If there is one thing that I’ve learnt through this whole moving palaver, it’s that furniture doesn’t come cheap. Our old place was fully-furnished and even though we ended up living in flat for three years that looked like a jumble sale with mis-matched furniture that completely wasn’t to our taste, it meant that we moved our stuff in in the space of about three hours and spent minimal amounts of cash. Although it was missing a set of drawers so Mark ended up taking two trains and a bus to our not-so-local IKEA and carrying a 20kg flat-pack box all the way home. He still bares scars on his arms from that episode – poor guy. This time round we took our car to IKEA thankfully, but moving in with no furniture at all is tough (we waited 16 weeks for our sofa to arrive – BOO!). So how do you split your budget up and where is is worth cutting back or just going balls-out for an item? #Adulting…
WHERE TO SAVE. I feel like soft furnishings are where you can really find some bargains. Homesense and H&M Home do some lovely throws and cushion covers and even things like towels and bath mats. Check Homesense and TKMaxx for great kitchenware. They do all the branded stuff at sometimes more than half the price; great for getting pots, pans, plates and all that jazz. You also can’t beat IKEA for storage. We spent hours browsing their wardrobe planner and ended up getting ours from there. It arrived in a matter of days, was so much cheaper than anything else we saw and only took about 10 hours for 2 people to construct.
WHERE TO SAVE & SPLUGE: I’ve added this random category in because I wanted to say a word about lighting. I really feel like lighting can make all the difference in a home and we’ve gone for statement arrangements in each room (of course still monochrome – you know us!). There’s a mix of price-ranges from IKEA to West Elm, so lighting doesn’t necessarily have to cost the earth but it’s nice to add a little focal point in each space.
WHERE TO SPLURGE. The first thing we actually purchased for our new place was a mattress and seeing as it’s something you spend a fair amount of time on, I feel like it’s worth making sure you get one that when you lay back on it makes you swoon out loud. Side note: mattress shopping is probably one of the more uncomfortable experiences I’ve had in my life. Sofas are another thing that just bloomin’ expensive wherever you get them from. I’d recommend waiting for a good deal in the sale or going to a an independent place where you can test out your Apprentice-style haggling skills. Side note: sofa shopping is probably one of the more comfortable experiences I’ve had in my life. Bedding, pillows and duvets are all things that we picked up from John Lewis – mainly because we had some gift vouchers for there – thanks family! – but also because I like bedding to be heavy so it feels like a little cloud is laying on top of me as I sleep.
Anything else to add? Any hilarious IKEA anecdotes to add to the jovial mood because WHOOP IT’S FRIDAY…
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