Furnishing your property
What an adventure! I have spent countless hours walking the streets of Buenos Aires looking for the right furnishings to put in our apartment -- For me, it's never a simple task. There are several challenging factors involved with buying furniture here.
Furniture stores
For one, almost all furniture stores do not have inventory. Some have floor models that you can see and touch, but when it comes to buy, you'll need to wait 30-45 days for the item to be constructed. Some stores only have pictures to look at, and others simply draw you a sketch of what you'll get. Almost any way you slice it, it turns out to be a long process. The benefit of this process is that there is a lot of flexibility in what you can order. Most stores will make items to exact measurements, and some will even build a design you give to them. Many furniture stores are built around a specific furniture designer. Some of these designers have experience with creating the look for local 5-star hotels and restaurants. One of our designers helped design and furnish the Faena Hotel www.faenahotelanduniverse.com . Before purchasing anything these designers will usually offer to come to your house and help you build a design plan. They don't charge for this visit, but they do hope that you will furnish part of your house with their product. Generally, payment is 50% up front, and 50% upon delivery. Never pay everything up front unless the furniture is already built and you have had a chance to inspect it. Once the money has exchanged hands, you're on your own -- don't expect a follow up call.. I learned this one the hard way.
I found that the furniture stores here are of four varieties:
1) Modern
2) 1985 style (light oak)
3) Antique
4) Upscale French (Louis 14th)
For me, it was very difficult to find a reputable store that had good quality furniture at a reasonable price. Prices always tend to be on the high side when a foreigner walks through the door. Nevertheless, I did find a few stores that met the above criteria.
Personal carpenter
Never a bad option, and it sounds cool to have a personal carpenter. There are some extremely talented woodworkers in town. I decided to get creative a couple times and I designed a few pieces of furniture. These pieces probably won't show up in the Guggenheim anytime soon, but it's not because of the craftsmanship. This option is usually cheaper and of higher quality (given you have a good carpenter), but one man can only work so fast, and they usually don't work with leather or fabric.
Furnishing your place with antiques
Buenos Aires is filled with old antique furniture. If you look hard enough and in the right place you can find some really good deals. In our apartment, we decided to purchase period lighting to go with our 1920's architecture. We blended the period lighting and other antique details with furniture that was more modern. There are entire warehouses of antiques in Buenos Aires. These warehouses also act as turnkey refurbishing factories. At one shop you can buy a couch from 1919 -- pay an extra fee, and the store next door will completely restore it for you. We bought our lighting at one of these places and had them rewired for a total price of around U$S150 each. One section of the warehouse is filled with the old relics from torn down mansions. These items consist of ornate entry doors, gigantic stained glass windows, grand staircases and wrought-iron pieces. In my opinion, it's only a matter of time before these warehouses are discovered by the masses and plundered. Until then, half the fun is finding something that fits in your house, and half the fun is in negotiating the purchase. The people that work in these places are pretty well versed in the art of negotiation -- I think they are part salesperson, part actor. Every time you offer a lower price than what is marked, they act like the offer is unattainable. Usually a price is settled upon somewhere in between --- however, just as often, they will let you walk away.
We took our time buying furniture and tested out all of the above options. With some we had more satisfying results than others, but all in all we were very pleased with the quality of work and products. As soon as everything has arrived, we'll post some pictures of the place.
What an adventure! I have spent countless hours walking the streets of Buenos Aires looking for the right furnishings to put in our apartment -- For me, it's never a simple task. There are several challenging factors involved with buying furniture here.
Furniture stores
For one, almost all furniture stores do not have inventory. Some have floor models that you can see and touch, but when it comes to buy, you'll need to wait 30-45 days for the item to be constructed. Some stores only have pictures to look at, and others simply draw you a sketch of what you'll get. Almost any way you slice it, it turns out to be a long process. The benefit of this process is that there is a lot of flexibility in what you can order. Most stores will make items to exact measurements, and some will even build a design you give to them. Many furniture stores are built around a specific furniture designer. Some of these designers have experience with creating the look for local 5-star hotels and restaurants. One of our designers helped design and furnish the Faena Hotel www.faenahotelanduniverse.com . Before purchasing anything these designers will usually offer to come to your house and help you build a design plan. They don't charge for this visit, but they do hope that you will furnish part of your house with their product. Generally, payment is 50% up front, and 50% upon delivery. Never pay everything up front unless the furniture is already built and you have had a chance to inspect it. Once the money has exchanged hands, you're on your own -- don't expect a follow up call.. I learned this one the hard way.
I found that the furniture stores here are of four varieties:
1) Modern
2) 1985 style (light oak)
3) Antique
4) Upscale French (Louis 14th)
For me, it was very difficult to find a reputable store that had good quality furniture at a reasonable price. Prices always tend to be on the high side when a foreigner walks through the door. Nevertheless, I did find a few stores that met the above criteria.
Personal carpenter
Never a bad option, and it sounds cool to have a personal carpenter. There are some extremely talented woodworkers in town. I decided to get creative a couple times and I designed a few pieces of furniture. These pieces probably won't show up in the Guggenheim anytime soon, but it's not because of the craftsmanship. This option is usually cheaper and of higher quality (given you have a good carpenter), but one man can only work so fast, and they usually don't work with leather or fabric.
Furnishing your place with antiques
Buenos Aires is filled with old antique furniture. If you look hard enough and in the right place you can find some really good deals. In our apartment, we decided to purchase period lighting to go with our 1920's architecture. We blended the period lighting and other antique details with furniture that was more modern. There are entire warehouses of antiques in Buenos Aires. These warehouses also act as turnkey refurbishing factories. At one shop you can buy a couch from 1919 -- pay an extra fee, and the store next door will completely restore it for you. We bought our lighting at one of these places and had them rewired for a total price of around U$S150 each. One section of the warehouse is filled with the old relics from torn down mansions. These items consist of ornate entry doors, gigantic stained glass windows, grand staircases and wrought-iron pieces. In my opinion, it's only a matter of time before these warehouses are discovered by the masses and plundered. Until then, half the fun is finding something that fits in your house, and half the fun is in negotiating the purchase. The people that work in these places are pretty well versed in the art of negotiation -- I think they are part salesperson, part actor. Every time you offer a lower price than what is marked, they act like the offer is unattainable. Usually a price is settled upon somewhere in between --- however, just as often, they will let you walk away.
We took our time buying furniture and tested out all of the above options. With some we had more satisfying results than others, but all in all we were very pleased with the quality of work and products. As soon as everything has arrived, we'll post some pictures of the place.
posted by britownsend | 12:57 PM
