FTB - Advice on when to buy white good, electrical good (TV etc...) and living items (sofas, beds)

Angela_D_3

I bought a snug sofa,  delivered in 24 hours,  in a box,  lovely and comfortable.  

Ao delivered white goods in 24 hours. 

Nectar sell amazing mattresses in a box you could transport in a car easily - could be bought in advance 

Doozergirl

Angela_D_3 said:

I bought a snug sofa,  delivered in 24 hours,  in a box,  lovely and comfortable.  

Ao delivered white goods in 24 hours. 

Nectar sell amazing mattresses in a box you could transport in a car easily - could be bought in advance 

Ikea also sell their mattresses rolled.  From experience, you can get one in a MINI  🙂

youth_leader

I recommend the sales pages on Facebook, I've picked up some marvellous things on there from my local group.  

Flugelhorn

we bought a house last year, hadn't sold our old house and wanted to leave everything there for the time being - we slept on airbeds for 6 weeks, used a picnic table, folding chairs etc it was fine.
later transported  an old table and chairs we had acquired from someone at the tip 30+ years ago when I got my first house 
Ordered washing machine and fridge from AO and they arrived the day after completion. 

getmore4less

Nothing before exchange,  even better nothing before moving in.

most have been covered but will do my summary


You can start looking so you know your prices and the white good sale cycle(weeks not months)
set  a few alerts on 
https://www.hotukdeals.com/
for a one stop shop to see what's out there AO is good but do shop around they are not always the cheapest.



if you are doing to do any decorating or floor coverings then empty rooms are a lot easier to work with.
This is when less is more on moving in.


Many find they get a better feel for their space once living in the place so you don't make mistakes like buy the wrong size sofa
we get a few of those sort of post even more I need to delay my delivery ones.


Can be a good idea to go second hand first time round then pick up replacements when there are good prices and you really know what you want.

hand me downs beg(politely) for stuff people love an excuse to change


for basic cooking and something you can keep one or more of 

Combination microwave
Panasonic  are good  last change was to Samsung pull down front, can turn off the turntable for bigger dishes
decent once can be pricy for basic <£200

mini oven/grill
aka. toaster oven a bit cheaper than a combo plenty <£100

standalone induction hob

single or double these can be a low as £30 doubles a bit more
https://www.robertdyas.co.uk/daewoo-sda1805-2000w-single-induction-hob-black

or one of the newer multi pots like

Ninja

https://ninjakitchen.co.uk/ninja-catalog/ninja-cooking/
other brands available but a pretty useful multi purpose pot.

ripplyuk

I wouldn’t buy any big furniture until you’ve moved in or at least exchanged and measured up. Make a list now of all the things you need. Money is the main issue. If you can afford brand new everything you can get it all delivered in a week or two so you won’t be roughing it for long. 

From experience, the highest priority is curtains (for one room) and a sofa. No matter how young you are, sitting on hard floors or boxes becomes painful very quickly and the sofa can double up as a bed. Next would be a fridge freezer and microwave but you can live on takeaways for a while. Buy a kettle and a packet of dried milk until the fridge arrives. 

Use a laundrette if you live near one. Alternatively clothes can be washed in the sink/bath if you don’t have enough clothing to last until you get a washing machine. 

If it’s a new build and needs floor coverings throughout, it’s obviously easier to fit that before you fill the place with heavy furniture. 

Bad_Accountant

Doozergirl said:Ikea also sell their mattresses rolled.  From experience, you can get one in a MINI  🙂

I had a very,very close-run experience getting an Ikea king-size mattress into a Ford Focus so I wouldn't bet on it!

MaryNB

ripplyuk said:

I wouldn’t buy any big furniture until you’ve moved in or at least exchanged and measured up. Make a list now of all the things you need. Money is the main issue. If you can afford brand new everything you can get it all delivered in a week or two so you won’t be roughing it for long. 

From experience, the highest priority is curtains (for one room) and a sofa. No matter how young you are, sitting on hard floors or boxes becomes painful very quickly and the sofa can double up as a bed. Next would be a fridge freezer and microwave but you can live on takeaways for a while. Buy a kettle and a packet of dried milk until the fridge arrives. 

Use a laundrette if you live near one. Alternatively clothes can be washed in the sink/bath if you don’t have enough clothing to last until you get a washing machine. 

If it’s a new build and needs floor coverings throughout, it’s obviously easier to fit that before you fill the place with heavy furniture. 

And make sure you can get stuff from delivery vehicle to its final position.

Don't be like me who ordered a standard size washer dryer before realising she didn't have a standard size kitchen door and then couldn't bring it around the back because the side gate was too rusted to remove 🤦. I realised I couldn't get the side gate hinges off the night before it was due to be delivered. I had to hack away (using the very limited selection of tools I had at that stage) at the stops around the internal kitchen door frame to widen it by 20 mm. I also had to remove some of the cabinet handles in my galley kitchen to get it to its final destination. 

I live on a very narrow road where people park within a metre of my very narrow front door. I had my friend park her car (I don't have one) in front of my house the night before my couch was due. This was so I'd be able to prevent anybody else blocking my front door and I'd be able to move her car when the couch arrived. When I bought the couch I asked the staff how it would be delivered and I brought measuring tape with me so I could measure the largest dimension applicable when it was dismantled. It just about fit through the front door. They also asked if there was door behind the front door (which there is) and if they were aligned (which thankfully they are).

Also focus on the key pieces you need - couch, dining table, bed frame, wardrobe, etc - and worry about the smaller pieces of furniture when you have a better feel of the space and layout. 

Going back to my washer dryer, look into former display items. I got 30% off my washer dryer at an outlet that sold former display items or items with cosmetic damage. They said mine was missing the the manual (I'll happily forgo the hard copy of a manual I can find online in a few seconds, for a few hundred pounds off) but it actually came with it. My friend got a similar discount for her washing machine because it had a scratch on the front. 

MovingForwards

Doozergirl said:

Angela_D_3 said:

I bought a snug sofa,  delivered in 24 hours,  in a box,  lovely and comfortable.  

Ao delivered white goods in 24 hours. 

Nectar sell amazing mattresses in a box you could transport in a car easily - could be bought in advance 

Ikea also sell their mattresses rolled.  From experience, you can get one in a MINI  🙂

I got one of their 3 seater sofas and an arm chair into my old picanto.

Years ago I got two flatpack wardrobes and two chest of drawers in a car not much bigger.

The 6 seater table I picked up in a classic car.

It's all about knowing sizes and the best way to have car and items configured.

ilikewatch2

I once got 2 whales in a Fiat 500 - I went down the M4 and over the Severn bridge...