3900 Removals (part)

We arrived with a only couple of boxes of books and toys, and suitcases and have been furnishing ever since.
To fast furnish IKEA is a marvellous solution. I suggest that you bring a catalogue in English and pick one up here in Italy so that the english one can help with some of the translations if you need them. It can't be beaten for measuring up and buying the flat packs ... oh the joyous memories. One time the car was so full that I had a shelf ladder over my head in the passenger's seat for the entire two hour drive from Bologna.
A few years later we realised that we had to get rid of some of the stuff as it just looks so ... so ... IKEA!! The machined finish and smooth surfaces don't develop a patina that is in keeping with rustic italian.
In the mean time we've had a wonderful friend build shelves, bought from others who have had to move back and rummaged through antique fairs, expecially the Arezzo Market (first Sunday of the month and the preceding Sat).
Furnishing is long process that can't be hurried. Do with as little as possible and build as you go. Each piece will have a memory and when you are surrounded by as much clutter as I am ... you may enjoy the memories

[QUOTE=Heidihi58]I will be moving to Tuscany later in the year, and will be moving in with my 'compagno'. We will be having to furnish a small apartment....I am wondering if it would be worth me taking any furniture with me or whether to buy new stuff there (good old Ikea)....obviously I will have things I absolutely must take, loads of books, clothes etc....maybe some of you have advice about the best/cheapest way to take a relatively small amount of clobber?[/QUOTE]

For God's sake forget boring lower middle class IKEA.

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[QUOTE=Sancho the Fat]For God's sake forget boring lower middle class IKEA.

...[/QUOTE]

Hey Sancho ... that's not very nice!! :D

Ikea is ideal to start filling up an empty house ... you can always 'upgrade' your furniture later with more precious pieces.

I've owned Ikea furniture for over 15 years, mostly book shelves & tables, and have found them good value for money. As I've moved house approx 12 times during that period, I've found filling gaps in the houses with Ikea stuff very useful.

When you move, you don't necessarily have thousands to spend on decent, upmarket stuff - so Ikea can help make yourself at home in the meantime. :)

[QUOTE=Sancho the Fat]For God's sake forget boring lower middle class IKEA.

...[/QUOTE]

In that case try Semeraro better made and better designs!!

Ikea is OK!

It's easy for those who've been in Italy a while to get 'sniffy' with Ikea, but one can forget the terror (mixed with loads of excitement!) of setting up a new home in a new country.

We started with them a while back as:[list]
[*] It was realtively cheap
[*] It was easy (a simple, familiar & 'forgiving' store layout)
[*] As it was an international brand, we had confidence that all would be OK
[*] The styles were neutral & inoffensive, if not a tad dull![/list]

Since then we've upgraded to new, second hand & antique (well, old really!) & have found that our tastes change as we get to know more of the area, see more local designs & styles.

As I say, Ikea will "make do" if you want something now......if you can afford to wait, then do that. We spent ages with a dining table that was shared with the terrace (OK, so it was not much more than garden furniture!) but it worked & we found a wonderful dining table at a scrappy looking second hand shop at a wonderful price that "looks the part"....so try Ikea if you like!

That said, if you can, buy locally, support your local shops (you'll miss 'em when they're gone & Italy's no different to a UK high street!)

[quote=tuscanhills]That said, if you can, buy locally, support your local shops (you'll miss 'em when they're gone & Italy's no different to a UK high street!)[/quote]
:eek:
Gowd, what a dreadful through to end my posting on (sorry everyone!)
:eek:

Tusc I know what you mean, I guess it all depends on the type of property you are furnishing, as one day I hope to be furnishing an old farmhouse, so I will be going traditional Italian farmhouse furniture, so Ikea would be no good for me, but for new builds, modern villas, and apartments, Ikea probably would be perfect, I must say cannot wait to start looking around the antique shops, and markets looking for my furniture, I want to keep my home as authentic as I can,so have no choice but to buy in the local comune, and very happy to do so.:D

...hey, we have a wonderful borgo house that's not suited to Ikea, but then our knowledge & language skills we not (immediately!) suited to 'local' shopping..............I'm a convert now though!

I didn't mean to start an argument about the pros and cons of Ikea!! We will be furnishing a brand new apartment.....and we won't have much money (separated/divorced) so as many people said it will be something to start with. One day we will no doubt be able to get what we [I]really[/I] want...

But Ikea aside, does anyone know how much a part-load of stuff would cost? I suppose I could phone around for quotes but thought someone may have come up with an economical solution....I still have to bring all my books!!

Agree with you Heidihi... :)

I think the most economical option would be to hire a van & take the stuff there yourself - or your other half! Have done that a few times across the UK myself (long distance) and it might be tiring, but at least you've saved some money.

Alternatively, you can do a search on here by using the green toolbar above right (just underneath your private messages link) and search for removals. There have been a number of discussions and prices quoted in the past, which might be of use for you!

Good luck!

S

As it happens, I did a PM to someone yesterday about quotes I've had for moving house using removal firms and the part-load method, so with very little effort, I can probably give you far too much information. Perhaps the numbers for me might give you a rough idea of what you could be looking at in terms of cost if you go this route.

First, distance and volume are crucial factors, so bear in mind that the following is for a move from central Scotland to northern Abruzzo. As far as volume is concerned, only you can figure out how many cubic feet/metres of stuff you want to take with you. Estimating volumes is difficult for us non-removal man types, so it will probably be helpful to you to take a look at a calculator on the [URL="http://www.reallymoving.com/"]reallymoving.com[/URL] website.

Select "Quotes for International Removals" from the front page and then look toward the middle right side where there's a link that opens up an automated inventory and volume estimator.

So far, I've had four quotes. Three were based on filling in an inernet inventory which produced an estimated volume (two using the one I mentioned above, the third provided by the company). I've also had a nice man in from Pickfords to actually look around the house at what I want shifted and give his estimate.

I'm inclined to think that the Pickfords estimate is possibly the most accurate, but I don't think I'm actually going to use them. Partly because they are not the cheapest quote but also because they seem to want to maximise the actual volume involved. For example, when I suggested I could reduce the number of boxes by packing clothes, bedding and other light, bulky items in furniture drawers, the Pickfords man was insistent that all furniture had to be empty. I appreciate that some people might over-do things (packing the drawers in a divan bed base full of tins of cat food or something), but this seems to me mainly a policy designed to maximise the removal company's income.

If you use the inventory calculator, you'll get a good idea of your volume, but to give you a rough idea now, I'll be moving the contents of a two-bedroom house and garage. I'm single and don't have any kids, so that means there aren't loads of toys, multiple sets of bedroom furniture and lots of clothes. On the other hand, I do have loads of books and lots of other [I][B]stuff[/B][/I] that I've accumulated over the years.

The Pickfords estimate of total volume was 806 cubic feet. That's about 23 cubic metres. Their quote was £4,623 (for all prices, I'll include VAT). I said that I wanted to box everything myself, so the only packing they would do would be wrapping of furniture and large appliances.

Second firm: Andrew Porter (info@andrewporterltd.co.uk): Internet based inventory 23 cubic metres. Total cost £5,170. That includes export wrapping of "highly polished furniture".

Third firm: Simpsons (enquiries@simpsons-uk.com). Volume same as above. Total cost £3,614, export wrapping of furniture up to 565 cubic feet an additional £500.

Fourth firm: removalgroup.com: for 26 to 27 cubic metres, £3,395. No packing of anything, just loading on a van and shipment to house in Italy on part-load basis. Someone from this firm called soon after I'd had the quote to ask if I was going to go with them. At that point, I was waiting for the Pickfords man to visit and so I told her that she should call back later this week so I could give her the volume estimated by Pickfords and get a new quote. I believe that the real amount I want moved will be even less than the 22 cubic meters estimated by Pickfords, so I'm curious to know what number she'll give me. She has, by the way, assured me that the price will be based on the volume measured in the van on the day, not estimates. So since I'm one of those ghastly people who has no taste and lots of Ikea furniture, I've started to change it all back to flat-pack form! :eek: If you want to talk to someone with this firm, the woman who called me is named Raj Johal and her number is 0870 240 7432.

By the way, one of the things that the Pickfords man said was a factor in their favour is that they could promise a delivery date within a few weeks while (he said) other firms that subcontract out might keep my household goods waiting in a warehouse somewhere in England for weeks until enough stuff to fill a van heading my way had appeared. Take that for what it's worth. If it's crucial that you have all your stuff with you as soon as possible, you wil pay a premium.

Hope this is of some help.

Allan

Thanks Allan, that was really useful. I hope you remember how to reconstruct your Ikea stuff! I don't really have a lot in the way of furniture as having been recently divorced I left most of 'our' furniture behind and just bought second-hand stuff to tide me over until I escape from here. I also just took what I absololutely need, although every now and again I go and collect a little more, so really the sooner I go off the Italy the better! :(

[QUOTE=Heidihi58]I will be moving to Tuscany later in the year, and will be moving in with my 'compagno'. We will be having to furnish a small apartment....I am wondering if it would be worth me taking any furniture with me or whether to buy new stuff there (good old Ikea)....obviously I will have things I absolutely must take, loads of books, clothes etc....maybe some of you have advice about the best/cheapest way to take a relatively small amount of clobber?[/QUOTE]

We will be moving to Umbria in September and I have looked into removals in some depth, the cheapest way for us seems to be doing a part load through an international specialist. I will probably use Armishaws (01963-34065) who will do part loads priced (I believe) per cubic foot. They collect from you then wait untill they have a full load then deliver so you would have to wait a while for delivery.

[LEFT]
Wondering whether it might be worth having a permanent 'removals' thread somewhere, where members can advertise [roughly] when and where they're going. Opportunity to attract load shares and save money?
Anyone?
[/LEFT]

[quote=AllanMason;33772]

Third firm: Simpsons (enquiries@simpsons-uk.com). Volume same as above. Total cost £3,614, export wrapping of furniture up to 565 cubic feet an additional £500.
[/quote]

Anybody dealt with Simpsons? One of the movers I'm looking at seems to hand off to these guys who finish the move. No issues with breakage or loss?

Thanks

Hi
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