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We've been on the lookout for a TV sideboard/drawers (called a TV rack here) for some time, but most are cheap chipboard or MDF units that usually fall apart after a while. For decent wooden furniture you pay a premium, but it's worth it.
My wife has had this huge piece (1.8m wide) for decades, but it's too big and too imposing, so we've bought a quality, all wood (paraiso) replacement being delivered on Weds.
It's about three times the cost of of a diy unit but worth it.
Furniture here does cost a lot even the not so good stuff is expensive. As we're hardly ever there my missus bought some not so great quality items for the flat in BA several months ago. It's not fallen apart yet.
However she also bought some good quality stuff for the house here. She's known the owners of the shop for years so knows when they say it's good quality it is. The guys who delivered it also fitted it as I wouldn't have had a clue how to put the sliding doors and drawers on. All very nice and sturdy but it does come at ridiculous prices....at least twice the price or more that you'd pay in the UK.
I agree on all accounts. Having furnished 3 places since moving here, we have tried them all. The cheap, the ugly, the good ones.
I am also not big on the predominant/mainstream furniture styles available here. I like the one shown in Splinter's picture. In fact, I had investigated madera paraíso when we had to furnish our STR. Looks very nice, with a warm and not too fair nor too dark wood. However, it was too expensive for an STR, imho. It would have looked amazing in the pictures, but how much more revenue would we get for that investment?
I can't stand the countryside style (estilo campo) furnitures and the carved wood (madera tallada) which is very rough and sturdy, but ugly AF. Especially if you aren't buying furniture for a countryside parrilla. Unfortunately, since they are cheap, they are way too popular.
Design furnitures is so expensive that I can't even consider it. I have always wondered if those STR owner who hire designers and architects have a way to get them for cheap, because I can't see how 5k in furnitures can be a worthy investment up for a STR.
When we furnished the apartment where we currently live - which was the first we bought ever - we decided to invest in custom furnitures. After several weekends dedicated to visit the main furniture hubs (Av. Belgrano, Av. Cabildo, Mercado de Frutos) and the nice stores in Zona norte (I remember I liked Kikely) , when we were about to give up we found on display in Tigre some furniture done using repurposed wood from old houses that were demolished. They seemed sturdy and different from anything else. We were also able to get them custom made and to select the pieces of wood so that it wasn't too much "shabby chic". We wanted them to have a earthy feeling and not a paint scratched look. The pictures below are from the IG of the display we saw. The actual workshop had a more down-to-earth look and we felt at ease.It was also incredibly cheap vs. the pre-made stuff on display in Tigre in other similar stores.
That said, it is not the kind of furniture I'd have shipped to Europe if we were ever to move back.
If Ikea ever arrives here , they will make a fortune.
Ikea is decent quality, decent price and lasts for a couple of years. Just when you get fd up with it , it begins to fall apart.
Their bookshelves were always decent and lasted the pack
If Ikea ever arrives here , they will make a fortune.
Ikea is decent quality, decent price and lasts for a couple of years. Just when you get fd up with it , it begins to fall apart.
Their bookshelves were always decent and lasted the pack
There has always been a lot of bad talk against IKEA, since it arrived in Italy. However, I can't complain about the quality nor the prices, and let alone their customer service which is a dream compared to average CC back in the 90's.
Perhaps because we were 2 adults and didn't have kids wearing out the furniture, but we were always able to assemble, use and have lasting furnitures. We shipped over an IKEA desk when we moved to Argentina, and it is still like new. We customized it with a cable rack on the back, it has adjustable feet, it is heavy and sturdy. It doesn't fit well the decor we have now, but at 14 years old, it is a great desk.
Ikea has some nice design for an affordable price, and some good stuff for slightly more. I have recently visited the largest store in the outskirt of Milan, and I was impressed by the selection of dining chairs - from €20 to €100+, with clearly different quality in a variety of styles.
Some products are not worth it (bed sheets are not good quality, their cotton is rough and not soft, most kitchen utensils are very thin, non-sticking pans are horrible, but pots do their work anyway), some are decent (furnitures) and some are really good (smart lamps, steel accessories, racks etc).
I am always showing with pride the IKEA products we have in our STR. Most guests aren't impressed because they have IKEA in their home country. Others don't get smart lamps because they are not a thing in Argentina. One of the pros of IKEA is that it forces advancements in style and technology, albeit at a slow pace.
At IKEA, you can furnish a whole home in a day. You can return products you don't like, you can buy products on offers in the special deals corner, there is a consistent selection of glassware and kitchen items. I would love to have IKEA here, it'd make our life much simpler.
I don't subscribe the criticism against cheap furnitures: the way people live today, they don't need furnitures lasting 50 years that will be passed down to next generations. They need stuff they can fit in the apartment they rent today, which may not fit in the apartment where they will have to move 2 years from now.
When I was still living in Italy with my husband, we had considered renovating my grandmother's apartment and we asked for cost estimates around. The kitchen would have been the centerpiece of our home, so my idea was to get the best and most complete kitchen as it'd pay off in decades of cooking at home. We got a cost estimate for my ideal kitchen from a renowned furniture store --- it was around 20k Euros.
I am glad we then rented a semi-furnished flat, as we stayed in Italy for just 16 months and then left for good. So much money saved!
I suspect IKEA have looked at coming here and have been put off by the hefty taxes forced on foreign companies. Just look at the inflated price of KitKats/Guinness/Kellogs cereals not to mention imported frilly knickers.
Ikea is in Chile and the lad brought some superb knives back for us on one of his trips to Santiago.
The mucama took the sofa and we're giving her these two TV cabinets, designed for VCRs. The one on the left, although very solid, is around 30 years old and the black one about 20. We simply don't have room for this stuff any more and would rather she puts it to good use, which I know she will.
Panda not included.
The new TV stand arrived last night and we love it. It's top quality craftmanship, weighs a ton and is nice to look at. The design is good too, meaning that most of the cables are hidden and the sound bar is hiding in the space below.
Very nice looking!
Indeed, I find it visually relaxing and calming. I like the clean design with the warmth of the wood and the fire. Very good job! Did you simply replace the old furniture or did you redesign the space?
Did you use AI? I was kind of pleased when I asked AI to suggest a design for my terrace, and that it was quite similar to what we already have.
Indeed, I find it visually relaxing and calming. I like the clean design with the warmth of the wood and the fire. Very good job! Did you simply replace the old furniture or did you redesign the space?
Did you use AI? I was kind of pleased when I asked AI to suggest a design for my terrace, and that it was quite similar to what we already have.
That space had been taken up by this huge, black 1.8m sideboard (?) for a number of years, but we managed to move it into another room.
It was bloody heavy, so we used this handy trolley to move it around.
