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29 May 2008 12:00 AM by blueboy1 Star rating in Midlands. 6 forum posts Send private message

Has anyone got any advice about self-furnishing an apartment in Porto Fino?  

I have bought in Block 5 - it's our first property overseas.  I've looked at some of the furniture packages on offer but think I can do something of the same quality and a little more unique for less cost.  Am I kidding myself?

Does anyone have a list of furniture retailers within say an hours' drive of Almerimar?

I'm thinking that a week spent in the apartment when it's finished will be sufficient to find, purchase and install all furniture (assuming it is in stock) - do you think this is reasonable?

Any thoughts on this from people who have done this before would be appreciated.

Regards

Matt




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31 May 2008 7:12 AM by hilda Star rating. 20 forum posts Send private message

Matt 

I have sent you a private message.


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11 Jun 2008 7:36 AM by al24 Star rating. 41 forum posts Send private message

I have known people who have hired a van for a day, driven to Ikea in Murcia, bought what they needed and brought it straight back. This is one approach to self furnishing but with a 3 hour drive each way it is hard work.

When we bought our first apartment in Almerimar we furnished it ourselves by visiting a number of shops in El Ejido, Aguadulce and Roquetas. It took quite some time to complete and a lot of the furniture was on on 4-6 week delivery from time of order. We were lucky as we were living in rented accomodation out here while we were buying the apartment so it was easier for us to do this.

My feeling now is that for people who are not based in Almerimar for a long period a better option would be to go for some form of furniture package. There are a number of companies here that do packages. Design by Jarvis is one. Alcor Properties work with a UK company called Villa Pac that have a display place on the Costa del Sol (Malaga I think). Also, Chill Out, a company that does air conditioning and property management also do furniture packages. They have done a lot of work in Laguna Beach in the lakes area of Almerimar and are starting to work with people in Porto Fino.


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11 Jun 2008 8:38 AM by blueboy1 Star rating in Midlands. 6 forum posts Send private message

Ok - thanks for the advice.  I haven't made a decision on what to do next yet.


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11 Jun 2008 8:45 AM by al24 Star rating. 41 forum posts Send private message

You are welcome.

If you decide you want to go the self furnishing route I can provide a list of shops we when we furnished our first place a few years ago.

John


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11 Jun 2008 8:54 AM by blueboy1 Star rating in Midlands. 6 forum posts Send private message

John,

if you could do that it would be appreciated.  I think that is what is putting me off  i.e. not knowing where to go for things.

Also do you have a recommendation for any cleaners/spare key holders?

Matt


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11 Jun 2008 9:02 AM by al24 Star rating. 41 forum posts Send private message

I´ve just got to pop out and I may be a bit busy today so I will try to post a full response in the next day or so on furniture shops.

In terms of cleaning and key holding I have two recommendations both mentioned in my earlier post:

1. Alcor Properties estate agents in the square.

2. Chill Out - a couple called Pete and Pat who do aircon, property management and furniture packages.

I work with both of these companies myself so I may be biased but I feel they both do a good job.


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11 Jun 2008 11:00 AM by al24 Star rating. 41 forum posts Send private message

Finished my PC Support work in Almerimar a little quicker than expected so have time to post now before my next appointment.

We furnished a 1 bedroom apartment from scratch early in 2005 plus we bought some furniture for a second apartment later in 2005 to go with stuff we shipped over from the UK. We have also bought other pieces of furniture for this second apartment over the last 3 years as we are still iiving here. I tried to find the receipts for the older purchases so I could give complete correct names for all the places but it looks like I had a tidy out.

The first point to note is that furniture is not cheap in Spain and a lot of it is on long delivery times.

For our first apartment we bought a bed, bedside cabinets and some wall units from Radiovision which is in El Ejido. You go straight across the 409 motorway exit, go past Lidl and keep on going until you are getting close to the very large tower on the corner of the main high street in El Ejido. Radiovision is on the right hand side about 100 metres before you reach the tower. The stuff was not cheap but it is still in good condition 3 years later.

We bought pictures from stalls at the Wednesday market in El Ejido.

We bought a relatively cheap table and 4 chairs in a sale at a shop in Aguadulce North. You take the Roquetas turn off from the motorway, turn right at the top of the slip road, go straight on at the first roundabout (not the new dual carriageway on the right). At the next roundabout turn left and you are on a long road towards Aguadulce port. There are furniture shops all down the right hand side. We went to one quite a long way down, Sorry but I can't remember the name. One thing I can say is buying cheap wasn't a good idea as the table is chipped and not in great condition after three years. In hindsight I think we should have paid more for a mid-price dining table and chairs.

We picked up some relatively cheap, flat pack pine coffee tables in Copo that are wearing reasonably well.

When we moved into the place we live in now we shipped over a lot of our furniture from the house we sold in the UK so we didn't have to buy that much. We bought a wall unit to match our UK furniture from Radiovision. We bought a bed from the sales at Muebles Factoria. If you keep on going past Radiovision and turn right at the roundabout Muebles Factoria is on the right straight away. This bed has been pretty good. But one thing to watch out for is I think they charged a lot for delivery. Also, afterwards another person told us that they don't always have prices on all of the items so they were worried that the prices were being marked up for non-Spanish people. This wasn't a problem we had as we bought the bed in the sale and it had a clear sale price tag.

Subsequently some friends have told us about a specialist bed shop in the main El Ejido high street. Turn left at the roundabout beneath the big tower and go straight along the high street. There is a specialise bed shop on the left hand side of the road at some point. Sorry, I don't know the name and the people that told me about it are not around at the moment.

We bought some pine bedside cabinets and a headboard from a shop called Mercachoillo. This is a great shop to look around. It is packed to the rafters with all sorts of furniture. A lot of it isn't to our taste but you can pick up some interesting things there. You turn right at the roundabout below the big tower in El Ejido, go past a few garages and pull in just after the Citroen garage on the right. This place is an interesting shopping experience.

We bought a couple of coffee tables for one main apartment from the same shop in Aguadulce North that we bought the dining table for the 1 bed. This time we paid more for them and they are good quality and sturdy.

More recently we were looking for some patio furniture. You can buy this in Copo or in Leroy Merlin (like a big B&Q) in Grand Plaza in Roquetas. However, there isn't a great selection and we only wanted a table to go with some chairs we brought from the UK. We found a specialist outdoor furniture shop called Yedra. This is on the right on the main road down to Grand Plaza in Roquetas from the motorway. Just before you reach Grand Plaza. They had a very large selection of outdoor furniture but we felt that some of the items were quite costly. The back area in Eroski in Grand Plaza also has a small selection of garden/patio furniture.

Other purchases were plastic storage units for our terraces and garage space. There are some of these in Copo but there is a larger selection in Leroy Merlin. However, I think they are seasonal in Leroy Merlin and there is a larger selection during spring/summer/autumn rather than winter.

Other purchases were a good quality flat pack computer table from Copo and a patio heater from Leroy Merlin.

Hope this info is useful.



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12 Jun 2008 4:57 PM by blueboy1 Star rating in Midlands. 6 forum posts Send private message

John,

that is fantastic feedback - thank you very much.  It's really what I was after.   I will let you know how I get on in July.  if you think of anything else that could be useful please let me know.

Regards

Matt


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12 Jun 2008 5:36 PM by al24 Star rating. 41 forum posts Send private message

Matt,

You are welcome.

Just let me know if there is anything else Jacqui and I at almerimar24 can help you with. Having been out here a while now we have leaned a lot of things that we try to pass on to people through our website about Almerimar.

Also, there is also a rumour going around at present that Ikea may be opening up a shop in a new retail park in Roquetas about 20-25 mins drive from Almerimar. No proof yet but it is something we are keeping an eye on as if it happens it changes things completely for people who want to self furnish.

Let me know if you want to meet up for a drink and a chat while you are over in July.

John


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12 Jun 2008 6:06 PM by blueboy1 Star rating in Midlands. 6 forum posts Send private message

John,

will definately meet up for a drink/chat in July.  Your advice must be worth a couple of rounds of drinks at least.

I assume Ikea is not going to be open this year.

Matt


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12 Jun 2008 6:47 PM by al24 Star rating. 41 forum posts Send private message

I don´t mind buying a few myself. It is always good to meet new people interested in Almerimar.

I am just trying to activate my account here for PMs. Once I have done that we can use PMs to arrange when we can meet up when you are over here. Or alternatively, you can contact me via the info email address on almerimar24.

The Ikea thing is only a rumour at the moment. I´m not sure whether I believe it. Guess we will have to wait and see. The only thing I can say is that there is one two storey building being built on the retail park and the rest look like single storey. You pass the site when you drive to Almerimar from the airport so you can take a look in July if you fly in that way. It is on the left just after the Roquetas turn off when you are heading towards Almerimar.

John


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13 Jun 2008 9:49 AM by al24 Star rating. 41 forum posts Send private message

Just  been talking to Pat from Chill Out. There is a new Ikea store in Malaga and Chill Out have a base near Malaga and a largish van that they use to carry aircon stuff around.

Chill Out would be happy to offer a purchase, delivery and installation service from the Malaga Ikea if people wanted it. You could look at items in the UK catalogue, then check the Malaga Ikea website to see whether the products are sold here. Pete and Pat would purchase the items, delivery them and install them for you.

You can get contact details for Chill Out on the almerimar24 site.

This message was last edited by al24 on 6/13/2008.


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