Moving House with very little stuff - what's essential?

GDB2222

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by 'make the house lovely '? Comfortable would be my priority.

theonlywayisup

Two glasses and bottle of fizz.

[Deleted User]

Hi,


most important, read your electricity/gas meters and keep a note of readings, maybe take pictures of meters, and contact suppliers.


If you have a look at the Energy forum there a numerous tales of woe of folks with messed up bills months after moving in.


Good luck.

RelievedSheff

Deleted_User wrote: »

For me it was a matter of making decisions and picking the most important stuff, the rest I've just got temporary stuff. Otherwise you end up picking without thinking or viewing different options in different shops.

Before you move in order stuff that takes the longest to arrive:

• Blinds / curtains
• Sofas
• Bedframe

Day 1:

Bedroom:

• Bedframe + mattress + quilt + pillows + bedding

Living room:

• Nothing

Kitchen:

• Fridge / freezer
• Oven
• Kettle / toaster
• Washing machine
• Microwave (you won't want to cook much)
• Pizza tray to keep your new oven clean!

House in general:

• Hoover

Temporary:

Bedroom

• £10 rail from Argos, this can do for a few weeks / months whilst you pick out the wardrobe / inbuilt drawers / separate drawers you want
• Temporary blackout blind whilst waiting for blinds / curtains

Living Room:

• Camping chairs
• A cardboard moving in box can be a table
• A plastic storage box can be a foot stool
• Laptop can be a TV

Kitchen:

• Plastic plates
• Plastic cutlery

That sounds too much like camping :eek:

On moving day for us we made sure the bed was erected and the curtains and curtain pole fitted, we had ordered these well in advance of moving day so we knew we would have them in time.

Got the settees and TV set up in the living room and again curtains and curtain poles on the two windows. Again the curtains and poles had been ordered well in advance and we already had the TV and sofas.

Rebuilt the dining table so that we had somewhere to eat our takeaway curry that we ordered in. We didn't feel like cooking by the time we had set ourselves up.

Because we had this lot sorted we didn't feel like we were camping in our new home. We had a week off work to then set about buying and constructing the rest of the furniture for the house. Spare bed, wardrobes, garden storage boxes, etc.

getmore4less

I have been looking at options for clothes storage(we need some more, don't ask)

As well as the normal retail places like argos and IKea there are some decent options at the shop fitting sites.

https://www.displaysense.co.uk/clothes-rails-c65
https://www.rackingsolutions.co.uk/racking-and-shelving/chrome-wire-shelving/bedroom-storage.html

https://www.shopfittingwarehouse.co.uk/
loads of options

with this you can build what you want and reuse
https://www.shopfittingwarehouse.co.uk/fixtures-and-fittings-c4/tube-and-clamp-display-systems-c5/tubes-and-clamps-components-c301

You can get garment poles for regular adjustable shelving
https://www.rapidracking.com/en/rra/garment-poles-for-chrome-shelving-rcp48

paulcam

I did this in June. However I think you might have started a bit late for some things. I had office furniture but no living room, bedroom or kitchen stuff.

The sofa I ordered 2 weeks earlier from OakFurnitureLand as they had express delivery of only 10 day minimum. Most places wanted 5-8 weeks! They delivered it fine the day after I got the house.

At your stage you will have to go to Ikea (or second hand store) if you want a sofa promptly.

I rented a van for two days to move, but not just to move, but for furniture shopping. In one day I went to Ikea and came back with:

* A king size bed.
* Chest of drawers.
* Living room coffee table.
* Clatter of other things

Went to Curry's for:

* Microwave.
* Washing machine
* Freezer (House already had built in cooker and fridge)
* Toaster
* Kettle

On the van, Sixt have a deposit-less flexible booking, so if your date shifts due to solicitors screwing up as mine did you can move the date without a penalty.

Then I took my mom to Ikea and came back with a full set of kitchen ware, pots, pans, glasses, plates, cups, utensils the whole lot.

Important things to do day 1.

* read and note your electric/gas meters, if you want to be extra careful, take photos showing the meter and the current days news paper.
* Sign up online for your electric gas retailers.
* INSTALL SMOKE ALARMS or test existing ones.
* Note and device your fire exit routes for downstairs and upstairs. In my case both front and back doors lock with a key, so I leave the front door key in the door as an escape route. You don't want to be left looking for the key when the house is burning.
* Sign up on the rates website.
* Arrange your Royal mail redirect for your old address - this can have a 3+ day lead time.
* Start changing your address, bank, credit cards, car, insurance, license etc.
* Make sure the heating works.
* Find the water stop !!!!, do NOT leave it until you need to find it. (amusingly it won't let me use the "male chicken" word even when it's referring to a tap)
* Internet. Don't delay it can take 14 days to connect!

In my case I had £10k saved for the purpose of fully kitting the house and doing any essential maintenance. I didn't need all of it, so I bought myself a new TV and had wired Ethernet installed by a spark in the first few weeks.

As long as you have the essentials, make a "Gripe list" when you start to notice things that need done. When you do items on the list, highlight them green which gives you a nice positive feedback and encourages you to get round to the rest.

Enjoy your new home!

no1catman

When I bought my first house, and left home soon afterwards. All I had to start with was personal stuff - clothes, books, hi-fi and records, together with some items they could spare - bedside table & rocking chair. All fitted into Dad's Ford Escort Estate.

Fortunately, it was easier in that, when you found something you liked, and bought - delivered a few days later (not months). Quickly, bought, bed, dressing table & draws, dining table & chairs, settee, washing machine, and fridge. Then the smaller snuff - bed-linen etc., kettle, china & cutlery (still got them) and food.

These days, surprising how good some of the snuff in the Heart Foundation Furniture shops is. And you'll probably get a quicker deliver.

kazwookie

Move in first you will soon work out what you need.


Raid charity shops and local car boot sales, look on FB selling pages to get you going.


Once you are more sorted then buy the expensive stuff that you want to last years, and sell on the charity / car boot stuff

jennifernil

Have a look at your local Freecycle website, all sorts of good stuff is often available FREE!

trailingspouse

Whatever you buy, do it with thought and planning.


If you are aiming for a minimal, modern look, don't go buying brown furniture just because it's cheap. If you want the colour scheme to be grey and lime green (or whatever), don't buy the pink cushions.



Think ahead - if you need to buy a kettle, buy the right one, not the cheapest one.



And you can put some things off - don't buy furniture for the spare bedroom until someone is actually coming to stay. Don't buy gardening equipment until the Spring. If you can bear it, put off buying Christmas decorations until January, when everything will be in the sales.


Enjoy!!