Suzanne N. Says:
Do I need my own furniture if I plan to rent in Colombia? Can I buy some there?
IL Contributor Nancy Kiernan Writes:
If you rent a home or apartment, you likely will need to buy furniture, because few Colombian property owners offer furnished dwellings. However, in the larger cities there are rental agencies that specifically cater to foreigners and provide furnished apartments with everything right down to the towels, silverware, dishes and decorations.
You’ll find loads of furniture stores selling tacky, cheaply constructed items such as sofas and dining room sets. For attractive, good quality furniture, you will need to shop in a city.
If you are renting or buying a property near Medellín, then a trip to El Retiro to buy furniture is a must. El Retiro, a small town about 40 minutes outside of Medellín, is the area’s furniture and wood-working capital. This is where I went to have all my furniture custom-made to furnish both the inside and outside living spaces of my apartment in Medellín. The prices are less than half of those in the stores in the city, and you can have your pieces made to your exact specifications at no additional cost.
Second-hand stores are few and far between, but most cities and towns have shops that manufacture custom wood furniture such as bed frames and dining room tables. You can design a piece of furniture yourself and employ a craftsman to create it for you, or choose from standard designs that they offer to all customers.
You’ll find kitchen items and home electronics at major department stores, such as Home Center, Jumbo, Éxito, Falabella, PriceSmart, and Mega. Due to recently implemented free trade agreements, these types of items cost about the same in Colombia as you’d pay in a North American store. However, don’t expect to find everything you had in your US home.
Read more about life in Colombia on the IL website.
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