Furnishing our flat, reviews

When we registered our interest for the flat we now live in we were told it was going to be part furnished however that wasn't the case and we were faced with an empty flat. Luckily we already had two Hemnes Ikea bedside tables (which I can't recommend enough), a chest of drawers and a couple of little bits. It was a hard old slog to accumulate the rest but we have almost done it...

Bed

Having lived in student accommodation for the past three years having a comfortable and stylish bed isn't really something I've been used to. The beds the University of Portsmouth provide in halls are akin to lying on a bed of chicken wire loosely covered with a bed sheet. Initially we had decided to purchase a cheap Ikea bed but after reading exceedingly bad reviews we plumped for something a little more substantial.

The furniture we already had was almost entirely white so we chose this white solid wood double bed from Oakworth Furniture, based near us just outside Portsmouth. The reviews were good and having a solid wood bed with a 10 year guarantee seemed a fantastic opportunity. The bed arrived quickly with excellent communications from the showroom, letting me know when it was due to be delivered. When it did arrive it was simple to assemble, a great size and looked just how we wanted.

Priced at £299 this bed isn't cheap cheap but is certainly not overly expensive. Oakworth are doing a further 15% off on solid wood beds with discount code OAK15, free delivery too.

Look: 10/10
Ease of assembly: 8/10
Customer service: 7/10
Delivery service: 7/10
Price: £249.99

Here's a photo of the bed without the mattress, really easy to put up as long as you have two people to lift bits

And another all made up, note the bedside tables are £40 each from Ikea, Hemnes white

Mattress

Obtaining a double mattress at a reasonable price was one of the biggest challenges. I'd looked at Ikea mattresses but they all had awful reviews and came rolled up, other retailers like Argos and Tesco were too expensive and recommended the extra expense of mattress toppers. Luckily my Mum found Mattress Man and specifically this mattress. The excellent reviews were a boost but I made sure to look at few objectively. The mattress came quickly (next day delivery) and was not a roll up (not specified on the website as far as I could tell.) The delivery man was fantastic and really kind, even lending me his phone to ring my boyfriend as I'd accidently locked myself out whilst running out to greet him! Would really recommend especially to those just starting up, fantastic prices. So far it's been really comfortable, it's a great thickness too.

Look: 8/10
Customer service: 7/10
Delivery service: 10/10
Comfort: 8/10
Price: £119.00

Settee

The biggest challenge for us was deciding on a settee which we both liked and which fit well in our space.  As I'm sure you all know settees can take ages to come, specialists like DFS can take up to 8 weeks! From a bit of searching both on the internet and physically it's clear to see that department stores such as Next, John Lewis and Debenhams are the best if you need a quick delivery. DFS boast of their express delivery for certain ranges however that's still 4 weeks! Mike and I spent a considerable amount of time looking for something which complemented the green on the walls and also wasn't too big or too small. Flipping through the Next catalogue there were several ranges which we liked, including the Alexis and Toulouse. We settled on going to view the Toulouse right hand settee. You can request swatches to compare the fabric to your room, they are free bar the delivery fee.

We decided to visit our closest largest Next Home in Southampton, luckily they had the Toulouse right hand in stock which was fantastic! As soon as we walked into the store I pointed out a settee in the distance which looked great, as we approached we realised it was indeed the one we had come to see, the range can be seen here.

Somewhere to sit, at last!

It was love at first sight, the settee was comfy and the fabric it was in, Salerno light natural, looked great. The sofa had a large chais end and was really contemporary without losing it's classy look, we also felt the neutral colour would help if we moved in the future.

The settee was part of the 4 day delivery range which was perfect for us, the delivery men were very helpful and put it all together and also took away their rubbish, it was actually DHL.


The cushions are also from Next and can be found here: left hand cushion (£14), right hand cushion (£14). 

Look: 10/10
Ease of assembly: 10/10 (all done by great delivery men)
Customer service: 10/10 (courtesy call, texts)
 Delivery service: 10/10
Comfort: 9/10
Price: £975.00

Please note that other materials are less, the listed price of this settee is £925 but this depends on the fabric you choose.

Wardrobe

Having a dressing room last year, a wardrobe isn't something Mike and I have had to worry about whilst living together. This time we did plump for the flat pack giant, Ikea. We toyed with having two wardrobes but everyone knows too much furniture can visually shrink a room. Knowing that one standard wardrobe wouldn't suffice we looked into three door options. The Apselund chest of drawers we have doesn't seem to be on offer anymore, which is just as well really and it's an unstable piece of furniture, at least it matches our theme though! Ikea seem to have introduced a new range, Brusali.

Whilst in Southampton we browsed around the showroom, knowing we'd have to order for delivery. This Brusali three door wardrobe really caught my eye as it was attractive, large but not too large and also had a mirror door. Checking the inside the wardrobe incorporated many of Ikea's ingenious storage ideas, with adjustable shelves and space for many clothes. Inside there is a large clothes rail and a smaller one which makes separating clothes easier. Perhaps the smaller section could be used for out of season clothes such as fleeces and coats.

Annoyingly Ikea charge a ridiculous £35 for delivery so we decided to order some garden furniture, a coffee table and some floor protectors just to try and justify the price a little more.

When the delivery arrived the men were courteous and kind, carrying all of the packages down the steps and into my living room. As soon as Mike got home from work we set about building our new wardrobe, this was exciting for the first 30 minutes! All in all in took almost three hours to build, the instructions were not exceedingly clear and there was almost 40 individual steps.

However, when the wardrobe was finished it fitted perfectly next to our chest of drawers (maybe Brusali is the new Aspelund) and used the space inside really effectively to create maximum storage utilisation. The mirror door is also great if you have no room on the wall for a mirror, I really like the door handles too!

Look: 9/10
Ease of assembly: 2/10
Customer service: 8/10
 Delivery service: 8/10 (courtesy call)
Price: £140.00 plus the £35.00 delivery fee

Inside pictured with the Skubb hanging shoe holder, also from Ikea for just £4 10/10

Coffee table

A coffee table is a must have if you've got a corner sofa, the space is just begging for a snazzy rug or a nice coffee table. Now, they can be very expensive if you aren't too careful and having just shelled out for a settee and other furniture we were feeling pretty frugal.

Ikea aren't known for their product quality but more convenience and price. The coffee table we bought was from the Lack range and cost just £14! Looking online it's obvious the product could be a little 'tacky' and cheap looking, which is completely understandable given the price, however after seeing the oak effect table in the store we snapped one up! Relatively easy to assemble the table fits perfectly in the space created by our corner sofa, it has a handy second shelf for storing magazines etc. to keep a tidy table top. Really like the oak effect but if you prefer the white or black I'd recommend seeing it in person first. Top purchase!


Look: 8/10
Ease of assembly: 7/10
Customer service: 8/10
Delivery service: 8/10 (courtesy call)
Price: £14.00

Lack Ikea coffee table in Oak Effect

Garden furniture

Having a garden is one of the most exciting things about our new flat. Sitting in my old flat with it's lack of natural light I longed of sitting out in a nice garden with a cup of tea or a glass of Pimms! Living in a flat space is at a premium so we required something that was inexpensive and could stay outside through all weathers. The Tarno garden table and chairs can be bought as a set (£35) or individually, £10 for the chairs and £15 for the table.

For just £35 I didn't expect high quality but both the table and chairs are sturdy and extremely easy to assemble, the chairs literally just fold out. I think it looks quite good sat in the middle of the stone circle in the garden! Highly recommended.

Tarno garden furniture

Look: 8/10
Ease of assembly: 10/10
Customer service: 8/10
Delivery service: 8/10 (courtesy call)
Price: £35.00 (10/10/15)



Well that's all the furniture for the moment, just a desk to arrive. Hope you like our choices!

- Hannah