One of the more enjoyable things about starting a life in a new country is living the experience one often watches on "House Hunters International". The excitement of comparing, contrasting and visualizing your new life in a new country as it is manifested in the purchase of a new home.
One discovery we made early on was that it would not be cost-effective to move our furniture and belongings from the United States to Colombia. It simply cost too much vs cost of buying new furniture and household items in our new home country.
After completing the purchase of our new home in Medellin, a beautifully located apartment with expansive outdoor terrazzas with a view over the Aburra Valley, we have begun an extensive renovation with the goal of creating an "oasis" in our beautiful new city.
A happy accident for us is that Colombia has many excellent craftsman and a population that takes pride in their work and produce outstanding products of all kinds. Furniture is a speciality of the El Retiro area just an hour outside of Medellin. We are fortunate to have found new friends who were happy to introduce us to some of the many furniture makers in the El Retiro area. We found a small furniture making company that makes just the kind of Japanese influenced minimalist, but high quality furniture we most enjoy. We could not have been more pleased to find the combination of quality, style and value we found at the Muebles de Oriente shop. An extra bonus for us is the ability to order just what we want as they are most accomodating in making design changes to dimensions, finishes, fabircs, and other features that allow a buyer to put their own "stamp" on the furniture.
Here is a LINK to some photos of the furniture we are having made for us: Photos of some of our new furniture
We are even able to visit the shop and see our furniture make its way through the custom building process!
We just can't wait for the finished product to arrive at our newly renovated home here in about a month.
Hasta Luego
