Challenge: Part 2 of 4 in Furnishing and decorating your place for as little as possible

I’ve finally moved! I guess now is when the real work begins… everything is a mess. I can’t even find socks to wear and my favorite trousers have vanished. I’ve got no iron so I wear my wrinkled shirts with pride. I wasn’t quick enough in getting photos of the empty place before all my stuff got moved in by two very, helpful and affordable helpers (my parents!) who took complete control and moved all my stuff over to my new place while I was at work but here’s what the living room looks like:

As you can see, there’s plenty of room in my new place. That’s Flint the Wheaten at the window, by the way, checking out the tasty (but speedy) cats in the neighborhood. Much trouble ahead.

A lot of you suggested Freecycle, so I spent some time watching the message threads there for unwanted sofas, bed frames and shelves. Timing is key - you might want to hold off on Freecycle until you’ve actually moved as the listed items go fast and you probably don’t want to move them twice -  the owners are reluctant to hold anything for you as they worry you won’t pick up if too much time passes by.

There are also a lot of people watching the threads so you’ve really got to be quick, as many (although not all) offer their stuff based on first come first serve! I spent nearly two weeks sending off emails for the stuff that got listed but didn’t have much luck.

Everything got taken faster than I could catch up on the ‘offered’ posts… so in the end, I caved in and got a sofa from Ikea. But we all know it doesn’t pay off being impatient.. that very day someone responded to one of my pleas and offered me a perfectly nice green two seater! Just my luck, but I’m still happy with my new sofa from Ikea (Karlstad 3 seater at £322).

I didn’t realize until I was already at Ikea to pick up my sofa that you don’t have to buy them with a cover! So if you’re looking for something a bit more special, buy the ‘bare’ sofa which will exclude the cost of the cover and order this instead from a third hand supplier like Bemz. Even cheaper - get your favorite Ikea sofa second hand and dress it in one of these beautiful covers (I still think some of their covers are pricey, though).

I also find a lot of inspiration over at Ikea Hacker - this blog is stuffed with great tips on how to get the most out of your furniture. Love this inventive ironing board!

Another great resource of second hand sofas and other furniture in all price classes is GumTree. I found a beautiful oak dinner table with 6 chairs for only £50! You’ve still got to be quick or someone else will bag the deal. If the seller leaves a number on the listing, do pick up the phone and make a call - don’t use email! I put in a phone call as soon as I saw the dinner table listed but someone still got to the owner before me so I got put on the wait list. Luckily, the first person didn’t pick up and the table was mine!

I’m learning that patience is a definite ‘must have’ in this challenge. Rome wasn’t built in a day… In the meantime, I’m getting lots of inspiration from blogs and articles on interior design. Material Girls is already on my rss feed - although I doubt I’ll come across any of the type of furniture showcased here for cheap anywhere soon. But there are plenty of tips to pick up - like this blog post on Decorating With Books. The floating shelves in the living room are beautiful and I absolutely love the idea of book shelves in the bedroom:

I also learn a lot from glossy magazines like House Beautiful - I put together this color scheme for my living room after getting  advice on choosing colours from their website. I might have gone a bit overboard on the blue, perhaps an accent colour is needed..?

All in all, making progress. More soon…