martin18

Hello, can anyone give me some tips on what kind of furniture resists the sea air best? I'm thinking about mildew in particular. Would I be best off with leather furniture, for example, or with an artificial fibre?

Any tips on protecting wooden furniture, also?

Any advice appreciated!

zanne

Probably wicker, however that's not to say that the majority of people here don't use regular hardwood furniture. If you are going to be living on the East Coast, ie. Bathsheba you would definitely need something more durable. There is a lot of Guyanese wicker available here (we have it) and it is comfortable, with upholstered cushions and durable.

martin18

Thanks for the response! Unfortunately (and no offence to your good self), we have never been big fans of wicker. We want to get a sofa set and were looking at either leather or standard upholstered. Are we really condemned to the mildew unless we get wicker??

(I should add that we're looking at the south coast for somewhere to live).

zanne

martin, PM me with your email and I will send you a photo of our living room furniture, I don't like wicker either...

Jack Bowman

Much depends on just how close to the sea you’re going to be. That’s an important point.

We live right on the coast (the living room is about 20 feet from the Caribbean), so I can only really speak to that.

Given that, my advice: don’t bring any wooden furniture you truly treasure. The sea and salt will play havoc with it. Same applies if you have "sprung” sofas (i.e., with lots of metal bits in springs and joints).

We put all of our good stuff in storage and bought some basic-but-elegant foam-filled sofas with canvas/linen coverings. You have to keep the stuff aerated and dry-clean the covers occasionally, but (matter of personal taste, this) at least that way we could avoid the utter hideousness of wicker and the visiting-your-granny gloominess of dark hardwood.

Not sure about leather furniture. Perhaps other posters will have suggestions.

On a related point … If you really are going to be “near the sea”, a significant concern will be your electronic gear and your books (if any). We have a mountain of books and a large hill of electrical stuff. I’m reliably informed that the life expectancy of my LCD TV has been abruptly foreshortened by my choice of location (on the coast). Our hillock of computer-related stuff (all essential, because of our jobs) is kept in a permanently air-conditioned and dehumidified room, in an effort to prolong its lifespan. It’s expensive stuff.

Finally, depending on your own cost analysis and what stuff you need to live, my advice is to buy things before you leave wherever you are, before you come to Barbados. I would say different if I’d moved to, say, Guyana. In Guyana I would have bought a lot of the local furniture because it’s relatively cheap and aesthetically tolerable, and mostly because I know I would have been supporting the local economy. In Barbados, to a large extent, you’re looking at exactly the same stuff you could have bought in the UK or the US, but with five times less selection at three times the price.

If you’re in the UK or the US, and if you use/need broadband … man, the speed, cost and quality of service here is going to blow your mind. It’s interesting, actually. Like a little time machine.

Best of luck with the move.