Need to buy furniture for our new house... debate (oops just realised it's a bit long)

[lunavix]

I can't decide whether to buy nice stuff or cheap stuff, really. We've just bought a house, and:

we have -
: a tv stand, and matching dvd cabinet that's cheapy beechy stuff from argos
: a cd stand and nest of tables that's posh solid wood from debenhams
: a green sofabed (but we want to put that in the conservatory, so no sofa for lounge - pil reckons he can get an old second hand one.)
: a small pine dining table and three chairs we got from freecycle but it's very small (will look a little silly in the new dining room) plus in rather bad condition
: a beech-ish ikea computer desk
: a ton of ikea toy storage (that wooden ikea one with plastic drawers) that there isn't really any room for
they're selling us their oldish fridge freezer, and we're getting a small old freezer off the inlaws.

So for downstairs it really is a mish mash. We don't really have much cash, so it's not like we can go to a furniture shop and say we want 'this this and this' but I'm worried if we don't start getting it sorted it will still be a mess in a few years. I work from home so it needs to look half decent.

Upstairs our room is built in furniture which has seen better days but that doesn't bother me, it's a set lol. Our bed won't really go but too bad it's only us who will see it

ds is all kitted out he got a bedroom set a year or two ago.

DD has nothing really... she has ds's cot but we have to buy a new mattress for it, so we were pondering getting her a bedroom set (a bit a la mamas and papas but cheaper lol) and getting it all matching so it can just stay the same items for the next however many years.

SO what to do.. I can just leave all the downstairs furniture and try not to worry but it really will look a shocker (it's all been nicely done up and painted with posh curtains, laminate and gorgeous walls etc so really will look dreadful with my tatt!)

Or I could buy cheap ikea/argos stuff and try and get it matching but not perfect

or I could get posh stuff from say Next or somewhere and do that interest free plan doo dah

or try and find posh stuff secondhand - which is what I've been doing but failing

I know this is a rather frivilous problem but it's a problem none the less

I personally wouldn't borrow money to buy furniture. Would svae up and do it gradually and in the meantime live with what I had or buy cheap stuff (second hand)

Have you trawled through ebay Luna?

I'm watching a few bits on there to finish off my front room.

You could go for the interest free thing but you need to be 101% sure that when the time comes to pay it back, that you know you will have the cash.
We never do it cos we;re a pair of scaredy cats lol.

can you paint/stain it to blend in?

I would go for the ikea option - you don't have to go for their cheapest stuff

and you might be able to buy online with Ikea where you are too.

NBG - I've had a nose on ebay but the stuff I really like (posh Oak stuff for the lounge ) will always be expensive

I know we could make the monthly repayments but yes I'm not sure borrowing is the right idea, even if it's interest free.

Harumph.

I'd go for ikea stuff. Its cheap, but at least you get matching stuff, which makes it look more expensive than it is IYSWIM.

I'd go for Ikea - you do get pretty good quality for the money. Obviously not posh quality but better than Argos.

I'd go for Ikea - just about all our furniture is Ikea and the pricier stuff is good quality and looks good, but still v. reasonable. Some of our Ikea furniture has been through 4 house moves and is over 10 years old and still looks very nice.
Particularly with small children around expensive furniture just isn't worth it in my experience.

If you pick and choose carefully in ikea it can look really good. But don't dismiss ebay. People do list things cheaply 'just to get rid of them' beacsue they are redecorating or moving house. You can pick up bargains if you're prepared to spend the time searching and waiting. If you are looking for something in particular you can set up a search and have ebay email you every time something new is listed.

Advantage of cheap/secondhand is that it's not as 'precious' as new expensive stuff, so more relaxing if you have a house full of messy kids.

Would also go for cheap Ikea type furniture. Your kids'll wreck anything you have. Some of our stuff is ancient and it still looks okay (bought pre-kids though. When they leave home get some decent stuff.

We have Ikea bedroom furniture but downstairs we have nice stuff. We have bought things in dribs and drabs. I would say get a half decent dining table and chairs and sofa and other stuff as and when you can afford it.

I would look out for second hand furniture esp for downstairs, such as solid tables/book shelves/chairs etc, as often its better quality than IKEA and you won't need to assemble it or deal with masses of cardboard packaging. Try charity shops, junk shops, ebay etc. I find IKEA is good for things like wardbrobes and storage where you need to be practical and efficient and where modern/efficient often works better than old.
If you take measurements of the spaces you have to fill and keep them with you in a notebook along with a tape measure then you can look at things as and when you are out and about, often easier to find things that way.
Would aslo suggest you see how your existing furniture works in your new space so you can then decide what needs to be bought first and what sort of shapes/sizes you will need.