Where to buy furniture

[Louise]

Would appreciate any tips regarding where are the best places to buy furniture. In the process of furnishing a house in Provence and am especially having difficulty sourcing leather couches and curtains/bedspreads. Thanks.

[alexia s.]

You can pick up amazing bargains at small auctions - are there any in your area? Especially cheap are large sofas - modern apartments are to small to hold them.
I make my own curtains, so can't help there. (Cheap material at the marché St Pierre at Montmarte, Paris.)

[Paul Carmel]

Have a look in your phone book to see if have a shop called Fly near you, or try this link http://www.fly.fr/ It's bit like the middle ground between Ikea and Habitat.

[cromercrabholiday]

We are in UK, so cannot help you with shops, but we bought some of the furniture in the local auction - it fitted well into our cottage as it is 100 years-old. You can find good, quality stuff that is out of fashion that is ridiculously cheap. Also, if repair is needed, this can pull the price right down. We bought two Ercol easy chairs for a song - the foam in the cushions had gone and the cushion covers needed dry cleaning. Once this was sorted by a local upholsterer, we had two quality chairs for about £120.

We bought beds new and of high quality and, in our third season, they are holding up well. We also bought an expensive pair of sofas, which are showing signs of wear - not the fabric but the internal foam. The cheap sofa in the playroom bought from Argos is doing much better!

I think that you have to balance buying cheap and replacing regularly or going for higher quality and hoping that it will last longer. In our home we go for the latter approach and have gone the same way in the cottage.

John

[Ju]

I get alot of stuff from the La Redoute catalogue. Useful because they deliver. They have a separate catalogue called AM/PM which has the higher quality furniture in it.

For curtains, if you can't make them yourself, try a fabric shop so you can chose your fabric, and have them make it up for you. It's not usually too expensive.

Of course there is always Ikea! I've got a fab red leather sofa in one property which came from Ikea, and they deliver.

Ju

[Alan Knighting]

I always prefer the small local suppliers but they can be a bit on the expensive side.

For budget to mid-range furniture "But" (www.but.fr) is quite good and they do deliver, at a price.

When it comes to curtains and coverings Joan always uses a local fabrics shop. The range of materials is fantastic, it is all hand-made to measure and the prices ain't half bad.

Alan

[Louise]

Thanks everyone for all your advice - much appreciated.

[kevincohr]

Fly are certainly good for most things : they are inexpensive and the quality is okay.

I would also look at second hand stores. There are some great ones in Nice, at the back of the Nice Etoile shopping cetnre ( I think the street is Rue Lemartin ?) and you can pick up really good quality pieces for a fraction of the cost of new. Particularly good for wardrobes, cabinets etc etc

Regards,

Kevin