HOW MUCH WILL YOU NEED TO FURNISH YOUR HOME

Furnishing your home

In this post, I will be writing about our purchases for our rental home. The things you will need depends on whether you chose to settle for an unfurnished or a furnished flat. We chose to go with a furnished flat because it will be easier for us when we have to move back to Singapore. For us, major furnitures were generally included and they were – an L shaped sofa, television, dining table and chairs x 4, standing fan x 1, vacuum cleaner, broom and dustpan, kitchen with fridge and induction cooker hob, bed-frame with mattress (king size bed and double bed) with small side tables and lamps, wardrobes for each room were also provided.

Day of arrival

We were not familiar with the area when we first arrived and the only place that was familiar to us was IKEA. Of course, we did some research before flying but still decided that IKEA was our best choice since it has everything we will likely need to purchase. The first thing we did after settling down in our apartment was to head down to the nearest IKEA – we were lucky that IKEA Greenwich was not too far away from our apartment.

So, we made a trip down to IKEA on the day that we arrived in London to try to get what was needed. There are other places that you can also check out if you have the time! I will put down a list of places that you can go to and to check out prices before flying over.

Bedroom Essentials

A king bed, a double bed as well as wardrobe and curtains came with the house. So the things we had to get were: 1) duvet 2) pillows 3) bedsheets 4) toddler bed frame and mattress set.

We bought everything we needed from IKEA, and got duvet with TOG 4.5 that was on discount. However, we soon realised that TOG 4.5 was too thin for us especially going into the winter season. So we got thicker duvet (TOG 13.5) and at the same time, purchased thicker and more comfortable pillows for ourselves from AMAZON UK.

Kitchen Essentials

We tried to get everything we needed on the first day from IKEA. But we soon realised that we could have also gotten some kitchen essentials from places like TESCO.

We chose delivery for the heavier items such as the bed frame, toddler table and chair set, and other items as it was impossible for us to lug it back to our house. We hand-carried the main essential items needed for the bedroom and kitchen before ordering delivery separately for other items.

Having lived in London for awhile now, there are other places where you can get your essentials from. These are definitely not exhaustive and I’m sure there are many other options to get your essentials from.

• Amazon (You can consider getting a Prime Membership)
  • We bought toys, pillows and duvet from Amazon and quality was really quite good.
  • I usually look out for sales whenever I can, especially for toys.
• Tesco
  • You can get your laundry rack, pots and pans and other kitchen essentials here
  • We bought a set of 3 pots with 2 pot covers, and it is lasting quite well given that we cook quite regularly here
  • Remember to get your Tesco member account / card as early as you can! Clubcard discount is really good and important if you’re staying in UK for extended period of time
• Asda
  • Did not get anything from Asda except for books or toys, and snacks but they do have selection of items to choose from for your essentials
• Poundland
  • You can get smaller household essentials e.g. storage boxes, cake toppers / tins, cleaning supplies etc. If you are on a budget, drop by to take a look!
• John Lewis
  • Large departmental store that is similar to Tangs / Robinsons in Singapore
  • They have a selection of furnitures for the living, dining as well as bedrooms
• Primark Home
  • Depending on which Primark you visit, the size and variety on display under the home section varies. If you have the time, head down to Oxford’s store to shop for home items – some items that you can expect to see are: storage boxes, cups and mugs, rugs and mats, essential oils and display items
• Facebook Marketplace (Check out Facebook Marketplace for deals on furniture. You can search by proximity to where you are staying. You will usually have to make arrangements to transport the items to your own place.)
• Temu (Online)
  • Similar to Shopee SG, this shopping marketplace is great and I’m so glad a friend introduced us to this online shopping platform. Things are a lot more affordable on this website. We actually bought quite a number of items from Temu and quality has been quite good till now.
  • If you are intending to shop on Temu, you can use my referral link: https://temu.to/k/usxDUR3sMb5OnEt
  • If your referral is a new app user, they will get：
    – £100 coupon bundle after downloading the app via your link.
    – 50% off discount via searching your code (my code is: afc58838) after downloading the app

What did we get and how much did we pay?

Lost the receipt for our in-store purchases and it’s not in my IKEA account because I didn’t create an account when I made the purchase. We dropped by TESCO on the first day as well to get some groceries for the day and for the next day. Prices below are as of now, and the items we bought were:

• GRUNKA 4-piece kitchen utensil set (IKEA) – £7
• TOLERANT Wok (IKEA) – £13
• KORKEN Bottle with Stopper, 1L (IKEA) – £2.50
• OFTAST plates and bowls (IKEA) – each item less than £1!
• POKAL Glass for drinking (IKEA) – £0.75
• FORSLAG 3-piece Knife Set (IKEA) – £10
• LEGITIM Chopping Board (IKEA) – £2.50
• TESCO 3-piece pan set (TESCO) – £11
• We also got a set of dining utensils (knife, spoon and fork x 4 each) and bedsheets for the junior bed from IKEA

We also made an online order for delivery and the items we got were:

• SNIGLAR Bed Frame and Guard Rail (IKEA) – £47
• LUROY Slatted Bed Base (IKEA) – £12
• UNDERLIG Foam Mattress for junior bed (IKEA) – £59
• LATT Children’s Table with 2 Chairs (IKEA) – £27
• LUDDROS Mattress Protector, Double (IKEA) – £17
• FIXA 17 Piece Tool Set (IKEA) – £9
• FULLANDAD 5-piece Kitchen Utensil Set (IKEA) – £4 (personally, this is an excellent purchase at a great price! great for non-stick appliances)
• HOLASS Bin with Lid (IKEA) – £3 (bought this to use as a diaper bin, and it works well enough to keep diaper smell in! except when we are clearing the bin 😅🙊)
• TROFAST Storage Box, white, 42 x 30 x 10cm (IKEA) – £3 (great for dough or sand play!)
• FLUNDRA Dish Drainer, white (IKEA) – £2.50
• ORDNING Cutlery Stand (IKEA) – £3
• GRILLTIDER Squeeze Bottle (IKEA) – £2 (useful and great price!)
• SURSOT Ice Cube Tray (IKEA) – £1 (I found this too small, and I ended up not using it as an ice cube tray, but you can always use to make ice for educational purposes / sensory play for kids!)
• BRUNKRISSLA Duvet Cover and Pillowcases (IKEA) – £30
• KRAMA Washcloth (IKEA) – £4.50

Prices stated were what we paid when we made the purchase. Prices vary depending on their offers.

As mentioned, we initially got pillows and duvets from IKEA as well. But we decided to get thicker pillows and thicker duvet from AMAZON UK. 1) King sized duvet TOG 13.5 – £15.34 2) Pack of 2 pillows – £8.83. Items purchased and listed above are all doing well despite regular use, and I would suggest to check for reviews if you are intending to make any purchases. We bought memory foam bathroom mat – £7 and extra towels – they have different sizes and colours, varying in prices but we got the ones that cost £4 or £5 from PRIMARK HOME.

Let me know if you have any queries, will be happy to help if I can! You can read my previous posts for more information on cost of living in London.