It turns out minimalists need stuff too.

I had one week from the time I rented the apartment until I moved in to procure household goods. Luckily, furnished apartments are really common here, so I only needed things like towels and kitchenware. When I've lived outside the US in the past, I stayed with other people, so this is the first time I've started from scratch, which had meant shopping and sleeping bags of stuff from all over town.

My go-to for household goods are thrift stores. Unfortunately, selling used goods is not really a thing in Spain, except for furniture and clothes. In a city of 6 million, there are perhaps a dozen thrift stores, and I visited most of them. With diligent searching, I managed to find many useful things. But as is the case for all moves, you eventually end up at IKEA.

Ikea turned out to be a 6-hour adventure, what with navigating public transport to the very edge of the city, purchasing lunch (the meatballs are ubiquitous, but now come in vegetarian as well), and briefly getting locked inside a metro station (but that is a story for another day).

As everyone knows, I don't like spending money and I don't really like shopping either. I decided everything I bought would be white and the plainest, frugal-est version I could find. I did realize that there should be a few exceptions, and I carefully considered where I would appreciate quality. It turns out I don't care about dishes or sheets or tea cups, but I like luxury when drinking coffee, helping my groceries around, and keeping warm. 

My new favorite things: a beautiful French press, a three -season down duvet, and a rugged, large-capacity shipping cart.

So, answers on a postcard (or in a comment): what would you splurge on if you were replacing all your household goods?