Hi Raff,
We are in Penthouses Block 2 and are going over tomorrow and we can't wait.
You're right, everybody will do things differently, and some people will look back and wish they had done things differently. You are at a great advantage already being in the building trade.
I suppose the speed at which you furnish your apartment depends on whether you want to rent it out or not. We don't rent ours and when we vcompleted in Feb we said that we wouldn't get stressed about it but would take things slowly and envisaged taking about a year to get sorted. In fact after this visit we will be more or less sorted except for a coffee table, rugs, and then the nik naks. We started with the basics, beds and white goods and then went on from there buying in order of priority.
I had a small notebook and carried it with me everywhere, here and in Spain and whenever I thought of anything or saw something in the shops I jotted it down in this book. It was really invaluable and saved me so much time, we kept all the measurements there as well.
We have a really good keyholder (Fairways) who are brill. Not only will they look after our apartment and do any jobs that are necessary, they will also source any furniture we want but can't find. Mark also got and fitted our light fittings for us.
We found DFS in SAn Javier excellent, both in terms of selection of furniture and customer service. We deal with Mike Ward who has been excellent.
We got our "zip" beds for the main bedroom, so they can be suoerkingsize beds or single and our keyholder Tracy got us some headboards that attach to the wall.
Ikea in Murcia has been good too for some things, especially a cupboard which fits into the wadrobes (Malm range).
To be quite honest we brought a lot of things over from the UK, even a dinner service and some glasses we liked, cushions, bedding, towels, kitchen stuff even our kettle, because a) they're cheaper than in Spain at the moment and b) there's a better choice over here. In fact we have four cases stuffed with bits and pieces ready packed for our flight tomorrow. It's a great feeling taking empty cases back to the UK. We think from now on though we'll just need to bring hand luggage.
I think the important thing is not to get stressed, but to enjoy your apartment, and if you're not renting do it slowly and you'll be surprised how quickly it comes together.
Terry and Jill who are residents ahve a fantastic website condadodealhamaservices.com. Thre's loads of info there, they keep us all updated with recent developments. Do visit it.
Oh, and don't forget the notebook!!
Hope to bump into you sometime.
All the best
Cherrie and Nigel