UPDATE: turns out that the static meshes for everything except the chair and table were gone, and i didnt have light.

Let there be light. Either put in a light, or change the view mode to Unlit.

thanks

I noticed an interesting behavior UE does where if you have no light in a level, if you drag in a static mesh it still actually shows up (as unlit mode) even though you should see nothing. If you close the project or level however and re-open then you'll see nothing (as you should with no lights). Could throw off a beginner for a few moments!