How much to furnish a home, pretty well from scratch?

[Ember]

Say you had to move overseas, and it wasn't practical to take much of your stuff with you. Furniture would be too expensive to move, and your electronics wouldn't plug in and work with the power system. Now that you've arrived, how much do you think would be a reasonable amount to furnish your place and set up your home?

Thus far I've spent:

Sofa, chair, and ottoman (lovely set, on clearance) - $650
Bed, mattress, blankets, pillows, and sheets - $600
Book cases, tv stand, and various storage solutions - $400
Kitchen supplies - $200
Dining set - $250
Misc. - $100


My goal was to be under $2000, so I'm feeling pretty good. But I have nothing to compare it to, so I'm just wondering how others think they might have done. Things are more complicated, because it's a three year contract, so we may only be here for three years before moving again. So I wanted nice things to make it feel like home, without spending a lot on the chance we move in a few years... (In which case I hope to sell some of the stuff to make back at least a but of the money spent.)

 

[Judique]

Say you had to move overseas, and it wasn't practical to take much of your stuff with you. Furniture would be too expensive to move, and your electronics wouldn't plug in and work with the power system. Now that you've arrived, how much do you think would be a reasonable amount to furnish your place and set up your home?

Thus far I've spent:

Sofa, chair, and ottoman (lovely set, on clearance) - $650
Bed, mattress, blankets, pillows, and sheets - $600
Book cases, tv stand, and various storage solutions - $400
Kitchen supplies - $200
Dining set - $250
Misc. - $100


My goal was to be under $2000, so I'm feeling pretty good. But I have nothing to compare it to, so I'm just wondering how others think they might have done. Things are more complicated, because it's a three year contract, so we may only be here for three years before moving again. So I wanted nice things to make it feel like home, without spending a lot on the chance we move in a few years... (In which case I hope to sell some of the stuff to make back at least a but of the money spent.)

It's kind of an open ended question as we don't know where you moved and what level you expect to live at.

It sounds like you are happy with what you have and the prices sound extremely reasonable to me. Enjoy your new home and furnishings! I'm sure you will be able to get something back in three years.

 

[Ember]

It's kind of an open ended question as we don't know where you moved and what level you expect to live at.

Yes, it was open ended... I was just wondering what other people would budget in the same situation, I guess.

 

[lovewdwdvc]

I am a firm believer in buying quality. I prefer to have one or two good pieces and then go without (or go with card table, beanbag chairs etc.) for a while until I can get good quality.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

There is no way to answer this question as we have no idea of the size of your home, how many people live there, costs of items there, etc.

Some of your electronics will work fine with only plug adaptors, such as computers, cell phones, iPods, dual voltage hair dryers, etc.

That said, I'd probably go to someplace like the local Ikea (they are everywhere if you are going to Europe), and get some basic things I could live with for 3 years. The amount you spent sounds pretty reasonable, but I'm assuming it is not for a very large family.

I am a firm believer in buying quality. I prefer to have one or two good pieces and then go without (or go with card table, beanbag chairs etc.) for a while until I can get good quality.

Why waste the money for such a short time, especially if you aren't shipping it back home?

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

If it was a short relocation... I would go to someplace like Ikea and stock up.

Longer I might thing more about quality

 

[prncess674]

I moved cross country and basically only moved clothes and my fine china, the rest was purchased in my new city. I spent about $6,000 furnishing my one bedroom condo. Here is just a rough list I came up with. None of this was high end but was "nice enough" to get me started.

Sofa 900
Living Room Chair 500
Rug 200
Coffee Table/End Tables 200
5 piece dining set 300
Mattress 900
Bedding(pillows, sheets, duvet, comforter,etc) 400
Bedroom TV 400
Living Room TV 900
TV Stand 200
Bedroom Dresser 200
Bathroom Soft Goods 250
Kitchen wares 400
Misc Decorative Items (lamps, art work) 300
$6,050

 

[SettinSail]

As others have stated, it would really depend on what country you have moved to...cheap prices there or expensive? Also, are you military and able to shop at the PX or order online with APO shipping rates or do you have to shop "on the economy"?

We just returned to the US this Summer after a 2 year assignment in Germany w/DH's company (not military).

We opted to ship our existing furniture there and just buy things like window coverings, light fixtures, electronics, lamps, wardrobes (closets). We received an allowance from the company of approx 2500 euro and we used it all. When we left we sold everything we bought easily for about 1/2 the original price. We shipped all our existing furniture back to the States as well as all the beautiful accessories we picked up on our travels-art, vases, clocks, etc.

We felt like we did OK since we didn't use our own money to buy any furnishings to begin with and then we ended up with 1/2 the money in the end after selling them all

It sounds like you've done very well to furnish an entire house for $2200.
I don't think we could have done that in Germany.

We met some ex-pats who did not ship anything over and were given the money it would have cost for the shipment by their company. They then used this money to buy everything and then they sold everything when they left. If we had been given this option, I think we wold have taken it.

 

[3boymthr]

I think it really does vary by quality and quantity. It also would vary significantly based upon the amenities of the new space - is there enough cabinet/closet space to store all the essentials (linens, clothes, food, dining stuff, etc.)

I agree that while you can buy adapters for some electronics, I wouldn't because unless you buy really really high quality adapters the electronics will burn out.

For us I'd have to buy 3 bedrooms of furniture, living room and kitchen so a lot more than what you've bought. At a minimum I'd have to buy 4 beds, dining room/kitchen set for 5, sofa, 2 chairs, coffee/occasional tables, lamps, bureaus/cabinets for 5 (if needed), TV & stand, computer & desk & chair, linens for 5, 5 or 6 lamps, and kitchen stuff for 5.

Since half my furniture is family high quality hand-me-downs (my grandparents' 30s/40s Ethan Allen) I would find it hard to buy and live with cheapy stuff.

I'm guessing I'd have to plan on spending at least 5 or 6 thousand, maybe more depending upon prices where I moved . More also if my kitchen stuff needed to include things like a stove, microwave and/or refrigerator and if I had to buy a washer/dryer. I'm also not factoring the cost of the little accessory things that make a house a home like vases, pictures, clocks, etc. Oh, and toys, those would have to be added in too, I figure a couple hundred (minimum) for those.

 

[mrsklamc]

Really depends where you are. I think it's Germany that taxes you on how much furniture you own, so there's one day a year where people throw stuff out rather than pay taxes on it, and the American service people there collect it.

 

[scrapquitler]

Say you had to move overseas, and it wasn't practical to take much of your stuff with you. Furniture would be too expensive to move, and your electronics wouldn't plug in and work with the power system. Now that you've arrived, how much do you think would be a reasonable amount to furnish your place and set up your home?

Thus far I've spent:

Sofa, chair, and ottoman (lovely set, on clearance) - $650
Bed, mattress, blankets, pillows, and sheets - $600
Book cases, tv stand, and various storage solutions - $400
Kitchen supplies - $200
Dining set - $250
Misc. - $100


My goal was to be under $2000, so I'm feeling pretty good. But I have nothing to compare it to, so I'm just wondering how others think they might have done. Things are more complicated, because it's a three year contract, so we may only be here for three years before moving again. So I wanted nice things to make it feel like home, without spending a lot on the chance we move in a few years... (In which case I hope to sell some of the stuff to make back at least a but of the money spent.)

I think that the amount you spend and what is 'reasonable' would depend totally on what country you are in and what the costs in that country are.

One worldwide retailer that I might suggest looking at for household purchases is IKEA. Beyond that, is there a presence of Ebay, Craigslist or flea markets/tag sales? I think that would be a good way of getting things inexpensively, especially since you might be moving again soon to another country and be back in the same situation.

 

[cdrn1]

I could live with a comfy chair/ottoman, a TV tray and a comfortable bed!

 

[Shanna-like-Banana]

Yes, in Germany there are 2 days a year, 1 in spring another in fall where people can put large pieces out on the curn to either be picked up by others, or by the garbage collection for no additional charge.

If it was a govronment move, you should be able to use the lending closet. They have eevvveerrryyyyything you need to set up your apt and you can borrow it for as long as you need it.

Other than that, A transformer is what you would have needed to transfer the elec currency from 220 to 110. They are espensive, approx $100, but the lending closet has those also.

Other than that, when we moved to EU we hit up IKEA also.

Reguardless of your furniture situation :

PLEASE PLEASE enjoy your time there, it will be over in the blink of an eye and a few years later you will be on an online forum wishing somebody else enjoyed it as much as you did. Get out, travel, explore and enjoy the culture. Sure there will be things from "home" that you will miss, but you know what, they will be here when you get back

 

[Janepod]

Rent a furnished place and save yourself the hassle.

 

[disneywatcher]

It depends on what country you move to.

I've got friends currently living in Korea (with the Army) who have a nice 3 bedroom apartment/home (not sure which) that's got all their furnishings provided along with utilities in their entire rent cost. Their landlord provided them with a flat screen TV and other things of the like...again all in their rental agreement.

When we all lived in Germany, the only thing we did NOT take with us was our washer and dryer, dressers, deep freeze and microwave. We lived in housing and had a small kitchen with lots of storage and built in closets and drawers. We had a community laundry room with 6 washers and dryers as well as a storage closet. When we first arrived our sponsor provided us with blankets, towels and kitchen items to use that he let us keep. The military has the lending closet and often there are thrift stores located on the bases with nice items (dinette sets, arm chairs, storage, curtians, bedding, ect).