Furnishing your home in Tenerife
You can achieve wonders with the right choice of furniture, not only to the look and style of your home, but also its comfort and practicality. Of course only a few of us have the luxury of starting with a blank canvas. Unless they are new, homes in Tenerife are normally sold furnished, and though we may have loved the property and its location, often we are taking on an interior design disaster. But even in the worst circumstances, a sharp eye can produce huge changes at a small cost.
Most of us will also have our own possessions to add to the melting pot. Many expats move over with the entire contents of their home, and this may be more of a burden than an asset. Chesterfields and heavy curtains will rarely fit in a Tenerife home, and a lot of furniture and ornaments simply stick out like a sore thumb when they get here. Whether you are moving into a shiny new concrete apartment, or a traditional home with metre thick stone walls, it is probably very unlike the home you once lived in. Modern homes will tend to be light and airy, and our style of living in a warm climate spills out onto terraces and outdoor spaces. Traditional Canarian homes are built with small windows and rooms, keeping the sun out and the interior cool. It can be a real design challenge to ensure these areas don’t look dark and poky.
Combining the elements that you find with those that you bring from the UK can sometimes be a daunting task, and often ends up looking like a loose collection of jumble. The natural reaction is to try to recreate a look that you know works, by playing safe and opting for the same style that you were used to in the UK. This rarely works well. Tenerife enjoys so many more hours of sunlight that the drab, sedate colours of colder countries can be replaced with bolder accents and design. Fresh and original is the order of the Tenerife day. Even so, you need to take care. A successful formula might be to use neutral colours for large areas, such as sofas and curtains, while adding drama in the colours of cushions, throws, lamps and pictures.
But there are more considerations that might be thrown into the design pot of a Tenerife home. There are no carpets here, so the colour of the floor tiles may limit your design options. You also need to consider the usage of the property. There are obviously colours and materials that are not wise to combine with the sticky hands of young children, just as there are textiles that will not take kindly to the suntan lotion dripping off their parents. If you rent a property to tenants, then you will need to find other ways to convey luxury than expensive vases and pictures. Locally made furniture may be easier to repair and re-upholster should it get damaged.
“We looked around quite a few furniture shops,” said Llew Sadler, who was faced with the task of furnishing two new properties. Some friends recommended Deco Nuevo in Los Cristianos, so we thought we’d give it a try. Expecting a normal furniture shop, my first thought was ‘hold on, this place is a bit small!’ But there was much more to it than met the eye.”
Llew and his wife had bought two properties, with the idea of renting one of them out. However the couple were still based in Bolton then, and the task of furnishing and decorating while spending a short week on the island seemed impossible. “My wife is an artist, so obviously she had a good idea of what she wanted, but they advised without any sales pressure and made more suggestions. In between us we worked out a design that we all thought was exactly right.” With over 20 years behind them, Deco Nuevo has seen which materials and products stand the test of time in Tenerife, and which to avoid. It means there is a lot of experience to contribute to your ideas.
Using a computer to help assemble all the design elements, the Sadler’s were able to get a very good idea of what the finished result would be. “There is a good selection of furniture in the Los Cristianos shop” explained Llew. “But they also picked out all sorts of things to show us from catalogues, and we then went to another showroom to see what they looked like in real life.” But that wasn’t all. Measuring the property themselves to ensure everything would fit as planned, Deco Nuevo’s team also include fitting everything as part of their service. Llew had only to leave them the key when the couple flew back to the UK and the company did the rest. “We needed everything done fast to be ready for the tenants, and they managed it all in about eight days.”
Llew is clearly impressed with the service that he received at Deco Nuevo, “All my working life I have fitted fireplaces, and I have always genuinely wanted to do a good job. The team at Deco Nuevo have exactly the same attitude. It all worked out to be such good value for money, they were so reliable … I would recommend them to anyone.”
 Deco Nuevo, TenerifeTelephone: 922 789 729Address: Deco Nuevo are in Los Cristianos; just drop into the shop at local 28a, Valdes Centre (opposite Ofipapel) Visit Website or Send an Email |
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