Furnishing a flat from scratch - tell me your best buys!

[butterbeanplant]

DH and I are about to move in together. For a complicated series of reasons (me living in furnished accommodation, him losing a box whilst moving two years ago) we barely own anything. A bed, old pots and pans / a runner rug from his nana / a few little plants. Not even a bedside table or a vacuum cleaner.

So MN, tell me what you can’t live without. What are your best buys, in particular for the kitchen but more generally. What must I absolutely get?!

[EnriqueTheRingBearingLizard]

In order my money started with good quality flooring, lighting and a decent bed. After that blackout blinds at the windows and a good sofa. If I couldn't afford the sofa I wanted I would compromise with a second hand bargain until I could.

Tesco, Sainsburys and Asda have good home ware bargains in their sales, especially Sainsburys and also Dunelm.

I've always had a Henry and been very happy with him

[delilahbucket]

The best mattress you can afford, a couple of blankets for in the lounge (I'm always snuggling under mine when I'm cold and dp is warm!), storage for the bathroom if you don't have a cupboard, blackout blind for your bedroom (IKEA is superb value for these), over door hooks are handy. Kitchen knives are worth spending a bit more on, we have a big knife from Pro Cook which is my favourite. We also got a big round sort of casserole none stick pan from there that goes from the job to the oven. It gets used almost every day. It is dishwasher safe too.

[Aderyn19]

Go to Primark and look in their home dept for decent but inexpensive bedding etc. TK Maxx is great for kitchen stuff and mirrors, odd bits of furniture.

[TheCraicDealer]

@butterbeanplant we have the telly wall mounted and the sideboard under it. The sideboard's three cabinets hold the playstation (had to drill a hole through the back panel for cables/ventilation but c'est la vie), booze stash, DVD's and other shite I don't want sitting out.

[WannabeGlamper]

Ooh, I'd buy a vintage Ercol rocking chair.

[Sizeofalentil]

@butterbeanplant we've got three robot vacuums (only cheapish £80 ones), and set them to go live in different parts of the house x2 a day. They do bathrooms too, but can't get wet.

I'd say it's worth it as it stops dust from settling on the floor even. And, it makes you tidier as anything you leave on the floor could potentially get pushed around!

[butterbeanplant]

They look a bit hard @WannabeGlamper!

This robot vacuum thing might really happen @sizeofalentil. DH has asked if Siri can control it, so I know he's keen

[Bowerbird5]

Rocking chairs. Big charity shops or Hospice shops. I have a pine one which is a good solid chair. Lots of people don't want them so keep a look out at auctions. I could have given you one last year cos we ended up with three. DN and DS have them now. I made cushions for mine.
Ercol is a very good brand for anything so wise suggestion from Wanna
Lakeland Plastics have good sales and I bought a set of pans from there last year and they are like new still.
B&M or the Range for bins, basins often marked down stuff available. Buy these things cheap and better quality vacuums etc. I have a Dyson but I bought a cheap Morphy Richards for my sons house and it was £59 and lasted quite a few years so you can be lucky.
Charity shops are great for casserole dishes, plates etc.

[LesLavandes]

Recently moved into a newbuild. Habitat is my friend and will be yours. Great quality at good prices and oh so stylish. Sales very often