Help me furnish my new home!

[FirstTimeHomeowner]

Hi all,

NC for this... please be kind :)

I'm in the process of buying my first (and dream!) house for me and DS. I'm a single mum and feel like I've been clawing my way here forever ~ 9 years of saving, 2 of searching for the perfect house, and now we're so close to signing and moving in!

I'm a perfectionist and want a nice house. I've saved a decent chunk (£30k) to furnish and get it all nicely set up - it's already decorated well and is coming with white goods.

I'm the first homeowner in my family - the first person to have anything more than a council flat - and I grew up with very second hand, mismatched, broken furniture and housewares. I know the advice is to start with FB marketplace finds but I SO don't want to 😂

So - if you were starting fresh, with a budget a step above IKEA, what would you splurge on or save on? What do you wish you knew buying/furnishing your first place?

Bonus for links of cool shops/your dream homeware picks!

I'm refurnishing my flat at the moment & I browse places like Next, Dunelm & Argos online & have a wishlist, which I regularly refresh to make sure I still like what I have picked, when the time comes to buy, I simply add them to my basket & order.

Definitely get a good sofa. Sofa.com made good ones - ours are 8+ years and have suffered many children jumping up and down on them and they're still going strong.
Go to auction houses for chest of drawers (proper wood, well made). The same quality in your budget first hand would blow your budget - sometimes second hand is better.
New beds frames from John Lewis, loaf or ikea (for kids). Don't go too childish for your DS as you'll be buying another one in a few years. My kids are in double beds for example.
Mattresses from simba or Emma.
Storage / accessories/ bed linens from wherever you want! I like habitat, Zara home, H&M home, ikea M&S, John Lewis, anywhere!
Artwork; don't cover every wall straight away. Buy slowly pieces that mean something to you.

The Premier Inn bed by Silent Night is available to purchase

I have to be honest the most comfortable bed in the house is DS's and both the frame and the mattress came from Ikea! The other thing they are good for is inspiration https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/ideas/rooms-inspiration/ you don't have to buy from them but it might be a good place to start deciding what you do want.

Hopefully, you can get some time in the house before you buy but either way, I definitely agree with the other's that you should plan on getting the bare minimum first, then stop and take stock. Start following retailers on Instagram, especially local homeware stores or boutiques or local craft workers, you'll probably find there is a whole community near by that makes some gorgeous stuff when you are ready to add details.