Hi,

My husband and I have been having a bit of a debate.

The house we are in is our first house. When we bought it we didn't have much money for furniture so we bought most of our furniture from IKEA, Argos, etc. so none of it is really worth a whole lot. However, when we get to the US we probably won't have loads of money either after buying a house...

My question is for those that have moved is- is it worth moving it? I'm not entirely sure how much it'll cost to move but my guess is that it's going to cost more to move our IKEA furniture then it's even worth.

So my vote is to sell it all and move as little as possible... My parents own a store in the US so we'll be able to get nice (real wood) furniture eventually.

My husband's vote is to move everything...

Just wondering what the thoughts are of those that have moved...

THANKS!

I don't have the experience, but you can call around and get some quotes for moving, then compare that to how much it would cost to buy new in the USA.

Sounds like you're doing the DCF process, so the quotes for moving will help with your proof of intent to domicile in the USA, if nothing else...even if you don't end up moving the furniture.

Rene

Ikea are everywhere: don't bother moving it all out - takes ages to arrive anyway - just buy what you need as you need it using the money you would have spent shipping it.

I would say that if a company was moving you and paying for shipping, ship absolutely everything out (I deeply regret not shipping more stuff).

Otherwise, buy new furniture yourself once in the US. My house is still half empty here. Like you say, by the time you've bought a house and paid all of the associated costs, it's not easy to furnish the entire house. We still have a lot of stuff left to do in our house furniture wise but we're doing it piece by piece.

We've tried to make it more affordable by buying some of the better quality IKEA furniture and supplementing it with a few more expensive pieces. You can increase the perceived quality of a room we've found with a few key statement items.

We're good friends with the Salesman for the builder we bought from (we bought a new-build) and he told us their model home cost $100k to furnish. It's nice but it doesn't look they went completely over the top. I think furniture here is quite expensive. Especially for us here in Houston (I can't comment on other states) as we have modern (me) and contemporary (wife) tastes and it's hard to come by here and comes at a premium.

Oh, good call on the quotes being able to be used for intent to domicile. I like it.

I think that's the way to go as well as my husband is all about practical, well thought out decisions. So research I shall do.

That's what I was thinking... the cost to move it would be more than it's worth...

My Mom had basically said take the cost that you bought it at, plus the cost to move it and then determine if what you're moving is really worth that much.

My experience is that a lot of flatpack furniture isn't designed to be taken apart and reassembled again. Once you take those screws in and out a few times it can get unstable and eventually downright dangerous.

I think you'd be just as well buying new stuff. In addition to IKEA, stores like Target, Walmart and even Office Depot and Staples have quite a lot of flatpack furniture that is astonishingly cheap. Definitely enough to keep you going until you can save up for some proper furniture.

Unfortunately we don't have a company moving us out... its our decision to be closer to my family (I'm the USC- hubby is the UKC and we're in England currently.)

The town I'm from (and we're moving to) actually had a huge flood in August and so many houses have been abandoned/sold very cheap. So we're planning on buying one of those and rehabilitating it. We probably wouldn't be able to live in it for a few months anyways so it would be a great opportunity to save up a bit for furniture. I know it can be very expensive but I'm hoping to get some good deals with wholesalers/thrift shop/antique shop, etc. I'm a bit more eclectic in taste.

Now to convince my husband that this is the smartest decision...

Thanks. Oh I almost forgot about Target! Oh I can't wait!

Hi JessicaKate,

We're moving next month and went through all this too. We don't have a huge amount of decent furniture and are just shipping a mirror, Laura Ashley sofa and chair and a bedframe as furniture, and then our decent cookware and some winter clothes. Definitely worth getting a quote. GB Liners were the nicest and cheapest and it came in around £1300 including insurance. If we didnt have anything bulky, we also looked at shipping with DHL Air freight and it would've been £900.

James

You are looking at several thousand pounds to ship depending on if you have a full or part container. We shipped our stuff but some of it had been in the family for years and we were not going to part with it. In your position I wouldn't bother, buy when you get here.

Thanks for the advice, and the recommendation! I'm not particularly attached to any of the furniture. It's more the little stuff I would want to keep that I am attached to. £1300 is definitely not bad!

Did you sell everything else then?

I'm hoping if I win this battle with the furniture then we'd be looking at a tenth of a container! (ok maybe a little more...)

Don't underestimate how much space stuff takes up! I shipped 13 boxes and I didn't take any furniture. I can't remember exactly how much it was but think it was about 900 quid off the top of my head.
Most of my space was taken up with clothes, some music equipment, cds and small personal possessions.

in the process! have been doing a good trade on eBay as the electricals aren't going to workk in the US. Am planning to use eBay and GumTree for the rest, or just give stuff to friends, family and charity