We (family of 5) are due to move to Coquitlam, Vancouver in Jan 2012, and have a holiday rental home for the first month, after which we hope to have found a more long term unfurnished rental. Thing is, our furniture and everything we possess wont arrive for another few weeks and we will be living in an empty house- does anyone have any experience of such a situation- do we just buy a few blow up beds, a kettle and a tv and wait? lol sounds like fun!!

We did it for a few weeks, waiting for the container.

It's do-able ( inflatable beds, kettle, microwave, cooker and fridge ) with a suitcase size supply of clothing.

We did it for a bit too. I recommend patio furniture for temporary seating and dining room table.

you can buy plenty of cheap stuff from the dollar store or walmart that you can give it away after you get your stuff..with max. 100 bux you "furnished" half of your house

Yes we used the collapsible fabric chairs with the cup holders.... ah memories.

they're neat huh
bet you still have them

Also take a look in Goodwill and Salvation Army stores. They usually have lots of used but serviceable stuff for cheap.

We camped in our house too. We did eat out quite a bit but it was no problem and it's amazing what you can do without when you have to!

I just stayed in a hotel for a few weeks, so much easier to let someone else look after the cleaning.

We were really fortunate in that hubby's new employer put us all up in a hotel for the first month.

Do you know anyone where you are moving or have a job to go to? There are sure to be people who would be happy to lend you a few bits and pieces of furniture or camping gear for a couple of weeks if you ask nicely? Everyone we came across in our first few weeks was so friendly and helpful.

And hey your container may turn up early, we were told 6 weeks for Warwickshire to Calgary and it took just 3 weeks!

We hired a holiday rental out of season. We put in a cheeky offer and since it was going to be empty otherwise they accepted it. It meant we had a fully furnished place for a couple of months while we found a permanent place and waited for our furniture.

Thanks for all your suggestions, good to hear other people have done it too.

We dont know anyone in the area so cant borrow anything, but we may be able to extend our stay in the holiday let, we got it cheap as low season and have the option to stay longer if necessary.

WOW Snowcandy, who did you use to ship your stuff to get it in 3 weeks?

We did it. We arrived in the middle of winter and knew nobody. We survived

PSS, but sorry wouldn't recommend them. We had lots of bits broken on both sides, the Canadian side in Calgary were awful, they subcontracted yet another company to deliver our goods to the house here, they broke a bed, caused damage to the walls, were generally pretty inconsiderate. Then PSS were a pain in the arse when trying to sort the claim out.

We did it as well

We contacted a shipping company and sent some clothes and other essentials a few weeks before we left which arrived soon after we did.

We got a few blow up beds a TV and some other items.

The place we moved to in Canada was much bigger than what we had in the UK so there was still many things we needed to buy.

The blow up beds are still great for when we have visitors round.

We were also lucky with our Landlord. He had some furniture in some of his other properties which he let us use while we waited for our stuff to arrive (Some dining room chairs and table among other things)