Hiii,
This is a real chatty blog… here is your warning to put the kettle on & have a coffee chat with me! Home furnishing chats are my favourite with the girls, especially when two of my friends are renovating! Maybe I’m just nosey but I love seeing what people do with their home. With that being said there’s a lot of learning curves when it comes to living away from home for the first time & even more when it’s in a different country. Let’s talk all things first home!
Furnishing
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Ask yourself this. If you don’t see yourself living in the country, don’t waste your money on investment pieces. Cheap and cheerful! If you do see yourself in the country, then go for it! Furnish with whatever budget you see fit. This made it very easy for us to create a budget to guide us when shopping.
As of right now, we don’t see Australia being our forever home. We decided to go cheap and cheerful. With a little online browsing I was able to find the best value shops to furnish our house. IKEA, Big W, Target and Kmart were our saving graces!
Bedroom furniture was all IKEA: $140 bed frame, $15 bedside tables, $10 lamps, $80 all seasons duvet, $500 mattress (there was definitely cheaper options, but with my back problems it’s not worth it for us to let go of quality in this area). Bedsheets we’re $30 from Big W & $35 for two pillows! Facebook Marketplace is great for hangers and wash baskets, you’ll often find these for free on here too! Bedroom cost $825 in total & again this cost can be reduced further with a cheaper mattress.
All our kitchen appliances were bought from Big W for under $100 total! Dishes, kettle, toaster, pots, pans the whole works. Facebook marketplace was home to our fridge for $100, a good scrub when we got it home and it was as good as new! You can sometimes get dishes and cupboard bits for free on here too! Lastly our washing machine was from the pawn shop! I had never ever been in one & honestly hadn’t even thought to look there… Our friend suggested we go in, lo and behold we haggled our washing machine down from $300 to $250! Kitchen all in cost under $450, loads of great bargains here.
Admin
Ask all the admin questions to your friends, family and good old google!
I won’t lie and say that it wasn’t overwhelming being expected to know all this information. It absolutely was. Asking people with experience, took a huge weight off my shoulders! I’ve accumulated a list of admin bits you might find helpful if your living in Western Australia for the first time too.
Lists
If you’ve read any of my blogs before I’m sure you’ll know I love a good list. They are the most effective way for me to get things done.
Furniture shopping was made easy using a 3 category list: Furniture, Functional & Nice to Have. Clear and concise, easy to navigate where the budget needs to be spent first & nothing is forgotten! The great thing about lists is you can always add to them as you go along. This was when an idea pops into your head, you stick it on the list & you’ll never forget!
Admin bits was also made on a list. I ordered these on a priority scale of what needed to be done in person, lower on the list was things that could be done online. This way I could check opening hours, plan when I was going to visit! Once the in person admin bits were organised, I could see what was left to be done online.
Home list. This is simply a list of home tasks that needing done. Taking videos of the house for landlord, brushing the garden, deep cleaning the bathroom… household tasks. This list is for both myself and jordan to share responsibility in the house. Knowing that he knows what needs done, takes pressure off me to do it all myself. This works for us & prevents unnecessary arguments from lack of communication! Plus it makes planning fun activities outside of the house a lot easier, when you know exactly what needs done in the house before you go. Love a good list for life.
All in all I think the key takeaway for a smooth moving experience is planning. I know sometimes it can feel like it’s extra work, but I can promise you it really cuts the stress in half!
If you enjoyed this weeks homely chit chat, make sure to subscribe for more weekly travel & lifestyle blogs. Comments are always welcome for extra tips or a good old chat!
CYA xx
Leave a Comment