For my first apartment, my roommate brought all the kitchen stuff. She had the nicest gold and white sets she'd inherited and we had the cutest kitchen.

I loved her (and our kitchen) dearly, but when the time came when I could finally move into my own apartment, I jumped at the chance.

For furniture, I kept my faves, but upgraded with the cobalt blue mid-century modern velvet couch of my dreams - it nearly topped my budget. And I still needed to deck out an entire kitchen!

I try a new recipe every week or so I didn't want to get the cheapest things that would just break. I needed things that would last.

My roommate and I went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond, but I got overwhelmed since they literally have items from the floor to the ceiling. I wandered around and only ended up leaving with a soap dish.

My younger sister, the baby millennial, asked me why I didn't look online yet. Oh yeahhh.

She did research for me, and found Brandless. They have a sustainable model where they offer attractive and functional items, at affordable prices. The best part was that everything would match!

They operate by coordinating their entire inventory with the Brandless style - barely-there labels on clean, effective pieces.

Online, I saw that I could get a full set of beautiful black stoneware plates for just $16 - the 16-piece full set was only $56! Boom, cabinets filled. Plus, Brandless offers free shipping on orders over $48, such a great excuse to stock up on essentials!

They also had all the kitchen untensils I thought I'd need; wood & silicone spoons, spatulas, and pasta forks, steak knives, measuring spoons, a cheese grater, a pizza cutter, a julienne peeler - when everything is under $10, you can really go big.

I wanted my kitchen to feel homey, but still, look refined and mature. My last apartment still had a tye-dyed tapestry, so this would really make it feel like a home and not a dorm.

Maybe I should've bought one or two items before taking the plunge and buying everything I needed, but once I put in the coupon code to get 20% off, there was no going back.

I waited for my items to arrive in my new place, and once I wiped everything down (with my new $3 Lemon Verbena wipes), I got to find a home for each new item. I am obsessed with my new black plates - they're way better than the white ones we had before.

After a few weeks in my new apartment, there was just one thing I still wanted - a blender. I would truly be an adult if I could make morning smoothies. The Brandless blender is $180, which was somehow much cheaper than all of the brand name ones. By hundreds of dollars.

I worried that it would be a basic version, but I really, really liked my new kitchen, and I liked the lack of brand names, so I ordered it as a present to myself.

Once it arrived, I fired it up, and was shocked at how sharp those blades were. This was an intense blender! I made my first smoothie and took a picture with the natural light of my new kitchen.

I never thought I'd be able to afford a kitchen with everything matching - every item was super affordable and brings me joy.

If you need affordable options for your home, join the Brandless life! They ship fast and offer everything you need, including luxury items, at great prices.

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