yellowsunset

Good evening everyone. Could anyone tell me the best place to buy furniture i.e. cheapest! with the most variety. I mean specifically, beds, sophas, garden furniture, dining table/chairs. We are currently renting furnished property but may look at renting unfurnished, but we would want to spend a minimum, but be comfortable, as the furniture would not be taken with us when we leave. We will be trying to sell it when we go and may only be here another year. Thanks for any replies .

zanne

I would recommend staying in a furnished property, the furniture available here is typically just okay in terms of style and quality but price wise it is just over the top. We had bought fairly reasonably what I would call Guyanese Wicker, for lack of a better description-- I think that 3 years ago the whole suite for the living room was about 2000BB, plus the cushions and glass for the coffee table which was more. We also have a lot of older traditional Barbadian furniture, mostly mahogany, that we fix and mend (re-cane) as needed.

That's my take on it!

yellowsunset

Hi Zanne - thanks for the reply. It's quite hard to find a place with comfortable furniture in our price range - there's a lot of wicker out there or what I would describe as holiday home furniture i.e. it looks okay but is really uncomfortable to sit on, or it's just hideous . And some of the beds we have slept on have been terrible. Yet, for roughly 2-3000 less than what we are paying now, we could get some really nice unfurnished properties and thought that we could furnish it for around 6000 and we would be able to sell it when leave. Oh well...

zanne

Unfortunately $6k will get you a nice bed (2k) a dining table and chairs (3-4k) and maybe a lamp if you are lucky. Try looking at Designer Decor...

Sunniebgi

I would have recommended Designer Decor if we hadn't had problems with them.

Purchased a really nice dining table, for lots of money, about 3 years ago. We were told it was some kind of hardwood, but it's soft white wood under the dark finish. It's Ashley Furniture from the US, and we are very dissappointed, but can't do anything about it.

We also purchased a futon from them and it has had to be repaired (by them) once and it's just not the best.

My brother-in-law has purchased tables and chairs and they seem to fall apart sooner rather than later.

Ok, so the construction is not their fault and it wouldn't have been so bad, except the price we paid was alot.

We have a living room set we purchased maybe 9 or 10 years ago from Standards (got a slight discount through a friend who worked there).. it's lasted with minor issues, but honestly nothing out there really screams at me to buy and replace what I have.

CARIBBEAN FURNISHING HOUSE (1985) INC
Courts
DaCosta Mannings

These might be your best bet.
and I'm not keen on the local furniture, the wood with cushions.. just not my thing.

yellowsunset

Hi - what about beds - Courts online has a naff collection to view. I think there is a bed place up near the airport? Or what about Pricesmart - I think they sell beds - where do you think would be the best place or do I just need to do a visit to them all? We could probably skip the dining table as a lot of kitchens have the breakfast bars, so we would probably buy an outside table and chairs to eat on instead. How about getting furniture made for you - I assume that's really expensive too? I am thinking simple, like coffee table with glass, bedside tables, shelves etc. I know you can get glass cut at Carters - maybe I will try to make my own! . Actually, would Carters be a good place to look for garden furniture? Many thanks for your patience with my repeated questions.

Sunniebgi

I have a hard time with beds.. we have had the same one for 16years (I know I know.. Toss it..) but the problem is trying to find something to replace it.

There is a bed place near the airport. they have some good stuff. but go and check it out. Also, there is a place close to Thornbury Hill in Christ Church.. I'm trying to remember the name.. they have furniture and bedding.

Outside furniture isn't cheap either.

Try WorkBench for some of their own, made in Barbados, stuff. (forgot them earlier)

and agreed that having something made is likely going to cost you more, but I think it all depends on who makes it and how fancy you want it.

zanne

Woodhouse is the place in Thornberry Hill next to Morgan's Fish House-- they have the same beds that are sold at Dwellings and much cheaper, our king sized bed was $2000.00, pillow top both sides it is quite nice. It will probably though take a month or more before it is ready.

jondent

Just to let you know that a lot of the cheaper Designer Decor furniture is made on the island by a guy in a workshop in the small trading estate just off Six Roads.

I met up with him a while back and he said that he could make whatever you wanted at a discounted price. I think he's actually part of the Designer Decor empire

The estate is on the left just past Emerald City. Its the 2nd door on the left ... The 1st one takes you upstars to some really odd general store !!

Sunniebgi

That is interesting re the builder for Designer Decor. I haven't seen any locally produced furniture in there in a while (or maybe it's been awhile since i've been in). I know that WorkBench used to do much more local furniture building in their place on Spring Garden, but they too have moved towards imports.

One other place to look for furniture is expat sales. The US Embassy usually changes staff around June/July time period. If you know anyone there, they might be able to put you in touch with someone who is leaving the island, and doesn't want to take their stuff with them when they go.

Also try Canadians and Brits.

zanne

I was at DD today and there was quite a bit of stuff from Woodhouse (with the Woodhouse tags on it!) I do know the location of the other guy I had seen a sign at that compound in 6 Roads the last time I passed by.

KJLee

Hi, we are going to move over to Barbados from the UK this summer and I'm wondering whether we should try to ship over as much furniture as possible in view of the cost and quality of what's available there. What do you reckon? It this stage I don't have any idea about the cost of shipping... that's something I need to look in to!

yellowsunset

I think you are looking at a minimum of 6000 pounds or so, to ship furniture for a 2/3 bed house, not including appliances or wardrobes etc, plus not including import duty that may have to be paid on it - it's not cheap but you at least get a good choice in what you buy/bring - I have just been out today to Designer Decor, Workbench and Standards and was not overly keen on anything and there is such little choice and it's sooooo expensive! I came home with 2 decorative pots - not exactly productive - so when we move into our 2 bed house on 1st may that's pretty much all we are going to have! We are also on holiday from 18th April until 2nd May, so we are having to buy an air bed to bring back with us to the empty house to sleep on!

jondent

For what it's worth, for my 3 bed house in six roads it cost me about 20k£ to furnish totally everything inside and out from a combination of DD, Workbench, Dwellings, Courts, Dacosta, Pricesmart, Light shop opposite pricesmart, Glasseco, Brankers ? and Mr Tough !

The overall quality and look is exatly what I wanted. However, you do need to spend a lot of time sorting it all out. If you want to see what you can get on the island PM me and I'll send you the links to pics.

You might want to look at www.myus.com and ship from Ikea in Miami. I only found this after the fact, and it would have worked really well (time wise), although probably at about the same price once shipping/taxes were taken into account.

Oh ... and all the above shops will give 10-15% discount (start at 20) ... but you have to ask, and buy it all in one go !! ( dont worry about the kids running DD ... they do bend over eventually !! )

zanne

They just look like kids