furnishing a home
 

Planning to move to Spain ...looking to buy min 3 bedroom house ...wondering if anyone could give us a rough estimate on cost of furnishing over there ? Is 2nd hand an option ? would we be better to look for fully furnished ?

Re: furnishing a home
 

Hi and a warm welcome to the Spanish forum on BE. Myself and Fred James are the moderators for the Spanish forums whilst BEVS moderates Europe. Moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. This is so that members gain the information that they are looking for and find their experiences on the forums to be friendly and worthwhile.

Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderator who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are usually friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge about the issues of living in Spain. I hope that you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

Re: furnishing a home
 

Is this to be a permanent home, or just for holidays at first? There are plenty of decent furniture stores around in Spain, and some will even supply a full house furnishing, quality may not be the best, actually ignore that 'may' it will be utilitarian but usable, and good if it's just a holiday home. Most furniture stores will deliver from stock, in fact you will be able to ask the question, and often delivery will be the same day, but it really will depend on just what you want, higher end stuff may well take longer to get. Second hand will be similar to UK, some will be good, other not so good, and if the place is fully furnished then you obviously get what is there. If you haven't lived in Spain before then I would suggest renting for a while to ensure you are buying in the right place for you.

Re: furnishing a home
 

Excellent advice but also worth noting , particularly in the coastal regions maybe houses sold "furnished" as owners move on or leave Spain. Depending on where you are planning to buy Ikea is never far away. Best range with good service but also can be pricy is El Corte Ingles - one in very large town

Re: furnishing a home
 

I plan to source better quality used furniture here in the UK then hire a van to ship it over.

Re: furnishing a home
 

I know idiots who do that! One guy I know buys all appliances in the UK at much higher prices (exactly same brands and models you can buy here for much less) and has them shipped here. In fact, he also had UK sockets installed all over his house. Now that's practical.

I think of it as "Union jack logic". Spend more so you're forced to spend more, with the added bonus of rendering it all worth less. Plus, you can moan endlessly about how expensive it is to live abroad (or how much better everything is in England).

Sound familiar? Apparently a national state of mind.

Re: furnishing a home
 

We are based north of Alicante. There is a good furniture store on the N332 near El Campello called 'Anticrisis'.Worth a look.

Re: furnishing a home
 

Funny but I quite often find the opposite with expats i.e. everything is better in Spain and everything in the UK is rubbish. Maybe they only buy the rose tinted sun glasses.

Re: furnishing a home
 

How do you know it's better quality, most of the furniture we bought while in Spain was of excellent quality, and the stores would even deliver it the same day as they had it in stock, otherwise it was a wait of two or three days, if you bought electrical equipment like ceiling lights, cookers, hobs etc. they would be fitted as part of the deal, no extra payments to make, and if you wanted an small extra job doing they would do that for €10 or so.

Re: furnishing a home
 

Very popular on amazon.co.uk. Better quality, too.

Re: furnishing a home
 

I looked around my house at the furniture that I brought from the UK and objectively compared it with what I have bought here in Spain and I have to say that my purchases here have been well made and are lasting well. Some of the items that I brought with me are not faring quite so well which maybe because they were not made to withstand the heat rather than that they are inferior. As in any country there is good and bad so you have to inspect items carefully before purchasing.

Rosemary

Re: furnishing a home
 

I also think that people are used to specific names/brands in the UK and when they go to other countries these are not as common, however if they were to check specifications etc out carefully they would find that they were made by the same company, and often have the same model number etc that are sold as a different brand in the UK.

Re: furnishing a home
 

Surely no matter where you are there are good furniture outlets and not so good ones? More often than not that is set by ones budget? I can't really see much point in buying in UK and paying transportation costs unless either it is something you already have and want to keep, or it is a specific item you can't easily get in Spain. Again everyone's view will be different. Re the UK plug thing I have a few electrical items which I already had and took to Spain. I didn't change plugs I just bought an adapter and UK block extension which does the job. Saved me re buying and doesn't alter the property.

Re: furnishing a home
 

I must look out for them especially with Brexit looming😃

Re: furnishing a home
 

People who alter the sockets in their property to UK ones are really storing a load of trouble up for themselves, it's almost certain that if they need to sell then they have devalued to property considerably as, it's unlikely that the UK sockets have any certificate of compliance, so it may well mean that the whole house may need a rewire.