Furnishing my first property in Cyprus. How hard can it be

After years of holidaying in Cyprus, enjoying the long hot days, beautiful scenery and refreshing sea breezes I longed to own an apartment in one of the developments overlooking the coast. When the opportunity finally came I was so excited, in fact I jumped at it, my heart ruled my head and I all I could think about was owning my own property in Cyprus.

All was well until I took possession of the apartment. I had not given any thought to furnishing the property at all. I remember thinking in the immortal words of Jeremy Clarkson -How hard can it be?-

Actually I should rephrase that question to; How hard can it be to find stylish, good quality furniture at a reasonable price in Cyprus?

Where do you want me to start? Being from the UK I was used to the availability of a good choice of reasonably priced furniture, unfortunately the market in Cyprus is completely different. Most of the furniture I found was very dated and not befitting of a modern apartment. Anything stylish was very, very expensive.

I was planning to let my apartment out so discounted the old fashioned furniture as I doubted it would sell my apartment to potential customers on the rental websites. This lead to my looking into bringing my own furniture and electrical from the UK however the wads of paperwork from HMRC and cost of shipping, plus me having to arrange it all and get to Cyprus to take delivery put me off.

Reluctantly I decided to buy the furniture on the island as I thought that would be a hassle free option. Wrong, it was a nightmare and took two weeks out of my holiday entitlement to co-ordinate. Cypriot furniture sellers reminded me of some of the English trades men I’d used, or tried to use. I thought because the furniture was so expensive (around 15,000 euros to furnish the whole apartment) at least the service would be good. Sadly this was not the case, delivery dates were missed, incorrect items were supplied and incomplete deliveries meant the furniture arrived in dribs and drabs. I returned to the UK, worn out and frustrated.

In May 2010 I noticed a group of smart young English men delivering furniture to a new development close to my apartment. I got talking to one of them, who turned out to be the owner of the only UK based company dedicated to furnishing properties in Cyprus. He told me they offer supply and install furniture packages from as little as 1,500 + VAT. I wish I’d known about them when I was furnishing, it would have saved me a lot of time and stress.

For those of you thinking of furnishing a property in Cyprus these people could save you a lot of money and stress.

Cyprus Luxury Furniture – Get affordable and quality Cyprus Furniture. Variety of various Cyprus furniture packs with best excellence material in furniture. Paul Wannamaker, Cyprus Life E-Zine