I am in the process of buying a hous in

Congratulations on your pending and exciting adventure!Furniture depends on your taste and budget? I would in any case recommend you see if there is any small local shop where you will get much better service and more for your money. That far south I think you will also save a lot on delivery. You might want to think about just buying the basics to tide you over until you move out and get settled. Obviously if your buying involved a kitchen and/or bathroom, then that’s more of a problem. A bed, table and chairs could cost as little as €200 at somewhere like Mondo or Mercatone or even perhaps Ikea. Things like a mattress you may as well pay whatever you want for a more permanent solution as it will fit any final same type bed e.g. matrimoniale. Below are links to some of the places to get an idea of costs and what to look for, with Ikea last time I looked you can use any English site get a product code and put it in the Italian site to find it there.Mondo Mercatone Ikea IT MaisonsEnjoy!

Thanks so much, we plan to do it a bit at a time on each visit. Our realtor has put us in touch with a carpenter for the kitchen, but we need to go out and buy everything else. Its difficult trying to do it Transatlantic. Very exciting though. Thanks again this is extremely helpful.

I have a house in a village near Villa Santa Maria which is about 20 minutes drive (at most) from Colledimezzo. There are two furniture stores and a small diy type shop beware though the furniture store don't take cards cash only.

Hi Frank, thank you. I visited in August, when I was house hunting, and I noticed not many place took credit cards. Its a whole different world isn't it. Back to good old cash. Thanks for your info. We'll be back in March to start furnishing. Looking forward to it.

It is a whole different world, there is also a cash transaction limit of €3000 after which it has to be electronic. Simple thing to do is not get hassled by the differences and accept that's how it is. Anything you do now, think "is it like that in Italy?), even the simplest thing can differ. Especially look into anything to do with finance, driving and contracts (which we've found a lot of Italians avoid where possible).

Thanks Steve, we're just about to close on our house. Its been very laid back, we were lucky to have a great Realtor, but long distance from Colorado to Abruzzo has been a challenge. Can't wait for my first trip back to Italy though. All advice welcome. We've travelled there as much as possible over the years, but nowhere captured my heart like Abruzzo. I found it very different and the pace much slower from the rest of the country. Just the retirement life I'm looking for. One step at a time! Any advice you can offer is welcomed.

Hello,I just read the posts. Very interesting! You sounded very excited! :)Have you sorted everything out already? How's the process of buying and refurbishing been going? I hope you are already settled! :)I live in Abruzzo as well! If you want to keep in touch and communicate from time to time that would be nice :)Ciao ciao