What to spend or splurge on?

[KittenCatt]

My partner and I have just bought our first house! We’ve pretty much had to start from scratch, so any advice would be greatly received.

We’ve just splurged on a new sofa (our old sofa wouldn’t fit through the door of our new house!) I’ve also splurged on a new TV as our previous one was on its last legs, so to speak.

Is there anything you feel we should definitely splurge on for the house? Anything we can save on etc.

Thank you!

The title should be splurge or save* - sorry!

I'd splurge on a decent bed. If you have or are planning kids, I wouldn't splurge on furniture due to general childhood wear and tear, or glasses/crockery etc. that can get broken and need to be replaced. It can be expensive to kit out a whole house, and it can take a while to know exactly what you want/need, but you can make it look nice with stuff from ikea, H&M home etc. and replace stuff steadily over time.

Don't rush until you've been there for a while and know what it's like to live in and what would be "perfect".

Make do with 2nd hand and work through it.

A really good bed and a dishwasher! Enjoy your new home!

If you have only lived in flats before, then a barbecue would be great for the summer.

Also, air fryers are brilliant.

Looking at my house: Miele dishwasher did it’s whisper quiet operation. High quality oven and induction hob. Long lasting appliances have been important to us. My luxury is a boiling tap! Oh and always make sure you have enough storage. Everywhere!

Good blinds or curtains, or shutters if those are your thing. But depends what you find after you live there for a while really.

If you're planning to live there for a while, then spend your money on fixtures and fittings rather than furniture. We waited years to replace horrible B&Q interior doors with nice stripped pine ones from a reclaim yard - I just don't know why we didn't do it sooner but has made a massive difference to the feel of our home.
Same for putting back period style sash windows. Expensive but money well spent.

Congratulations on your new home! Agree with spending on a good dishwasher - I’ve found there’s a big difference in performance, stability of the baskets, and noise as you go up brands. I also generally think it’s worth holding off and thinking about what you like and then choosing the best things because if you get stop-gap stuff it’ll end up annoying you and if you’re like me you might not be able to convince yourself to upgrade. Things that need to have structural strength and take weight such as beds, mattresses, sofas, chairs, I think are worth spending on. But don’t forget joy - if there are things that will give you joy eg design classics they’re worth spending on as you’ll keep them forever - I’ve got furniture from my first flat from more than 20 years ago that I’ll never stop using.

Splurge on paying down the mortgage first if you have one ?
I know that's very boring but as prices fall it's sensible.

I think the advice to live in the place for half a year or so before splurging is sensible. We splurged on some dining chairs much too soon after moving in and I really wish now we’d waited as they don’t “work” where we have them.

I would also splurge on fixtures, flooring and curtains / blinds if you think you’ll be staying in the house for more than a few years, and higher end appliances.

We have a Which subscription - it’s been very helpful over the years when we’ve been making “splurge” decisions.

As others have said, splurge on good appliances. It's boring, but you need them to be reliable and last a long time. For most furniture, just make do with second hand. Ebay and Facebook marketplace have loads of perfectly acceptable furniture that will do until you work out what you really need and what your style is.

With dishwashers: check the dBS rating: decibels. Low 40s you can live with!

Having done two big renovations (absolutely all fixtures and fittings and appliances and walls and plumbing and everything new), the things we spent more money on and I wish we hadn't: custom bike shed (should have got off the shelf), distinctive light fittings (should have got simple ones)
Things we tried to economise on and wish we hadn't: toilets and a bath (got the cheaper Victorian Plumbing ones and the seats broke constantly, bath leaked through the ceiling the first time we used it)
Things we've learned to invest in: a decent mattress