New flat

[ciphergoth]

I have a new flat! It's a studio flat ten minutes walk from Tooting Bec tube. It's small, but I'll be living on my own for the first time in my life, which will be an interesting change. All being well I should get the keys on Saturday - actual removals will take place the following weekend, because I want to buy some furniture to put things on/in first. IKEA here we come...

Comments

[actionreplay.livejournal.com]

Some IKEA tips - the first thing you should do is get the catalogue. Decide more or less what you want with the help of the catalogue, paying particular attention to the measurements of each piece of furniture. Once you have worked out what you want, make a first trip out to Brent Park and see what the furniture looks like in the flesh. If you just go out to get it all in one go, it will take forever and you will get Ikea burnout. You'll also be able to see if there's anything that's out of stock (the cheapest futon is ALWAYS out in Edinburgh Ikea, for instance - I think the website allows you to check stock and availibility on everything BTW).


Second trip involves renting/getting a van/large car, some friends, and going at an off-peak time and getting the actual furniture you want quickly.

You will find that you can't take the trolley holding your sofa/bed/table right out to your van/car as there will be bollards in the way - this is where your friends come in handy, as you will need them to manoeuvre all the furniture in. Off peak is because on Saturday afternoons, there are people and little kids running everywhere around the loading area which makes reversing your van/car in quite hairy, especially if, like me, you had a rented van you weren't used to driving.

The marketplace section is great for reasonably cheap small stuff, like toilet brush (*50p), glass/plates, etc. Make sure to bring a box or something to put the breakables in as the plastic bags you can get won't help when the stuff ends up rolling around in the back of a Ford Transit.

They do deliver, but this costs extra.

Lastly, get an electric screwdriver before attempting to assemble anything. Trust me on this one.

All our furniture, bar the kitchen table and a few charity shop re-fitted items, is from Ikea, and we found out most of the above the hard way....

[juliet]

They do deliver, but this costs extra.

Not only that, but when we tried to get them to deliver stuff, they took 3 days to do it, which meant Pete spending 3 days not leaving the house, because obviously they *said* every morning that it'd be there within a couple of hours, honest. grrRRR.

I didn't know you could check stock on the website. This is a Good Idea, as they won't put things aside for you, & sod's law guarantees that if you just go there, they will be short at least one of the things you require. (plus IME nothing is ever in the place in the warehouse which it is claimed it will be in. I *hate* IKEA. Sadly, however, it's about the best quality cheap furniture available. Grr.)

Things not to buy from IKEA: potato masher (looks cool; doesn't actually mash things properly), sets of 5 tupperware bowl things (the lids won't stay on). Their bookcases, on the other hand, are pretty good, though I prefer the ones my dad made for us :-)

[tisme.livejournal.com]

Ah, I did the whole tupperware thing too, but there's a simple answer to it which it took me ages and a mistake to work out - you put the lids on the opposite way to a 'normal' tupperware box, so you push them _into_ the tub, if you like. Works a treat, and forms a really good vaccum seal.

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty familiar with the IKEA shopping experience having done a lot of it in Edinburgh, but you're right that I should make a "hand carry only" visit there and plan the large purchases for a further "mate with van" visit. Hmm...