKEA. Here you can find floor samples and returned items being sold at massive discounts. So an RMB 3,000 wardrobe or couch is now RMB 1,000. Yeah, it’s got a tiny scratch in the back left corner, but that’s going against the wall anyway and you don’t need to do any assembly! Just don’t have IKEA deliver the furniture, or they will charge you to disassemble and reassemble it. If what you’re getting is small enough, pay for a six-seater DiDi and fold down the seats, or reach out to a local moving company and they will usually charge as little as RMB 100 to move a single piece of furniture.
Taobao: Obviously. A lot of the furniture on Taobao is extremely reasonably priced. Just search for pictures of the piece of furniture you want and use the picture search function to find something similar. I got a great bar height table that was perfect for my small living space, as well as a beautiful chair for less than RMB 1,000 combined. Be warned, though–you’ll have to assemble it yourself, and the bar cabinet I got came with no instructions, just a video link of someone putting together a piece of furniture that was not actually the same table I was working on… Shout out to my friend and puzzle master Paul for figuring it all out and not letting me give up five minutes in!
TaoBao is also great for little touches like throw pillows and cozy blankets that can make a big difference when you are personalizing a space. They are functional for family movie nights, are very inexpensive, and easy to change with the seasons.
Make It Personal: Hang up some art! Get pieces that are unique and personal to you. I hadn’t realized how many of the amazing things I had gathered over the past few years of my travels fit into standard IKEA frames. The incredible watercolor I got in Seoul from a street artist and the leather carvings I got in Thailand pre-lockdown are just two examples. I also have the most beautiful origami postcards from my trip to Japan that have been sitting in a desk drawer for far too long. With a little creativity, a handful of 3M hooks, a hot glue gun, some craft paint, and an RMB 20 multi-frame, all these treasures are suddenly original art pieces!
I got my inner domestic goddess fired up using my printer and a few old boxes to create this next little set during the first lockdown. It took less than 15 minutes, and now the blueprints of places I have visited, lived in and loved make for a great conversation starter when friends are over, as well as a reminder that we will eventually be able to travel and explore the world again. Get the kids involved too! An old IKEA print on canvas for USD 5 is suddenly cool and modern when finger paint is applied.
Hit Up the Antique Markets: Panjiayuan and Gaobeidian markets are filled with amazing finds that might end up being part of your forever home one day. A big piece of amazing local furniture or even just a few antique drawer pulls to update a modern piece will do wonders for personalizing your place. My old apartment had a wall-mounted coat hook that was so blah until I found a few smoothed-down shards of blue and white pottery that magically transformed it into a piece I loved!
Panjiayuan (South East Third Ring Road)
潘家园桥西边朝阳区
West of Panjiayuan Qiao, Chaoyang District
Gaobeidian: Sihui and Ciyunsi
Outside Dongsihuan, turn right at the Gaobeidian exit of the Jingtong expressway then drive south
东四环外京通快速路高碑店出口处出来右转往南走
Plants: One or two (or 50 if you’re me) well-placed plants will change your home and help purify the air in your apartment or house. You can find plants at Carrefour or IKEA, but I like to spend an afternoon wandering through the Wangsiying flower market. It has everything from orchids to lemon trees, as well as every sort of cut flower you can imagine at wholesale prices, and you can usually snag deals on pots and vases too. It’s a trek, but it’s worth the drive and the kids will have a blast exploring and running about among the stalls.
It might seem like more effort than it’s worth, but for me personally, being able to come home instead of just going back to my apartment is absolutely necessary for my focus and mental health. Especially with the always looming possibility of being stuck inside for an extended period of time the effort and minor expense are worth it.
KEEP READING: What If I Go Into Labor During Lockdown?
Images: Julie Wolf, IKEA
