from an apartment to a house

Maya

Tue, Feb 14 2012, 4:43 pm

We moved from an apartment to a house, but in the same state. I'm not sure why that makes a difference. Will you need a bigger moving truck if you decide to take furniture?

You will obviously need much more furniture if you are moving to a house bigger than the one you lived in until now. We took everything along, including all house decor except for some light fixtures. Most things found a place in the house, and those that didn't we threw out after.

You can furnish as much or as little as you want, but the basics you must do. Beds in all the rooms where people will be sleeping, a kitchen, table and chairs in either kitchen or dining room, a couch or two, closets/shelving, and anything else you feel is necessary.

We finished furnishing the entire house within a year of moving in, but I know many people who take years to complete the decor.

The money thing is individual, I think. Will you be thinking in the Ikea and Target range, Crate and Barrel/Pottery Barn range, or more expensive? How many bedrooms and living areas do you have to fill with furniture and decor? Do you like to buy many pieces to decorate a room, or do you prefer everything uncluttered?

crl

Tue, Feb 14 2012, 4:57 pm

I don't know for sure, since I am in the process of moving, but this is what I plan on doing. Also, it really depends from where you are moving, but I doubt there is such a huge difference in prices, though I may be wrong.

Furniture - Unless you really hate it, I'd move it. You can always replace it later, but better to have an ugly couch than no couch at all. We are purchasing new beds to be delivered straight to the house since a) we need new mattresses anyway and b)there will be a lag between actual moving and furniture/big item moving so we don't want to sleep on the floor. We don't anything other than beds, a breakfront and dining room table so we will have to purchase new anyway so may as well have it delivered to the new house.

Small items - Go through what you have and see if there is anything you'd like to get rid off. Obviously, don't throw out something just for the sake of throwing it out, but use moving as an opportunity to purge stuff you haven't used and never will. (Like, keep your pretty vases that you use only for yom tov, but give away the vases that you haven't touched since your wedding unless you plan on using them now that you have the space.) Anything cheap that might break in transit you can replace once you're there, but again, don't get rid of something you might miss after the fact.

Bathroom/kitchen items: Small appliances, keep. Any unused toiletries you can pack in a box (put first in plastic bags then wrap really well so they don't explode in transit) so you have some of them once you're there. (You don't want to worry about buying toothpaste or toilet paper the first night you're there!) I'm trying not to buy a lot of groceries that wont get used up which is a little more expensive now, but is worth it so I don't have to throw out a ton either.

Honestly, unless you're doing major construction, all you need are beds to move in, providing the house comes with appliances like fridge, oven, etc. Decorating and getting a house "ready" takes time, as does unpacking so you might be living out of boxes for a little bit. Try and make Shabbos arrangements so that making the first Shabbos is off your head.

In terms of budget for decorating -- everyone is different, in terms of taste, amount willing to spend, etc. What I'm doing (based on deals at Jennifer Convertibles and Bob's Furniture) is I am assuming furnishings for the living room and family room to cost around 1000-1500 per room, another 1500ish for the basement, and unclear how much for the bedrooms since a)I have no idea what I want in my master bedroom yet and b)no kids yet, so not sure what I'm doing in the other bedrooms yet either. For those rooms, I just have a craigslist and shul list alert to find out about free or cheap used furniture in case I see anything I want.

My husband and I plan on doing the painting ourselves (except for maybe wallpaper stripping - ughhhh) and my husband is handy so he's going to replace the chandelier in the dining room (costs however much we decide to spend on a chandelier) and install a double sink in the place of the current ceramic one in the kitchen. I found some "countertop paint" for the kitchen countertops that gives the look of granite to formica and costs like $80 for the entire kitchen, so I'd like to try that since the counters are kind of plain at the moment. We also are constantly looking for deals on things we like at TJ Maxx/Marshalls/Homegoods/Bed Bath and Beyond clearance, etc. so sometimes we'll find something we like, and will buy it in anticipation of the move. Otherwise, we recognize that it wont be a complete project for a while, but we want to make sure it's "our style". Our goal is really just to have the main floor mostly completed by Pesach.

Anyway, thats my opinion/plan (sorry for the long post haha) but if you want to discuss anything else or have any more questions, feel free to PM me! Smile

Good luck with everything!