How do you fully furnish a house from scratch, if...................................?

[jmg1]

You are single with 3 kids + 2 dogs, you live overseas and plan to move to the UK how would you buy ALL the contents needed for your new home?

I would spend 3 days alone (farm kids out), rope a friend in to help, and go to IKEA and do it as quickly as possible.

And I would just buy the basics and get extra stuff at your leisure.

Options, based on how much $$ you have (most expensive first):

• go to John Lewis or similar (or call them from overseas). Explain what you need. They will have personal shoppers who can sort it all out with minimal input from you.

• big Ikea trip (rent a van). Use their childcare facilities if possible.

• Look in Loot or similar, find someone who's moving away, buy all their stuff.

Do have any friends in the UK with a garage or storage? If so could you order stuff online and get it delivered to them in advance especially as some things will have 6wk delivery times etc.

so you're coming back JMG ? Any ideas where you plan to lay your hat ?

I would stay in temp accomodation while I sorted it out tbh

Do you know what sort of house you are moving to? Do you have all the measurements?

If you just go to Ikea your house will look awful. You need to construct a house not just shove one together IYKWIM

If it only temporary til your stuff arrives from Portugal then could you rent furnished? Or then go to ikea I guess

Actually this would be my dream job, to furnish someone's house from scratch! A friend of mine asked me to do his but he hasn't got round to buying it yet

I would do it for you but would have to be on Friday/Weekends I guess. Only if you want nice, interesting things though, I am not going to Ikea!

Probably sounds nuts but so much has happened and need to give UK another go before making longer term decision, may well come back here in a year's time.
Haven't found a place yet but looking at a few both rental and sales.

Yeah, Ikea sucks. But it's a good stopgap.

When we moved into our house (a couple, no kids, no dogs, only moving across London, so not at all the same thing), we did an Ikea run to get the basics, and have since been replacing all of it with stuff we like more.

cd, would like nice stuff.
Leaving amost everything in Portugal. bringing back pc, best pictures, stereo, best tv's, clothes.

ooh sounds fab

If you come over and rent for a bit first you can do yourself though yes?

Normally large houses are let unfurnished, it would be great to find a furnished one but very rare.
Trouble with your idea is that we could have different taste. I have a vision of Arsenal rugs, posters, lampshades, mugs and duvet covers and who knows what!

We could

I like mixing old and new stuff, love last century antiques, older rugs and textiles, the odd very modern bit, the odd very shabby bit IYKWIM.

I HATE anything matching eg table and chairs, 3 piece suites (barf)

What do you like?

jmg - I found a 5 bed furnished that we lived in for a year - so you can get them. Ours was a guy who had himself relocated to the US temporarily and so didn't want to cart stuff around.

And you can get away with not having much to start off - we moved into this 6 bed house with only the furniture from a 2 bed flat, and dd's new bed. We are just gradually filling a room at a time. You can also get stuff through your ocal freecycle. People give away stuff, but you have to collect

eg I have georgian bureau, 14th C chinese silk hanging, V modern boxy leather chair, lloyd loom chair, massive comfy sofa, georgian side table, 1920s pretty little chandelier, huge gilt mirror, 16th C ebonised longcase, crappy old dresser I got for £40 at garage sale and painted, massive 20s oak table with Ercol butterfly chairs 50's and 60s habitat chairs

tbh, all you need is the beds and couple of chairs The rest can be done when lyou are back and the kids are at school or with a child minder. When we moved form london to cuntry we all slept in sleepoing bags for a night until I furniture arrived

(so if you are a fan of DFS elephant scrotum sofas then I am NOT for you)

cd I like interesting things but have mostly modern simply because I am not really into the shopping/hunting around aspect, don't seem to have time.
sounds like you could start a business doing something you enjoy!

prufrock since I have been looking there has been one furnished house but it was gone by the time I sent an email to the agent, let alone booked a flight to do a viewing, there could be another you never know.

have'nt yet bought anything from dfs!

Yes I had thought of that

Furnishing houses for the cash rich time poor types. Would be my idea of heaven

I never do it though cos I figure that everyone is like me and attaches some significance to each piece of their stuff, therefore what is the point of having something that someone you are paying has chosen.

In fact I was thinking more of a search sort of thing, finding options for people eg if they are looking for a particular piece I could find several nice examples and then do on commission.

elephant scrotum,
not really into scrotums

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I knew I should never have sat on that sofa

it is unbelievably vile non?

well put it like this, if you came home with that on your back I still would'nt pay you