The 'Help Dom Move Into His Flat' Megathread

[Dom]

Af'noon all!

The sun is shining, I'm eating a cheese, onion and ketchup toasted sandwich, and I'm trying to get the ball rolling with this new flat thing I'm doing!

Basically, my brother and I are moving into a flat closer to where we work. He's moving out of his flat in another village, and we're both moving into a place that's bigger than where he is now. He's got a few things he's bringing with him, and I've got some stuff to bring with me, but overall we'll need to buy quite a lot, and organise a lot of things, before we're ready to roll.

I've got a nuber of questions, so here goes!

Bedroom

A bed - I need one. And bedroom furniture as well. I'll need a decent sized wardrobe, bed, chest of drawers (perhaps), side cabinet, and a desk. Does anyone know where the best place to look for beds is these days? I was looking at John Lewis and Dreams.co.uk, but one seems rather expensive and one seems reasonably-priced, but doesn't have anything I like. So can anyone recoomend places where I can order a bed online?

Generally speaking, would people recommend Argos or Ikea for furniture? Or should I look around for more specialised furniture stores?

Lounge Stuff

We've got a three-piece suit already, but we're going to need everything else. The main thing I was looking for is TV advice. I'd like to buy a new TV, and I've seen people going on about LED TVs, but I know nothing about them. What's the difference between an LCD and an LED TV? The LED's are pricier, but I'm guessing that's because they're better quality? Is it better to get a larger, cheaper, LCD TV, or will I notice the difference in quality on an LED TV? I've got a bluray player, and we'll be getting a freeview HD box, so HD television is going to be a big thing. Bro has also got a PS3 so he'll be playing his games in HD too, so the TV purchase is quite an important one.

Talking of Freeview HD, is it better to get a TV with it built in, or should I get a separate box? I figured that getting a separate box is better, as it means that if the box or the TV break, we've not got to replace all of it, only the broken part. Then again, is it cheaper to get a TV with Freeview HD built in? Ideally we'd like it to be a recordable Freeview HD box.

Intertubes

What ISP's would people recommend? Currently we're with Plusnet, and while they're good, their monthly limits are ridiculously low. What I need is an ISP that has a reasonable on-peak allowance (preferably unlimited, but nobody seems to do that these days) and/or also has reasonable off-peak hours. I don't mind if the on-peak limit is a bit on the low side as long as they have generous off-peak hours. Living where we do, we don't get cable services like Virgin, so we're stuck with BT resellers. Speeds will be the same regardless of who we go with, so it's just a case of which ISPs have good allowances and customer service. I'm a heavy downloader, and with iPlayer and all the online gaming/patches/etc, we'll need all the bandwidth we can get, but I don't wan't to be screwed over.

So what ISP are you with, and would you recommend them?

Also, routers and other network things: how cheap are gigabit routers these days? I've got a gigabit network card and NAS box, but as I'm going to have to get a new router (unless the ISP provides one) I was thinking about getting a gigabit one. We'll be streaming content (probably HD films) from the NAS box to the TV via a media player box, so we could really do with the bandwidth. But if it's not necessary to have a gigabit router, or they're still rather expensive, I'll stick with 100Mbit I think.

Talking of media player boxes, does anyone have one? I saw what I thought was a great media player for £160 the other day. It came with a 1Tb hard drive, and played all of the video and audio formats you could think of, including MKV files encoded with H.264. But again, I've not actually bought a media player box, so I don't know if £160 really is a good deal or not.

That's all I can think of for now, but if there's more, I'll post it here. Cheers for the help!

[sarahA]

I wouldn't get furniture from Argos. Ikea is nice and you can get some decent deals but for beds I wouldn't use them as they use european sizes and you'll have to pay extra for special sized mattresses (well that was the case for their kingsize beds at least). Also avoid the big named shops/brands for beds and mattresses. If you look on Martin Lewis's moneysavingexpert.com forums you'll see a lot of chat about beds/mattresses, where to look, where to avoid. We just went to a local independent shop and got an extremely good deal on our divan base of £200-300 (compared to the £500 deal we were offered by a big name store).

If you do go for a mainstream bed/mattress combo, double check the price on Tesco Direct as they sell them about 33% cheaper than the big stores.

Can't help with the rest as I don't know much about TVs, we have a Humax freeview+ recorder which is very good, but I don't think it's HD (we don't have HD tv anyway), and we have Virgin/NTL broadband. Personally I'd keep the freeview box and tv separate.

[Jem]

Argos furniture is cheap poo but we got our mattress from there with a big wodge off - good price. I like Ikea furniture.

[Steve Lampkins]

I've found Ikea to be a bit of a false economy. Especially if you go for the cheaper end.

I think it was Tanty on here who used to work at Ikea, and he used to say that the more expensive stuff was not bad at all.


Before stepping foot in one though, you need to learn how to pronounce it properly. It's not 'eye' 'key' 'er'. it's more like 'icky' 'er', but run the sounds into each other more.

[Dom]

Heh, thanks for the advice. I wouldn't want to look like a fool by saying aye-key-er!

Yeah we had Argos-based furniture at uni way back when, and it did seem to fall apart quite quickly, although I've heard good things about memory-foam top mattresses from Argos (and I guess other places) so I might take a look at their mattresses.

I was looking at Furniture village for bedroom furniture yesterday, when this caught my eye:

http://www.furniturevillage.co.uk/Inventory/Bedroom/Broadway.aspx

I like the whole range, and the style fits in nicely with the room. Has anyone bought from Furniture Village before? Again, I'm clueless as to whether that lot is a bit pricey, considering I'll be getting the bed, the bedside cabinet, and a wardrobe (probably 3-door with the mirror).

As it's a first floor flat, I hope they actually get it all up the stairs without smashing it to pieces.

[familychoice]

As it's a first floor flat, I hope they actually get it all up the stairs without smashing it to pieces.

If it's from Argos it'll be 'self-assembly', even the mattress.

I bought a filing cabinet from there once. Looked great in the catalogues but it came flat packed....slightly worrying as it was made from metal. Not only did it have to be bolted together, the metal 'templates' had to be bent into shape. It took about 2 days to put together and we cant put anything in it as opening the drawers would cause it to fold into itself in a disappointed collapse. Actually it's in the shed now with a big dent in the side where I kicked it.

I like Ikea, it we had one nearer I'd be in there every day.

[Dom]

Aye I've heard their meatballs are good.

Yeah I've had a lot of cheapy Argos stuff over the last few years, so I wanted to avoid them unless someone had a glowing recommendation for them.

I'm pretty sure that the Furniture Village stuff comes flat-packed too, but for their £55 "premier delivery" service, they'll send some burly 8ft tall men round to build it all for you. That'd be quite handy, and it means I'd get to tell them to take it back if they, too, kicked in the side out of frustration, but £55 sounds like a lot for a delivery charge. Might be worth it though. Watching me struggle to get a bed up the stairs would be comical.

So what about TVs then? From what I've read, the LED's are generally better as they use a lot less power and can achieve awesome contrast ratios. I guess the lower power usage is offset by the higher price tag, but I reckon I'll go for it.

[Steve Lampkins]

As LEDs come in, replacing the older versions, you can get some cracking deals on the older stock.

[sarahA]

I've heard good things about memory-foam top mattresses from Argos (and I guess other places) so I might take a look at their mattresses.

You'll only get half the use out of a memory foam topped mattress as you can't (in theory) turn it over. We have a memory foam topper which means we can turn the mattress and just put the topper back on. Got ours for a kingsize for about £50 I think. Saved us chucking our mattress which we could feel the springs in.

[Dom]

Ah. Yeah I know a couple of people who have the toppers, but they complained that it moves about on the mattress a lot because there was nothing to tie it down with. Perhaps that's just a flaw of their particular model though.

I really should remember to turn my mattress over more often though.

[Matt]

I think for the price and the quality LCD HD TV is the way to go, LEDs are better sure, but you have to ask yourself 2 things:

1) in a year 3D LED TVs will be the way to go and a lot cheaper, so is it worth getting a reasonable LCD TV now, and then upgrading in a year or two to something bigger and better?

2) I cant remember. See 1 for more of what I was rambling on about.

Ikea are good for furniture, although we just got some from littlewoods, and its very high quality, pricier though because you can obviously spread the cost

[Dom]

Well I've seen a Full HD 42" LED TV for under £450, with built in Freeview box and 4 x HDMI sockets, USB, and various other things, so if I bought that I wouldn't be upgrading to 3D any time soon.

But yeah, a lot of people I've spoken to have said Ikea is good aside from the funny bed sizes they use. Perhaps I'll give them a look when it comes to buying TV cabinets and bookcases for the lounge etc.

[orydian]

Another vote for Ikea furniture.

ory.

[sarahA]

Ah. Yeah I know a couple of people who have the toppers, but they complained that it moves about on the mattress a lot because there was nothing to tie it down with. Perhaps that's just a flaw of their particular model though.

I really should remember to turn my mattress over more often though.

Ours doesn't shift at all. Possibly they don't have the right size for their mattress or not a very thick mattress so the cover (if fitted) is too big/deep?

[Dom]

Possibly, I'm not sure. I don't tend to examine other people's bedsheets that closely!

The TV is ordered! Got an LED TV in the end as a Google Products search found it nice and cheap on Dixons (of all places) and on the day I went to order it they'd dropped the price again. Bargain! I've also got a media player delivered to hook up to the TV so that we can play music and watch films etc from the PCs in the house.

I need a bit more furniture than I originally thought, so I'll be checking out Ikea for bookcases and the like over the weekend. I'm going to order that furniture I linked to above for the bedroom, but for everything else it'll be Ikea I reckon.

[suedenem]

Ikea?  Has to be Habitat all the way.

[Dom]

Works, meet spanner!

Hmm, Habitat eh? I never thought of that place. I shall take a gander at their website tonight.

[Tony]

Hmm, Habitat eh? I never thought of that place. I shall take a gander at their website tonight.

Make sure you're sat down when you do...

[Dom]

B'dmm tish! 

[suedenem]

Pick 1 or 2 signature pieces from Habitat for each of your main living areas.  Fill in around the edges with less pricey stuff (though obviously not Argos - the nicer Ikea pieces are just about acceptable for this) until you've got the spare cash to replace them one by one.

Habitat had a gorgeous coffee table a few years back, designed by Daft Punk.  It was a black glass cube with red LEDs which lit up when you played music in the same room.

I had to strongly resist sticking a grand on my credit card for it.

[Dom]

This thing?



Looks good, although for £1000 I don't think I'd want to put anything on it. In fact, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't take it out of the box, or even let anyone in the same room as it.

[Steve Lampkins]

I'm feeling nervous just looking at a picture of it.



Wait, is that a fingerprint??


ALT+F4, ALT+F4!!!

[Dom]

Aye, I had to disable images just to reduce the feeling that I was going to prison if I opened this thread again.

[familychoice]

It's all irrelevant anyway once you have kids as everything will be reduced to matchsticks. We just sit on old beer crates now.

Talking of which that was pretty much what I had for my first place. We were on the dole so furniture comprised of whatever bits I could salvage from skips and derelict warehouses which was then 'refurbished' and realigned into something a bit more usable.

Designer furniture basically, but poo designer furniture. Avant garde arty rubbish that was painful to look at and sit on.

Youngsters today etc.

[Dom]

Talking of which that was pretty much what I had for my first place. We were on the dole so furniture comprised of whatever bits I could salvage from skips and derelict warehouses...

Yeah I reckon the coffee table will be an Ikea job, so basically the same thing.

[Dom]

As per my rant in General Discussion, I got my bedroom furniture on Saturday!

Getting new windows and a new front door put in today, so the guys should be there now, doing their thing. The kitchen is also being gutted and installed from scratch, so that'll be nice when it's done. I also managed to paint some walls and ceilings as well, which was a bit of a first for me. Covered my Star Trek Online t-shirt in paint though, but the washing machine got it all out. A lesson learnt there, I think: don't admit to having a Star Trek Online t-shirt.

I was kind of hoping to have moved in by now, but patience is a virtue, they say.