Help Webster Furnish His New House

After spending a considerable portion of my life savings on a down payment for a new house for the family Webster, I'm now facing the daunting process of actually furnishing a space which is more than four times bigger than my apartment. We're taking some things from our old place, but need a lot of new stuff.

Mrs. W and I agreed that we would splurge on certain things (a nice bed and mattress, a nice couch). I'm leaving most of the decorating ideas to her and her mom, but she has given me responsibility for three items. I'm looking for any advice on these three items:

1) A nice TV -- this is the last splurge item. Our "good" TV is about 5 years old and isn't HD compatible and will be going to the bedroom. I don't need anyhing which is super top of the line, but I want a nice flat screen.

2) A washer and dryer. I've lived in apartments my whole life and have always had a laundry room. Is there anything which I should be looking for or which is a waste of money?

3) A barbecue. We do a lot of grilling in the summer at my in-laws, but I've never had to buy one of these things. I don't need something super fancy, but I want something substantial that is going to last for a while.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Congratulations on the house!

1. You're wise to upgrade to HD compatible set. As you browse around, consider: If you're going to use with a cable or satellite box, as most do, you don't need to spend extra for a built in HD tuner (your cable/sat box will have). HD ready is less expensive. Also might look at resolution: 720 is great, 1080 is off the charts. But both are amazing.

2. Laundry appliances are great in terms of reliability anymore. Maytag is probably top of the line, followed by GE, but we've had a Whirlpool pair for seven years now without a hint of a problem. Check out consumer reports reliability rankings if you need a tiebreaker. Measure and study your laundry room to see what works best in the space. I have kids and do tons of laundry, so capacity is important to me; if it's not to you and you want to save some space, the ones that stack on top of each other could be an option.

3. If you can afford not to, don't go super low end on the grill. You'll notice the difference. The Weber Genesis grills are solid and reliable and IIRC in the $400 range at Home Depot or Lowe's. Either usually will include free assembly.

Happy furnishing!

 

for the grill, you can't go wrong with the standard weber kettle. you should be able to find it at any decent hardware store for $80-$100 depending on if they have a sale.

if you want gas, it's a whole other story. i researched gas grills on consumer reports (well worth the web site subscription price for new homeowners; any time we're spending money on something that we want to last (appliances, electronics, etc.) we see if CR has rated it.). i ended up buying a char-broil 3-burner model at lowe's. it's fine but not great.

i'm buying myself a nice flat screen TV in september (when i pass the bar exam) so i'll be interested to see what people recommend.

 

The only BBQ you'll ever need:



Just a little over $28,000

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/06/style/tmagazine/06remix-turnpage-t.html?ref=tmagazine

 

1) I recommend the Vizio TV... good picture, great price.
2) Check out a local used appliance store. Many of the ones there are in very good shape. Usually, when a place like Lowe's or Best Buy deliver, they cart them off and these guys fix and clean the w/d up. Ms Slappy's brother used to deliver the used ones to the one around here -- had them two years and only one problem, easily fixed.
3) 400 is nice to spend on a grill, but 200-250 range is good too.

 

Get thee to a Sears.

With washers and dryers, it's all about load size. If you do a lot of laundry, you'll want to go bigger. If not, cheaper is fine. They sell some as sets. But you might save some money if you mix and match. The things generally have the same white color, so it's not as though anyone would notice.

With grills, you want controls that give you the ability to adjust and monitor heat. That means you'll want a built-in thermometer and separate dials for each burner.

Size is also important. Three burners is the standard. You'll need at least three, and maybe four, if you want to enjoy slow-cooking with the indirect method of grilling. Trust me, you'll want this option. So go with three or four burners. It also helps if you have few racks for food that you want a little further from the heat.

You'll also want to look at grate material. Look for protective coating or material that won't rust or corrode under the heat. Heavy grates are a good thing. They'll last.

 

I have a direct gas line on the patio, so I'll go with gas. Everyone talks about Weber -- is that really the brand to go with?

 

It doesn't have to be Weber. They were great in the days of charcoal grilling. But there are other options. Kenmore makes a nice gas grill. By the way, don't forget about BTUs. You can't control heat if the grill won't produce the temperature you need. Also, invest in a grill cover. It's essential to protecting your grill. As for gas, I've always used propane.

 

I nearly forgot about wheels. Some of these things only have two wheels. If you can find one with four wheels, you might save yourself some trouble. You can tip the two-wheel models to move them, but it's a pain when they're hot.

Also, make sure it has electronic start. I think most do these days.

 

Re: w/d...Your price range will determine a lot in terms of what types you're looking at. For $500 or so you can get a top-loader with an agitator (what 90 percent of the washers you've seen look like). For more (around $900-1000) you get what I would suggest: the front-loader. It uses less water, less energy and has, on average, more capacity. It's what the laundry room in my old complex had.

Here's some help:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/appliances/washing-machines/reports/index.htm?EXTKEY=SG72A00&CMP=KNC-CROAPPG&HBX_OU=50&HBX_PK=Washers_Comparison

 

Echo.

Check out the higher-efficiency models from Sears.

 

Congrats on the new place, Webster. I can only comment on what I have purchased in the past.

1) We purchased a nice Panasonic plasma. They are the highest rated, so we went with that.

2) I have owned Frigidair products and they were solid. The best seem to be Whirlpool or Kenmoore. I have a Whirlpool set that is currently going on nearly 13-years.

3) For grilling, we just went with something fairly cheep from Home Depot. So, I can't comment much on this.