8536 Furnishing an apartment-lake como

We have taken the plunge and are buying an apartment right on the lake north of Menaggio on lake Como. We complete end of April and now comes the tricky part co-ordinating a kitchen purchase/installation and completely furnishing the 2 bed, 95 sq Mtrs apartment. We have only seen furniture shops around the lake which are prohibitively expensive with little choice. We may buy the whole lot in England and ship it over in one go via a removal firm but would love to know if there are large furniture warehouses near Milan (Similar to Furniture Village/DFS/Land of Leather - but not the dreaded IKEA, which I know has a Milan outlet!!).

We are not relocating from the UK so this will be for our use and probably some rental in high season - any advice on thw whole buying to renting process and all stages in between welcome.

Steve

Category
Property Sales/Rental Advice

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 01/07/2008 - 09:54

Hello Steve
It's probably a bit out of your way but Semeraro is quite good - Ikea prices (maybe a bit more) but better quality and more of an Italian style. [url=http://www.semeraro.it]Home page[/url]
It's just the other side of Bergamo coming from Milan, Rovato exit on the Milano-Venezia motorway. You'll see it on the left just before you get to the exit.

They do kitchens as well (great value, better than Ikea) and you'll probably be able to furnish the whole place from there, then add touches from other places.

If you have one near you I hear Grancasa is quite good although I've never been.

re. renting, I've sent you a pm.

All the best

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 01/07/2008 - 10:00

Update: looking on the semeraro site I see they have other stores, another in Bergamo and one in Torino too.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 01/07/2008 - 10:55

Hi Steve
We went through a similar process last year for our holiday apartment on the other side of the lake from you.For basic furniture - beds,bedroom furniture,sofas etc- we went the Ikea route as we could look at everything in our local UK store and then we ordered and paid online on the Italian website and they delivered.To be frank we are happy with the quality of the goods ,which is pretty OK as long as you don't go for the absolute cheapest.Even our geometra was impressed.
Kitchen we bought from Tutto Risparmio in Vertemate.A very good price which included design ,delivery and fitting.
Being Italy ,Ikea did not deliver on the day originally promised and the kitchen also arrived considerably later than intended.Maybe a case of getting what you pay for!
However we are pleased with the way it has turned out,

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 01/07/2008 - 11:10

many thanks, my aversion to Ikea is based on a few horrible experiences in-store so the online route sounds a good one. We had thought that we would do most non-furniture purchases at IKEA as it is easy to chose & readily replaceable if things get broken.

many thx for the advice

Steve

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 01/07/2008 - 11:34

I'm absolutely with you on the joys of the Ikea shopping experience !Get there early and out as soon as possible has to be the motto.We went to the one in Milan and by 11 Am it was absolutely rammed.From where you are I think by far the closest store is the one in Lugano.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 01/07/2008 - 11:47

Hi Sarah

Thx very much for your messages. I have looked at both store websites but sadly as with most websites I have visited for Italian companies, there is very little information and virtually no online shopping/service available. We have so far flown via Malpensa and Linate but said we would try bergamo next time - perhaps we can track Semeraro down if we do.

Thx also for the rental info - we have been put in touch with a very charming dutchman in Menaggio who offers a similar service locally - we just need to decide how much we might use it ourselves and the 'value' of a hassle free rental service. We will be 20M from the lakeside with a view/balcony to die for, so I am sure we will get rentals - it's the 'control' part we need to consider (this is our bolthole, not an investment) ie we dont want smoking in the apartment, not too sure about young children, how much do we spend on furnishings etc ie latest flatscreen TV, PC + games console, leather sofas etc or do we spend less to minimise damage/worry....... I may well go on to the laymyhat blog to ask others - thanks for the link.

many thanks

Steve

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 01/07/2008 - 21:36

I often drive into Cernobbio (OK you're not going to shop for furniture there unless you're a multi-millionaire with no common sense) and take the route from Cernobbio to Cesano Maderno from time to time using the SS35 Superstrada Milano-Lentate. The road seems to be lined with furniture stores from end to end with several factory outlets, as does the Via Statale dei Giovi.

I've never stopped at any of them - too far from home to go shopping. But it may well be worth a look.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 01/09/2008 - 04:52

Absolutely agree with the last post, the district of Como / Cantu is the centre of the Italian furniture industry (and kitchens), not only the top end manufacturers like B & B italia, Poliform and Molteni etc but absolutely loads of spin off companies and smaller manufacurers with factory outlets. The prices and quality of the products on offer are great and you get really stylish furniture, much of which is not even available in the UK.
My tip is get in the car and drive around the area and enjoy the experience! For electrical items Euronics in Como is good value and delivery is no problem.