First Home Furnishing Help

bouicca21

Almost all my furniture came from eBay. I bought the bed and sofa new. I then saved up for bedroom furniture because almost all the bedroom furniture on eBay was too hideous for even short term use. I was lucky that the vendors left all the white goods.

When I moved in with the few bits and pieces I already had, the removers were really pleased there was nothing from IKEA. They said dismantling and reassembling that kind of stuff was always a nightmare and the reassembly almost always caused problems.

Cakeguts

My first house was furnished from auctions and second hand shops. I still have a lot of the furniture here in my current house more than 30 years later.

Money_maker

Murphybear wrote: »

Where do you live?

I ask because there will be lots of local charity/other shops that sell cheap but good furniture that MSErs will know about.

For example we have an amazing charity shop that is housed in an old Art Deco cinema. They only have furniture/household at very low prices.

Yes, we went there on holiday. Very reasonably priced and a unique venue.

todayisagreatday

Having just moved, we took our second hand sofa with us, now 11 years old and probably triple that before we got it cheap off Gumtree. As our old house had all fitted appliances we got a fridge freezer and washing machine off Freecycle for nothing.

It could be worth heading to your local village/town Facebook site and ask if anyone is giving away xyz whatever you need as often there tend to be people getting rid of things cheap or free, that may not be in brilliant condition but perfectly fine, e.g our washing machine is scratched and had a dent in it, but it works perfectly. There are people that would rather give it away than have to take it the tip.

I'd love to have new things and the day I actually get to shop for a new, nice sofa I think I'll cry! Look at it that when you move in you'll end up with the unexpected things that need sorting that need a proper tradesman for that you can't save on. For now, see the furniture and other decor stuff you get cheaply or free as a short term measure. As you settle in properly you can eventually build up to getting exactly what you want, it takes time.

My SIL moved in her house, literally took none of her furniture or home decorations and had everything new, blowing any budget on a new crushed velvet sofa, grey rugs, mirrorred glass furniture, new beds, etc. When they had a disaster with the boiler a few months after moving, they had to take a loan out!! Watch your budget and allow for things you may need to sort that is not expected.

Good luck...

Blondetotty

Don't go for a really cheap new mattress if you can help it. False economy.

I made the mistake of replacing a cheap mattress with an expensive one from Dreams. It ended up going back after less than a month. Eventually I purchased an absolutely perfect one from John Ryan by Design. I've never slept so better.
Reason for posting if they also offer a seconds department so have some odd mattresses returned for whatever reason with discounts between 10 and 50% depending on marks/tears etc.

A friend returned a super king size a while back because it couldn't fit through his flat stairs and the material ripped slightly. Those, and up to 30 day returns are resold through the outlet so you could get a brand new one for half the price. It's hit and miss as to what is available though but for the love of a good nights sleep, please spend as much as you can on getting a good quality mattress. Some things you can scrimp on, personally for me, a mattress isn't one of those.

TBagpuss

Look for charity shops. When I bought my first house I got several items from a Salvation Army shop.

You can also look for refurbed appliances. I bought a fridge for £30 for my first house, (and sold it back to the same guy for £25, 3 years later when I moved)

For anything second hand, do inspect it in person. furniture (even wooden furniture) from the home of a heavy smoker can stink, and it is very difficult to get rid of the smell, so bear that in mind. Obviously this also applies to any soft furnishing or curtains.

IKEA can be good and inexpensive for some things - I got a lot of wear out of my Klippan sofa, and they are also good for inexpensive curtains, glassware etc.

freecycle and the equivalent are also worth checking out,

depending on what style of furniture you like, check out your local auctioneer - often they do house clearances so will have fairly cheap stuff as well as antiques (just set yourself a hard budget for anything you're interested in, so you don''t blow your budget if you get into a bidding war, and make sure you understand what charges there are on top of the amount you actually bid)

jjj1980

I would recommend IKEA for furniture etc, especially browsing the bargain corner. For my first home, I went up with £600 set aside and managed to get a sofa, two bedside tables, lamps, crockery, vases and decorations, cushions and throws, bookcases, a rug, picture frames a chest of drawers, a wardrobe frame and mirror doors and one of their Poang chairs.

I then managed to pick up discounted microwave, toaster and kettle from Argos and Curry’s.

Wilko’s sell really good duvets at pretty low prices

spo2

Can you see if there's anything the vendor may be willing to leave behind (white goods etc)? They may be keen/open to buying new appliances for a new home. I got my fridge freezer cheap and second hand from the vendor as the colour matched the kitchen, but would have looked out of place in the new house. A second hand washing machine may do you a few years before needing replaced.


Other than that I got my sofas discounted from an independent shop as they were the display models, and I got hand-me-down dining table and chairs, and spare bed from relatives who were planning to get rid. My cutlery was an old set that my parents got as wedding presents!


People will buy housewarming presents - a close relative bought me my cooker! I think the only things I forked out full price for were my bed and washing machine!