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Furnishing a house from scratch
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
To those who have moved out of home and into unfurnished accomodation (either renting or bought yourself - living there permanently, not student accomodation), roughly how much did it cost to buy all of the furniture and essentials?
When my sister moved into a flat, I remember her scouring charity shops, car boot sales and the small ads in the local paper. She got a very nice sofa for £30 that way, and a bedframe (bought a new mattress obviously) and table and chairs. I don't think she actually bought any furniture new! I've just been looking on eBay and seen some good looking bargains too.
Next year, I'll hopefully be moving in with my boyfriend and I was just thinking about what we're going to need to buy and where we're going to get it from. Oh, and where we're going to get the money for it all, but that's another argument entirely!
So come on peeps, scare me with how much I've going to have to spend, and reassure me with your stories of bargain hunting! (new and used) Thanks!
When my sister moved into a flat, I remember her scouring charity shops, car boot sales and the small ads in the local paper. She got a very nice sofa for £30 that way, and a bedframe (bought a new mattress obviously) and table and chairs. I don't think she actually bought any furniture new! I've just been looking on eBay and seen some good looking bargains too.
Next year, I'll hopefully be moving in with my boyfriend and I was just thinking about what we're going to need to buy and where we're going to get it from. Oh, and where we're going to get the money for it all, but that's another argument entirely!
So come on peeps, scare me with how much I've going to have to spend, and reassure me with your stories of bargain hunting! (new and used) Thanks!
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Comments
Does it come with appliances? Stove/fridge/washer/dryer ect? From when we went looking for a new one, places are *always* having appliance sales. Look in the stores, look online too. If you see a good deal online, head to the store and ask about that one. For those kinds of things its more of a preference choice. I'm sure you obviously know the good brands that sell there. Don't be afraid to bargin with the sales people. In most cases they will give you a better deal then advertised. If not in the general cost, but in side things. Throw in an extra water purifer for the fridge or anything. Ed reccomends front load washers and dryers. He says they are more energy efficent and you dont' need to use as much detergent as you do in top load ones.
Thats his advice anyways. I have no experience in the subject.
If you are wanting to do it as cheap as possible then check out FreeCycle. If you google it then you can find one in your area.
Cheap bed also from Argos. Not gonna last forever but did the job.
Does it have carpets etc? Does it come with a cooker, washing machine, fridge/freezer etc? If not these can cost a fair amount.
We picked up fairly cheap but good ones from Currys i think it was.
Yeah as alreadly said, keep your eyes peeled on Freecycle.
The things that costs the money are the appliances- a washing machine is £300, a fridge is £300. Everything else you can be as cheap or as expensive as you want- we got an interest-free loan from the company we bought most of our furniture from, so we bought slightly better stuff than we otherwise would have.
To furnish our place we paid about £1500 in total, but we had things bought for us and we spent a little bit more because we could spread the payments over 12 months. Though we're still buying things now, and we recently got a brand new Ikea sofa for £20 from a FreeCycle type place.
This is what we did! We got a free sofa, armchair, kitchen table, wadrobe, 2 bedside tables, 2 chests of drawers, a dressing table and a computer desk for absolutely nowt. Of course, if people are giving it away, don't expect particularly nice stuff (the sofa in particular was several shades of hideous), but it's amazing what you can do with a bit of paint and a few throws.
I don't agree that you have to spend a lot to get good quality, though. Ikea is a prime example - they do have the cheap shit ranges which will not last forever, but their more expensive stuff is just as good as stuff we sell at work for 5 times the price. The only two items I'd save up for is a comfy sofa, and a decent bed. Possibly a dining set, but you can get a good quality, solid wood dining set for about £300 if you're looking in the right places.
Also interest free credit is your friend :yes:
Oh, and for the appliances - go have a look at them in Comet or wherever, pick the one you like, make a note of the model number and google it. We got our fridge and washer in the Argos sale for over £100 less than they were in the electrical stores. :thumb:
Got quite a bit from Ikea, charity shops are good. Or friends who are moving out often want to sell things, universities often have signs up with people selling furniture. You don't have to buy the biggest, most expensive, new things. I got a little freezer for £80 and a second hand fridge for £40.
I don't have a sofa. I have lots of cushions on the floor and some camping chairs.
But seriously ...I know of people who have furnished their houses through it.
I've heard of people getting cars!
:yes: me too. I'll close this now to prevent from further spam attack! :d