Essential furniture for day one in your new home
Updated: 14th Jun, 2024
Author: Charlotte Burton
Moving into your first home is a big step, and figuring out what furniture you need shouldn't add to the stress. Furniture can take a while to be delivered, so it's a good idea to start researching this early.
Here’s a straightforward guide to help you get the essentials sorted so you can enjoy your new home from day one.
Must-Have Furniture for Day One
Basic Furniture and Appliances Focus on these essentials to make your house functional immediately:
- 🛏️ Sleeping: A mattress is essential for a good night’s rest.You might also want a bed frame so you’re not on the floor!
- 🍽️ Kitchen essentials: cutlery, plates, bowls, glasses & mugs, pots, pans, utensils, kettle, toaster, microwave, bin
- ❄️ Appliances: If the place doesn’t come with them, you’ll need a fridge and freezer right away, then washing machine in the near future.
- 🧺 Sitting and storing: Start with a sofa and something to store your clothes in, like a wardrobe or chest of drawers.
- 🪑 Eating area: A simple table and chairs will do the trick for meals and more.
- 💡 Light: Get some lamps if your new home doesn’t have enough light fixtures.
- 🧯 Stay safe: Make sure you have smoke detectors and a carbon monoxide detector set up. Keep a fire extinguisher or fire blanket handy.
- 🧰 Tools: A basic toolkit with a screwdriver, hammer, and measuring tape will help you assemble furniture and hang things safely.
Tips for buying furniture for your new home
Buying a home is expensive, so you might not have much money left over to buy furniture. Here are some tips to stretch your budget, or make do until you can save up some more money.
- Focus on buying only what you absolutely need to start living comfortably.
- It’s not a race and you can take as much time as you need. Once you're settled in and your finances are stable, you can gradually add more pieces of furniture.
- While you’re deciding on the decor style you want or saving up so you have a bigger budget, there are some temporary solutions you can try.
- For example, if you don’t have curtains you can try velcro blackout blinds or stick-on window coverings to manage privacy and light.
- You can also use things like an air bed or camping chairs to get by until you buy permanent furniture.
- Hold off on making large purchases until after exchange to ensure the sale is secure. Otherwise you might be left with a load of furniture and nowhere to put it!
- Waiting until exchange also means you’ll know your completion date, so you can make sure the deliveries of large items come after completion. This avoids having to pay to put things in storage or move it from your old home to your new one.
- If you need some initial furniture on a budget, try exploring second-hand online platforms like Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree, and Freecycle for great deals on furniture.
- You can also go in person to charity shops like the British Heart Foundation, which not only offers affordable options but also delivers, making it convenient for big items.
- DFS might have a furniture sale on, but be quick before it ends! 😉
- After paying your deposit and various fees, you might not have much cash available to buy furniture right now.
- Lots of furniture retailers allow you to purchase items on finance. You can also get 0% credit cards which you can learn more about at MoneySavingExpert.
- Check with your mortgage broker before taking on any new debt. UK lenders can credit search at any point up to completion, and in a worst case scenario your new debt could result in your mortgage offer being pulled.
- Waiting until completion before taking out any financing/new credit cards is generally the safest option.
