It’s a typical expat story. I was initially only supposed to be in Beijing for a few months, then I stayed a few more, and now I’m more than two years in, and what was supposed to simply be a footnote adventure in the story of my life has become home…for now.

I learned something important in the first three months I was here: Spend a little time and money making your living space feel cozy and comforting, no matter how temporary it is. Expat life is difficult. Expat life in Beijing can sometimes feel nearly impossible. While it is an incredibly rewarding experience that I would highly recommend, there are days when being an expat pushes me to my 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.

I recently changed apartments and discovered a few Beijing life hacks that made my new apartment feel personal and cozy. I hope these tips help you and your family create a Beijing nest you love too!

Start by Up-Cycling: 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, as well as the WeChat app Movin, which is a worldwide expat online yard sale where you can sort search results by country and region.

IKEA–No Assembly Required: 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 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. The furniture on Taobao is extremely reasonably priced. 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!

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 a 20 kuai multi-frame, all these treasures are suddenly an original art piece!

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!

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 an absolutely indispensable part of making expat life…livable.

KEEP READING: Gaobeidian: Beijing’s Massive Antique Street à la London’s Portobello Market

Photos: Julie Wolf, Unsplash

The best thing about IKEA is the abundance of on-trend and affordable home decor options, but a trip to a local IKEA store (there are currently three IKEA stores in Beijing, one located in Siyuanqiao, one in Xihongmen, and a latest one in Wukesong) could be off-putting because of either the distance or the hordes of customers there.

But now, with a few clicks from the comfort of your own home, you can have your new furniture and homeware delivered to your door, since IKEA.cn now offering online buying and home delivery service to 149 cities in China. Shipping fees start at RMB 9.9 (but are likely to increase after December 31 this year, so for more detailed information about delivery fees please refer to their delivery service page.).

Most areas in Beijing are covered by the service. You can check whether delivery is available in your area by filling in your address and zip code at the shopping cart page once you’ve added some products.

Below is how to make your IKEA purchase online.

· Scour the online purchase page (in Chinese and English), sign up with a valid cell phone number and your e-mail address to log in or register your account before making online purchases.
· Browse down to check out products available for online shopping, choose your desired delivery date.
· Enter your delivery address, check the estimated fee afterwards. You can choose parcel or truck delivery service.
· Continue to the payment, via Alipay, WeChat Pay and Unionpay.
· Check and track-trace your order status. You’re also able to apply for an online invoice.

Almost all rentals in Beijing come furnished, but not necessarily with style, especially for western tastes. Fortunately, besides the one-stop solution of IKEA, there are a bunch of shops to check out for furnishings and home accents in Beijing. Here’s our selection of chic stores in the city for furniture and decor to help make your home more personal and welcoming, without breaking the bank.

For Sample
For Sample, or 拂一个山坡 in Chinese, is a furnishing store renovated from a disused barn, located by the East Fourth Ring Road. Founded in 2016, the shop has now developed into a furnishing brand featuring woodware, glassware, metalware and pottery. The 220sqm space is also home to a gallery and a coffee shop.

11am-9pm Tue-Fri, 11.30am-8pm Sat-Sun; No.16 Nan Shiliju, Chaoyang District 朝阳区南十里居16号院 (138 1013 4030)

This is C5shop
Located inside C5 Space and next to C5 Cafe, the shop is very conveniently located for those living near the Sanlitun area. The shop features furniture, tableware, and various other home accessories, mainly imported from Japan and Europe.

11am-7pm Tue-Sun; F/Building, No. 5 Sanlitun Xiwu Street, Chaoyang District 朝阳区三里屯西五街5号院F座

待入荷 Handmade Art Store
Despite its attempts to keep a low profile, this two-story white building with a simple logo has quickly become a landmark in the Xinyuanli area. Decorated white inside as well, the boutique more resembles a gallery than a store, featuring objects with strong wabi-sabi aesthetics in meticulous arrangements. It also hosts regular exhibitions featuring works by Japanese artists.

11am-7pm Wed-Mon; 1/F, Shifang Haoting, No.16 Xinyuan Nanlu, Chaoyang District 朝阳区新源南路16号世方豪庭首层 (6461 1687)

Agehome
Agehome probably represents what a dream house would look like in many people’s eyes. All the furniture around the three-floor store comes from major Swedish auction houses, so you can feast your eyes on classic Scandinavian style. Agehome requires customers to call ahead to book a visit.

11am-7pm Mon-Sun, No. 216 Building Bingheyihao, Jiangtai Donglu, Chaoyang District 朝阳区将台东路滨河一号别墅216号 (131 6191 0248)

Photos: courtesy of featured stores

Beijing is not the best city when it comes to kitting out your house with creative furniture brimming with personality and flair. In fact, let’s face it – our fair city is downright lacking in small furniture stores with character. Thankfully, if you are looking for something for a special occasion or to burn some of your bonus, the Dairuhe Handmade Art Store at Xinyuan Nanlu is a solid option to do just that.

Dairuhe is full of goods carried over by Japan

The name dairuhe (待入荷) means waiting for the arrival of goods, which luckily you won’t have to do once you’ve perused and filled your basket with household furnishings, accessories, tableware, and other knick-knacks that were personally carried from Japan by the owners.

Rock candy-like houses by Satoko Narita & Mellow Glass

The unique items are spread out across the store’s airy two-floor space, which is made immediately appealing thanks to its white façade, and is just as dedicated as looking good inside, using lighting that’s reminiscent of a museum’s. What’s more, that theme continues, with the owners inviting artists to hold monthly exhibitions at the venue. This past month’s exhibit was conducted by Satoko Narita & Mellow Glass from Japan, who are famous for their glass artworks, some of which were still on display in the store and include tiny transparent houses that look like they’re made from rock candy.

The heartwarming wood-carving figures by Mokko Kumakichi are heartbreakingly expensive

During our visit, there was also an individual exhibition called Wander on Forest by Japanese artist Mokko Kumakichi, who was exhibiting his wood-carved and painted animals in China for the first time. “Every figure has its own expression, which I believe allow specific ones to connect with you; take one of them home with you, let it accompany you through all your memorable moments,” reads an introduction to the exhibition by Kumakichi.

The shop’s second floor

Art, of course, doesn’t come cheap, meaning the goods from Japan here are priced at RMB 400 or more on average. That shouldn’t phase patrons looking to splurge on something special, however. That wide range of slightly upscale wares, along with the shop’s bright lighting, spacious but not empty set up, and other mindful elements make Dairuhe a pleasure peruse.

Dairuhe Handmade Art Store
Wed-Mon 11am-7pm. 1/F, One World Apartment, 16 Xinyuan Nanlu, Chaoyang District (6461 1687)
待入荷：朝阳区新源南路16号世方豪庭1层

Photos: Tracy Wang
This post first appeared on our sister site, the Beijinger.

Two years ago, I wrote about a little shop called Zian Print and Graphics in Fangjia Hutong for the magazine. I still think about the missed opportunity to buy a framed, turn-of-the-century original front section of a French newspaper depicting the Boxer Rebellion – complete with color illustrations of men in queues and Chinese dress. At RMB 600, it was a bargain.

Luckily, October will be a great month to revisit the shop. Throughout the month, customers who spend RMB 300 or more will receive a commemorative gift in honor of Zian’s third anniversary.

There will also be a guest exhibition by Chinese graphic artist Jiang Lin, who combines Chinese elements with western engraving. He will display his Four Seasons series and smaller pieces depicting hutong life. All works will be on sale for RMB 300-1,800 each.

Zian is a great place to buy prints for your house or unique gifts for people back home. There’s a range of smaller prints and postcards for those with a limited budget.

The owner, who’s a father of two, is passionate about all things book plates and prints; he’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have about the origins of the pieces in his shop – in excellent English, too.

Photo courtesy of Zian Print and Graphics

Chinese New Year is almost here – a perfect time for spring cleaning!

Read about these three simple solutions to keep your home organized.

For more ideas and inspiration, check out organizational guru Julie Morgenstern’s Get Organized Boot Camp.

Photo from flickr.

After three years of searching and four offers that didn’t pan out, I’m happy to announce that we have finally bought a home of our own. Unfortunately, we have purchased this home in presumably the worst time to buy property in Beijing – a time when CBD apartment prices are at an all-time high, and real estate agents are so desperate, they’re hanging out in droves outside of properties trying to hawk homes to just about any one who passes by.

Despite our bad timing, we’re taking consolation in assuming that real estate prices will continue to rise (even after the Olympics) and feel slightly vindicated that we will no longer deal with unpredictable landlords and broken-down furnishings—we can finally assume full control (more or less) of our living environment.

We’re also relishing the opportunity to fix up our own place – a nicely laid out three-bedroom second-hand apartment – and have begun our home materials hunt in earnest. But a nagging question still looms in the back of our minds: how safe will it be decorate our apartment with a baby in tow?

It isn’t a top-to-bottom project – all we really need to do is re-paint the walls, tear down one wall, install a couple of new sinks, and re-tile the showers in both bathrooms (which are at present tomato red and puke green in color).

From a zhuangxiu company’s perspective, our project is small potatoes and should be done in no time at all. But for us it still seems like a Herculean task given how much we have to prepare and purchase in the interim.

Selecting a safe brand of paint is priority number one. Color coordination aside, we definitely do not want to coat our walls with a paint that could slowly poison us; for the past few weeks, we’ve been searching extensively for a brand and a dealer we can trust.

In theory, any major internationally known brand (i.e. Nippon and Dulux) should suffice – all purport environmentally safe levels of VOC (volatile organic compounds) and quick drying time after application (the paint distributors we’ve checked out have all been particularly keen on claiming that their paint “dries within hours” and how we can “move in the same day!”). We’ve also done some research on brands of solvent-free, organic-based, green paints (i.e. Milk Paint) – but we were unable to find any distributors in Beijing.

Thus our nagging doubts persist. News reports show sketchy zhuangxiu companies switching out the paint their clients supply and replacing it with cheaper varieties so they can resell the more expensive cans. More troubling is the notion that the so-called “imported” varieties (the ones that have “EPA approved” and “guaranteed low VOC” written on the cans) are simply repackaged with low-grade local paint. We can’t help but wonder about the “straight-out-of-the-shipping-container” cans that dealers claim are 100% safe – how easy would it be to slip in a bribe here and there?

Since there is no way for us to be absolutely certain, our final decision was made with a leap of faith – we decided to play it safe and purchase the most expensive variety (a German brand) from one of the most well-known “home décor” centers in town – we even asked the salesperson to show us the import records and chops (which my wife seemed to think was up to snuff) before forking over the cash. We definitely don’t want to find out the hard way about just how safe our selection of paint is, and despite all claims of “insta-drying” and low VOC, our newly furbished place will remain empty for a while as we air it out.