Paphos People

Did anyone see the Watchdog report on sofas last night?

Leather sofas made by a company called Linkwise in China can cause allergic skin reactions in some people. It is thought, although not yet proved that it could be sachets of fungicde (to prevent mould) inside the furniture that is causing the rashes, and the pictures showed that some were very severe.

These sofas are sold by Walmsley's, Land of Leather and Argos, just the ones I can remember.

Coincidentally we were looking at furniture yesterday, and trying to decide what to take to Cyprus and what to buy over there, taking into consideration, exchange rates, shipping costs etc.

My daughter who is 16 and knows absolutely everything there is to know about everything thinks that leather sofas would not be suitable in Cyprus in the hot weather. I don't have leather sofas now and I am not sure if I would buy leather, but don't particularly want to take the ones we have now, as they will be 10 years old next year and I'm ready for a change.

So what did you take when you moved over?

Pam

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Pam

Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans

Thanks for that Pam, we didn't bring our sofa with us but got one from a company over here, who incedently imports sofa's from Argos, so I think I'll be checking this out when I get home

we've got our leather sofas with us, we like the fact that they are easy to clean, (just think of all the sweat and stains in the summer months - ewww) i would recommend buying something that you can either take the covers off and wash or leather which is easy to wipe down and look after, Rob does put a piece of material behind him in the summer months to avoid sticking to it though! again ewww.

One thing IMO the sofa's here are expensive to buy but i believe are good quality so long as they are real and not the fake leather ones you can get.

Its really a matter of personal taste as well. For us it suits us, but it may not be everyone's ideal. I've never suffered with them being too hot, sometimes they get a tad cold in this weather though.

Cheers

Amanda

I have a leather sofa, and in summer I tend to put a cotton throw on it, so I don't stick, and in winter I have a chenille throw I put on to warm it up a bit. There are times, when I don't have ANY throws on.

Jean

Hi Tilly/All

Certainly agree that local quotes on curtains and fittings/poles etc can give you a shock - did me anyway !!

So we measured up and bought the main curtains for our new place on a UK sale at Matalan. Fraction of the cost and they looked great too. The purchasers of our old house did not want our curtains and as they were in good nick these re-fitted very well. (These too came originally from the UK.)

But I made the mistake of ordering local copies of Italian poles. The poles were good value but the curtain rings were not local and needing many more than came as "standard", they cost a fortune on a special order of course.

Well that's my story !!

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Regards

John

Planet Cyprus News,

Jean wrote:



The things you get up to over there!

The throw seems to be the way to go with leather, must admit I had not thought about the cold aspect of it!

Pam

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Pam

Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans

Tilly's actually shooting herself in the foot with her post above as that's the sort of soft furnishing she imports from the UK, curtains, voile's, throws, bedding, towels etc etc, so it goes to show, even though she could have plugged her business to everyone, she's decided to tell members to bring them out instead

I'll plug it for her, you can find her advert 'Athena Designs' in the Grapevine or on our website under 'Members Offers' or 'Services Offered'

I didn't know that Tilly had this business so sorry guys for the follow up plug to DIY - embarrased now.

I got the poles from Konnikos up the Polis Road - so you know who to avoid !!

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Regards

John

Planet Cyprus News,

We came with nothing except a large sports bag each with our clothes in.

Much more fun!

Y

Don't be John, you weren't to know, Tilly's shop does all ready made soft furnishings, nothing made to measure, so it's easy to get what you're looking for & don't have to wait weeks unless she's having to order it in from the UK that is

Before we came over we had a look at all the furniture etc. We bought electrical goods over here cos of guarantee etc. But we bought new leather suite, dining table and chairs etc. in U.K. and shipped them over.

We got rid of a lot of our stuff in the U.K. i.e. fridge, freezer etc. I wished I had brought everything with me, cos I had to go and buy again here and it is much more expensive.

So if you are having a large container, stuff it with everything you can, cos if you dont want/need it you can always give it to charity.

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Molly

Treat others as you want to be treated

We shipped absolutely everything except the cooker and the wardrobes, which we knew would more than likely be built-in here and they were. This was because we only met and set up home together in 2004 so everything we had was quite new and we didn't have the money to start over again. This might sound daft but it actually helped us settle in as it was really exciting when the container arrived and we got to unpack our familiar belongings in our new home. OMG was I pleased to see our bed after 3 weeks on a blow up mattress!!!!!

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Helen

Of all the things I've lost............ I miss my mind the most! __________________________________________________
Never say Never!

Only 3 weeks we had to suffer 6 weeks, had 1 each

Have to agree with Molly here bring what you have, settle in and if you don't want it either go to one of the car boots or give it to charity.

I had a beautiful leather suite in the UK, but OH thought it would be too dark (navy blue), so we bought a cream one here - we both hate it, not as luxurious as the one we left behind (mother-in-law still has it so it is now 12 years old and still looks better than the new one) and the dust seems to get deep into it, even though it has a wash down once a week OH has to do it once a month as I never seem to get the marks out of it.

Actually I don't know about others but we don't sit much indoors in the summer and use the garden furniture more than the settees so I for one would invest in a really good quality garden set.

I have also found that Cypriot beds are the most uncomfortable beds around and expensive so even if you are buying new ones buy UK the ones with the drawers as there is never enough storage in a Cypriot built house.

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"Your dog is your friend, your partner, your defender. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true until the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion"

Well we are following along with Molly and Jean. We are bringing everything. I may even invest in some curtain material. Not the curtains as I won't know how big the windows will be. We may well decide there are things we don't need or want, but we will get rid of them once we are settled if that happens.

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Tina
xxxx

Beds: We were thinkng of bringing them anyway, good point about the drawers for storage Trish.

Pam

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Pam

Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans

Decided not to have curtains, instead had 'Chinese' type blinds made to measure through the DIY place opposite Carrefour, ready in a week. Easy to fit ourselves too!

We were very pleased but that's just what suited us, each to their own!

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Helen

Of all the things I've lost............ I miss my mind the most! __________________________________________________
Never say Never!

We sold some furniture in the UK and e-bayed like mad, but brought everything else, including the car.

So space wasn't an issue in the containter, but just one point. If you are paying for a packing service as well as shipping. We've sold five pieces of furniture here (for silly money of course) and have taken (at the last count) 10 boxes of stuff to the charity shop or given it away.

I've found especially with ornaments and pictures, they just didn't look right. Sometimes they are bought for a particular place in one house and don't suit elsewhere. Only my opinion, of course.

So there can be a cost consideration to bring something and then get rid of it when you get here. Also if you need to store stuff, it can be expensive based on capacity.

But do bring every warm item of clothing and bedding you possess!


Fiona

A few of the things I wished I had brought with me were my Upright double door freezer, my extra fridges and my spare hoover.

Definitely bring your woolies and spare blankets.

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Molly

Treat others as you want to be treated

I agree about made to measure curtains. Now, this isn't meant to sound stupid , but Cypriot builders tend to build the "hole" then make the window frame to fit it! Hence you get the really odd sizes - my patio doors are 98" drop. Now you try getting ready mades to fit those! I made all my own, and also brought a full roll of header tape with me from Dunelm Mill in case I need to make any more . I also brought a mixed box of fabrics for soft furnishings etc. - guess what I'm going to be doing when I've retired

Jean

We brought a vacuum packed mattress with us, UK standard double sized, then bought a wooden double bed in Cyprus and the UK mattress is too small.

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Sulum ad suum

Wish I had brought all my plants with me as well, instead of giving most of them away.

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Molly

Treat others as you want to be treated

Once you have reached the breakpoint for a 20ft or 40ft container everything else travels freight free. The only additional costs are for packing if needed, stowing, devanning at destination and unpacking if required. Use all available spaces in drawers, fridges, freezers etc, great for duvets or blankets. You will never go overweight.

Do however take notice of your appointed surveyor when it comes to packing of fragile items, this helps when it comes to getting insurance cover.

Peter

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M & S Shipping (International) Limited

We brought all we could get in the 20ft container like Helen says it helps you settle in a lot better with familiar things, you can always get rid and buy new when you decide what suits you best. leather is a no no for me cant see the point of keeping throws on a suite they look so messy it would drive me mad, but that's personal choice.
Molly just noticed your now an "IDOL" not sure what kind though Marj

Peter wrote:



Sorry Peter, don't quite understand this - do you mean if you end up taking more than 20ft or 40ft? I can't get my head round the fact that goods are transported by volume rather than weight!

Pam

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Pam

Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans

Thanks everyone for your input.

It would appear that leather sofas are loved and loathed in equal proportions. I have plenty of time to decide, I just think that my current suite would not 'go'.

I now know more or less what to take, and looking at the stlyles on some of the furniture web sites over there, I shall definitely buy in UK! A good excuse to get new dining stuff too!

Pam

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Pam

Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans

We only brought a few things with us, as we sold most of it, but now I wish I'd brought our drinks fridge, mini freezer, Dyson (a must with all the dust here) Must admit, the things we did bring do help with homesickness, its just the familiarity that's nice. Went to Superhomes in Nicosia yesterday and saw our old patio furniture there that we'd left in England and I thought awwwwwwww. how silly is that

Carollynne

OK, sorry should have been clearer, smaller shipments go as groupage where the consignment is moved from the residence to the depot to place in a container with other consignments.
Should sufficient warrant the placing of a container at the house so you have your own container then the breakpoint is reached say for example, and only rough guide, but basically you divide the freight by 22cbm and that is the groupage rate.
If for example you have 25cbm then you get your own container anyway and you fill it to maximum.
The best deal is for the use of a 40ft container when the breakpoint can be as low as 40-45 cbm because the haulage is the same as a 20ft.
To simplify, if the surveyor calculates that it is cheaper for you to have your own container that is what is suggested.

Any further help you can always PM me

Peter

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M & S Shipping (International) Limited

Hi Peter,

We don't see you on here often as I know you're a very busy man but the information you provide our members is gratefully appreciated, Thank you

Hi, sorry but it seems quite difficult to log in a lot of the time and take advantage when I can. As I posted I am always happy to assist by email or PM.

Peter

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M & S Shipping (International) Limited

No need to apologise Peter, between our US server & Cyta we've had a few hiccups lately but hopefully things will pick up now

We bought everything, including the tumble dryer. We bought a new fabric suite as I thought it would be better than leather - we had leather previously and loved it in the UK. But I now wish we had gone for leather again for ease of cleaning. I would use throws with it, but that is no hardship.

We measured the windows of the villa we were renting and had the curtains made in the UK as it is cheaper than getting them done over here.

We didn't bring our SKY digibox as for some strange reason we didn't think we would be able to make use of it. But of course you can.

We bought all our electrical goods with us and they are working well to date. We get the sound for the TV via the video recorder, but until we decide to buy a new TV it is fine.

I wish I had stocked up on Febreze and Oven Pride and put them in the container. And Dow Egberts Continental Gold coffee. But hey, I can actually live without them.

Verity.

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Verity.

Be who you are, and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.

http://coecyp.blogspot.com

From Summer wine country. It will be far better to use a local facility
I can offer a service from Bradford, and will be more than happy to give you a cost if you pm me

JTS

Kypros Shipping Ltd
jts.uk@blueyonder.co.uk