Here is what furnishing actually costs, where to buy without overspending, and how to get it home when you have no car.
First, know what you are getting
Three levels, and the rent gap between them does not always offset the difference in upfront cost:
- Gemeubileerd: fully furnished. You arrive with a suitcase and pay for the comfort in the rent.
- Gestoffeerd: floors, curtains, usually the kitchen and appliances, no furniture. This is the standard.
- Kaal: bare. Sometimes without floor covering or light fittings, the wires hang from the ceiling, and that is not a figure of speech.
Before comparing two listings, price the difference. A kaal home €200 a month cheaper that needs €6,000 of equipment takes two and a half years to pay off, longer than many postings last.
The real budget
| Item | Entry level | Comfortable |
|---|---|---|
| Bed, mattress, base | €400 – 700 | €1,200 – 2,000 |
| Sofa | €300 – 600 | €1,000 – 2,500 |
| Table and chairs | €200 – 400 | €600 – 1,200 |
| Storage, wardrobe | €250 – 500 | €800 – 1,500 |
| Light fittings (often absent) | €100 – 250 | €300 – 700 |
| Floor covering (kaal home) | €800 – 1,500 | €2,500 – 5,000 |
| Appliances if missing | €600 – 1,200 | €1,500 – 3,000 |
| Kitchenware, linen, odds and ends | €250 – 500 | €600 – 1,200 |
For a one-bedroom gestoffeerd flat, budget €2,000 to €4,000 if you shop smart. For a kaal one, add the floor and the appliances: the bill passes €6,000 quickly.
Where to buy
Second-hand is the obvious route. The Netherlands has a deeply established resale culture, and the expat turnover feeds a permanent supply of recent furniture at low prices.
- Marktplaats: the local classifieds giant, unavoidable. The best deals go within hours, set up alerts.
- Facebook Marketplace and expat groups: lots of end-of-lease departures, often "collect today, price negotiable".
- Kringloopwinkels (charity reuse shops): found in every district, unbeatable for crockery, lamps and small storage.
- Bulky waste (grofvuil): in Amsterdam, furniture put out on the pavement the evening before collection is legally free to take. Plenty of Amsterdam flats were furnished exactly this way.
New, when the warranty matters. IKEA (Amsterdam-Zuidoost and Haarlem, with delivery), Dutch chains such as Leen Bakker or Kwantum, and the big online platforms. For appliances, comparing two or three sites takes minutes and the gap often exceeds 15%.
Delivering without a car
This is Amsterdam's real constraint, and it has simple answers:
- Rent a van by the hour: the city's car-sharing services offer them, picked up on your street.
- On-demand couriers: several apps match you with a van and driver for a single trip, from a few tens of euros.
- Seller delivery: on Marktplaats many private sellers will deliver for €20-40. Always ask.
- A cargo bike, for anything that fits, and more fits than you would think.
Always check the width of the staircase before buying a sofa. Dutch stairs are legendary, and the hoisting beam on old façades is not decorative: moving furniture through the window is standard practice, done by professionals with a furniture lift. Our guide to moving your belongings explains how to book a furniture lift and space for the truck.
What you have to hand back
The lease describes the expected state at the end. Two rules worth knowing:
- What you add belongs to you, unless it is fixed to the building. A floor you laid or a kitchen you installed may have to stay, or be removed at your expense.
- Handover between tenants (overnamekosten) is common practice: the outgoing tenant sells you their floor, curtains or kitchen. It is often a good deal, but negotiable: ask for an itemised list and decline what you do not want.
Photograph everything on the way in and on the way out: that is what protects your deposit.
Torn between a pricier furnished flat and a bare one to equip? Let's talk about your move: we price both scenarios with you before you sign.
In summary
Furnishing in Amsterdam costs between €2,000 and €6,000 depending on the fit-out level, and second-hand works particularly well thanks to the expat turnover. The calculation before signing is simple: the rent difference between furnished and bare, multiplied by the real length of your stay, against the cost of equipping. Furnished usually wins under two years; bare wins beyond that, provided you can resell when you leave.
