Take Furniture or buy in France

[Vivi]

Hi Everyone,just wondered how prices compare in France for things like a new sofa suites like those corner units and dining table and chairs,beds. Hope to be moving over in June and just wondered if it is cheaper to re- buy rather than pay costs of furniture removal. Any advice/info much appreciated. PS Do Conforama have a website? Regards Vivi

[cooperlola]

http://www.conforama.fr/ConfoOnline/accueil.co

[suein56]

[quote user="Vivi"]Hi Everyone,just wondered how prices compare in France for things like a new sofa suites like those corner units and dining table and chairs,beds. [/quote]

If you an Ikea enthusiast then prices are generally, but not always, cheaper for the identical item here compared to the UK eg our wardrobe was 269 euros here against 250 pounds in the UK.

Sue

[Gardian]

Vivi ..............

This is a bit of a tricky one, because IMO it depends so much on personal taste.  By that I mean that a lot of the furniture you see over here wouldn't necessarily be everyone's 'cup of tea'.  I'm being as diplomatic as I can, but the kindest way to describe a lot of the stuff is 'austere'.  When we were re-furnishing a newly-built extension, it took us ages to find what we were after, i.e. something with a lighter more modern look.  If you add to that delivery lead times and delivery charges (if you're some way away from the retail outlet) and you might be better to buy in the UK before moving over.  When you move in to a new property in a different country, you just don't have the time to spend ages searching for furniture.

If however you love the style of furniture here, then ignore all that! 

As to the increased costs of removal from the UK, I rather doubt that it would make that much difference. The main part of the cost is the crew and vehicle, so whether you've got 50 m3's or 70 m3's (or whatever the numbers are) probably wouldn't add more than 5% to the cost (if anything at all).   

[Vivi]

Thanks for that Gardian, food for thought there in your points.  Vivi

[Gardian]

Oh, and while I'm thinking of it, there's always a regular question on here, along the lines of "What's the one piece of advice you'd give to someone emigrating?"

Mine would be (and relevant to your thread), fit a tow bar to your car if you haven't got one already, and buy a trailer (remorque) when you get here.  Invaluable for picking up furniture, building materials, etc, etc.

We didn't (because we didn't know) - wish we had.

[Rain24]

My advice would be to bring everything!!! you can always start to replace items at your leisure later as you find them.  My mum packed up my whole house for me, as we were initially renting fully furnished in France prior to buying our own place, and I was so grateful when it all arrived.  I had said that I would giveaway or sell everything and buy new here and I was glad my mum talked me out of it (they are always right!!)  You never know what you miss until you haven't got it.  After living with someone elses furniture in the rented house it felt so good to have my own stuff to move into our own house with, it made the move so much easier and I really don't think I would have found the same style/quality here in a hurry, after all it does take quite a few years of searching to completely furnish a house to your taste.  If your existing furniture in the UK is of good quality and is worth the expense of bringing it that would be what I would suggest.  It does also depend on the condition of the house you are moving into of course, and you may have to include storage costs into the calculations.

[Barbel Bob]

Hi,

 

I agree bring as much of your own stuff as you can, especially if you are going to be renovating. We spend most of our time out shopping for building materials, we are 45mins away from our nearest main town where we can source furniture etc and really dont have the time, or energy left over to go looking for the right piece of furniture!

We have visited Ikea twice since we got here and bought a lot of stuff from there, you can check what you want on the web before you go so its quick and convenient!

I also like to unpack and get some of my 'own' stuff out when a room is newly decorated, this makes my new house feel more like i am at home and not on holiday!!!![:D]

The style and price of the stuff we have seen in the shops when passing are not our taste and seem expensive, though one thing i can say for French furniture is its built to last!!!!

Good luck

J

[Eos]

Imo, bring only what matters to you in terms of sentimentality or antiquity etc.

Oh, and beds as they are very expensive here!

A friend brought all her things with her, and apart from the fact that the high ceilings here make her stuff look like toytown pieces, she doesn't really feel her house has a very French atmosphere.

 

[Frederick]

If you are interested in IKEA...then a look at both the French and UK sites will show up where the big savings are to be made ...I have a house fully furnished  from IKEA  but then it fits in with the  type of house and not "heavy " looking furniture ...... Its a 2 bedroom   holiday home and was easy to furnish in one day ... Beds  and matrasses...corner  units that convert into beds and  "click clacks  " (sofa Beds)  for occasions we might want an extra bed .. we found IKEA had a good selection to be collected on the day ..... Super U provided the big  self drive hire van and we managed to do IKEA for the furniture  and Conforama for the white goods and the telly on the same run ....France produces some great furniture  that would look fantastic  in any home and is and extremly well made ..lots to choose from ...

[Scooby]

Our views are mixed.  We have an old stone house that has a very old 'period' interior (tower, arched studded door, 6' by 6' opening for the fire place etc) - so a lot of modern furniture would have looked silly.  We bought quite a few 'bigger' wooden pieces of furniture from the troc.  We mixed this with newer more modern furniture.  IMHO, the sofas etc we saw in France were expensive, not particularly good quality and with nothing like the range of styles available in the UK.  In the end we bought two cheap, cream sofas, bought throws and cushions from the UK while we tried to find something decent that we really liked. That was two years ago and we still haven't found anything.  Th plan was to move the sofas up to two of the bedrooms when we found what we liked - the rate we are going they will be used for an Autumn bonfire instea LOL.

Agreed re the beds - and again nothing like the range of styles available in the UK.  Also beware that when you buy a bed it only includes the head and foot board and side bars - no base / 'springs'.  You have to buy the base (sommier) seperately.

[mint]

Apart from stuff from Ikea, have bought ONE piece of French furniture.  The price made my eyes water, but then it is lovely, tactile, oak, BEAUTIFUL.

What I have found is that, where I live, there aren't many "life-style" shops, so no nice cushions, vases, bits and pieces except at stupidly high prices.

Good thing is, I am back in good old Blighty (for the first time since coming here last April) and I can't wait to get a new vacuum cleaner, plants and loads of stuff to bring back. 

Problem is, where shall I put the husband and the dog whilst I fill up the car with goodies?

[kimg]

Im furnishing a maison seconde slowly in Dept 62. Living otherwise on the South coast of UK, I bought locally and the firm delivered for free to France.  It was just before xmas and he combined it with a booze cruise...He has said if I spend £1000 again he would do the same.  It was new, solid oak and I couldnt find the like in France

The beds and the 3 piece suite I bought locally in France.  They were delivered and assembled for free, and although 1/3 more expensive than the Uk, I dont have access to a van etc, so I thought it was money well spent.

 

Hope it helps

 

KIM

[Sprogster]

From my experience new furniture is more expensive and of lesser quality in France than the UK, where you have more choice. I can't comment on Ikea, as have never been to one!

The UK is a much more consumer driven society than France and to cater for the greater demand driven in part by much easier credit in the UK, there are a much broader range of shops in the UK to choose from. Whereas, in France credit is strictly regulated and therefore you never see those buy now pay later at zero per cent interest deals!

On another thread a poster said one of the benefits of living in France was that you spent less, as there were fewer shops to tempt you!   

[Jamesdee]

We are finding this thread very useful as we shall shortly be furnishing a house we are having built in Dept 17. Where on the south coast are you Kim? We live in Southsea and would be very interested to see if we could set up the same sort of arrangement that you managed to organise.

[Gemonimo]

[quote user="sweet 17"]

Apart from stuff from Ikea, have bought ONE piece of French furniture.  The price made my eyes water, but then it is lovely, tactile, oak, BEAUTIFUL.

What I have found is that, where I live, there aren't many "life-style" shops, so no nice cushions, vases, bits and pieces except at stupidly high prices.

Good thing is, I am back in good old Blighty (for the first time since coming here last April) and I can't wait to get a new vacuum cleaner, plants and loads of stuff to bring back. 

Problem is, where shall I put the husband and the dog whilst I fill up the car with goodies?

[/quote]

Sweet, why are you bringing a vacuum cleaner back? My Miele of 10 years died recently and I replaced it with a Morphy Richards for the grand sum of €69 from SuperU.  It's fantastic, light and 'sucks' brilliantly and I'm thinking of getting another one for upstairs. If you buy a vacuum here, you will have space to bring back the dog....[:D] Jen

[mint]

Jen, I did buy a vacuum here, it is a Borsch but, because it is a "cylinder" and I am used to uprights, I keep tripping over the damn "hose".  Now have seen what looks to be a lightweight upright on the net, checked out the price in Darty and checked out the price at Amazon UK and it's nearly £40 cheaper from Amazon.  So, it's a no brainer.

I know what I might do, might bring the hoover and the dog back and leave the husband behind.  I swear to you that at the moment the dog is definitely less trouble![:D]

[Cendrillon]

 "Borsch"

LOL[:D]

[;-)] isn't that a sort of Russian soup?!!

[mint]

OK, Cendrillon, thanks for the giggle.  Actually, I never did like that Russian soup made with beetroots.  I love beetroots but I don't like cooking them as they stain everything red.

Well, have you any thoughts on bringing furniture here because that's what the thread's about and, if we don't stick to it, we shall be banned forthwith!!!!!!!1

[Cendrillon]

O.K. back on track.

 

We didn't bring furniture to France as ours is a second home and we needed to keep all our stuff in our first home.

 

BTW (off track again) I had Borsch once in Russia and I swear the soup had cows eyelids floating in it complete with lashes YUK[+o(]

[mint]

Good job we've had dinner.  No more about soup.  Ah, furniture, what I would give for a John Lewis or one of those little shops that import things for next to nothing from the Far East.  You know the ones, Edwardian roll-top desk made of tropical hardwood............LOL need I say more?

[Framboise]

Like a previous poster, we bought a period property so the contemporary stuff we have in UK would have looked silly.  As a maison secondaire we had the chance to search about for old victorian / deco stuff for the French house, scouring the boot sales, ebay etc to find what we were after and thats what we did to make downstairs all period style except for the modern kitchen.  Oddly enough most of the things we bought this way are French so we have actually re-imported them to their homeland, but the grenier conversion we have started will be more contemporary so heres the place for our stuff still in the UK.

I haven't found a decent furniture shop yet, nor do I crave Ikea so I guess its a trek back to UK should we want sofas etc.  And yes, we bought a fabulous Corbielle bed that came without the inner frame and were baffled by it as there was nowhere to put a mattress!  And another thing, we have found old wardrobes and armoires are so narrow that hardly anything fits in them, hence OH has had to build fitted wardrobes which I shall curtain-off french style. 

ANOTHER WHINGE.................  why can I never find these brocantes or vide greniers here in France?   Locally they never signpost them so I end up totally lost, but I have discovered a few shortcuts back home through being lost in France!!

[RicandJo]

Well we'll be bringing all our stuff from Uk soonish, to the Languedoc.  A lot of it is from Laura Ashley, who do lots of kind of French style stuff anyway but with UK quality.  I'm pleased to see there is a store in Barcelona, which isn't too far from where we'll be (3 hrs).  There is a store in Paris also though........

 

As for what to bring from UK we're bringing everything.  Even the kitchen sink (not kidding......LOL).