Monkey Puzzle

Well said. Coming to live in Canada is one thing .... but we ARE allowed to ship across our own "special" brand of humour. (Just don't show it off to the first chap you meet ie the border guard.)

Joe_Sleepy

Bring everything excluding 240v fixed electricals. Once you have the container you may as well fill it. Houses here are, on average, bigger & you'll probably end up buying extra furniture. You'll encounter a veritable host of unforeseen expenditures & therefore the less you have to replace the better. Most "British" foodstuffs are available but quality "older" furniture doesn't seem to be...
Good Luck..

On a side note, I moderate on a tattoo forum & can honestly say, with the exception of occasionally colourful language, the standard of general politeness & respect there puts this forum to shame. I rarely post here as I've seen too many members ridiculed & belittled. I heartily agree with the "big fish in a small pond" comment above. It's a shame that such a wonderful resource can be tainted by the ill considered bullying of a minority of keyboard cavaliers. I spent the first 40 years of my life living in S.E. London & well understand the concept of sarcasm as humour (& employ it regularly) but this is a poor excuse for what often happens on this forum. There is rarely a thread posted which doesn't turn into an old boys/girls chinwag, often at the expense of the OP. This is merely my opinion, but one I've held since first finding this forum over two years ago & is the main reason it took me so long to sign up. Thank you to all of the knowledgeable & helpful posters (of which I realise there are many), who don't feel the need to bash every oft asked question, spelling mistake or perceived lack of newbie humility..

2008orbust

heard furniture is expensive in Canada - find that strange given all the wood available to make it ?

Auld Yin

There are varying opinions on this. What is expensive is a subjective matter. Expensive to me may be cheap as chips to you. Two of the largest furniture retailers are Leons and The Brick. They each have stores from coast to coast. Googling them will perhaps give you an idea of what's available and the cost. Then there are countless other retailers selling in all manner of price ranges.

Chookie

We got rid of nearly everything and bought new for similar reasons to the above.

And then add the fact that the vast majority of our furniture was cheap, tatty Ikea stuff... not really worth shipping over IMO.

And it WAS great fun buying everything new!

fledermaus

IKEA is quality here.

Auld Yin

Tongue in cheek, right?

fledermaus

It's all relative.

Auld Yin

bodgerx

Not everything Ikea sell is all tat. Some of the higher end stuff is actually pretty durable and of reasonable quality. We bought some cutlery and crockery from Ikea about 9 years ago and it is really robust and incredibly scratch proof and in very good condition to this day.

kate holt

We had to furnish a property quickly, cheaply and hopefully something up to the wear and tear of renters.

We got the basics - beds and sofas etc - from IKEA as they delivered and I could select and order in advance by visiting an IKEA in the UK - this saved loads of time and effort. The leather sofabeds etc have withstood 4 summers of holidaymakers.

We bought all the smaller and more decorative items from local stores - it would of been nice to spend all our money in Canadian stores - but it just wasn't practical to do so.

Overall there seems less choice of furnishings - less independent furniture stores than the UK and as for "antique" stores in Canada - they are what we would call a junk shop!

fledermaus

That's what I mean, plus the cheaper tat stuff seems on a par with most affordable furniture here. If you like older stuff then auction houses sell dressers, tables, chairs etc at much cheaper prices than the so called antique shops.

returnofthenative

I'm confused Angie? Are you a returning Canadian?
I just moved back to Canada after almost 20 years in England (Kendal, Cumbria) and I too had a 1/2 a container to fill with 'goodies'!

Our family stocked up on great comedy DVD's like Black Adder, Green Wing etc...as the comedy on TV's here is, in our opinion, not great. Heck the TV in general is lacking and you can't beat a good British sense of humour.

No one in our family likes top sheets so we also brought and extended our quantity of good duvets (and the covers) which are expensive here!

Load the suitcase with 'real' chocolate.

I get Marmite sent over regularly. It's for the kids!

We have also arranged to have a copy of the Manchester Guardian weekly sent over.

My boxes arrive any day now and once the unpacking takes place in the new house I am sure that there will be one or two things that I am calling up friends in England to send over. I'll keep you posted.

In the meantime, if space is not an issue in the container and something really has a sentimental value then SHIP IT.

G77

You'd be surprised to find out then that the various Loblaws chains sell it - it's even just on the shelf, you don't have to ask for it from under the counter.... It's $3.49 a jar iirc...

MarkG

Maybe Ikea quality has got worse since the last millennium, but back then I bought the cheapest Ikea desk I could find to use as a computer desk, since the side storage thingy was just the right size to lock away a PC. Still had it ten years later when I emigrated and left it behind.