In previous posts I talked about furniture shopping in Sarchi, which is the center of quality handcrafted Costa Rican furniture. We bought a couple of rockers there a few years ago.
The Costa Rica rocking chairs are manufactured out of Caobilla wood (from the mahogany family) and real leather! They come in a variety of colors. You can pretty much order furniture any way you want it here. All custom made. They are good sized rockers and can be used for the porch or living room, and they can fold up to be quite compact! You can also choose an engraved chair for no extra cost - (the rocker is etched and stamped with Costa Rica on the bottom leather to signify it's authenticity).
Here is are 2 samples of Costa Rica style rockers
“Should I bring my furniture with me when I move to Costa Rica or should I buy new when I arrive there”?
When deciding to move to Costa Rica (or anywhere else outside of the US) you will need to decide whether you are going to ship your furniture, rent a furnished place or buy new furniture.
There are several factors to consider if you decide to bring your furniture with you. You must calculate the cost of the shipping container and then the import duties you will pay to bring it into the country. Also you will need to pay attention to the fabric your furniture is made from because there will be moisture and mold in the rainy season. Some fabrics will not hold up as well as others.
If you decide to rent furnished, the rents will be higher than if you rent unfurnished.
If you don't bring your furniture and rent unfurnished, there will be the cost of replacing the furniture. Let me say right off the top, you wil not find many high quality furniture stores here although many, many people choose to have furniture made in Sarchi. There you will find skilled craftsman that can make just about anything you want. All you have to do is show them a picture. You can select your wood preference and fabric.
We chose not to bring furniture with us and since moving here I have purchased a few furniture pieces but I wanted to get a new sofa in a more modern design so I made a visit to Ashley Furniture (the store is about 40 minutes away from Grecia and would be difficult for me to reach by bus).
It was a nice store (not very big) but I found the selections rather boring and the color choices very limited. In addition, the store arranges the sets to include rugs and lamps and sells them together.. They will not break up the sets. I know a few people who have purchased the sets and they looked very nice. Prices were about $1,100 for sofa, loveseat, rug, coffee table and end tables. Not bad, but I don'thave enough room for all of that furniture. So, in my case buying just a sofa from Ashley was almost impossible.
The furniture journey continues...
Here's a peek inside the store.