Furniture, decorating and design on St. Barts

[DavidB]

Greetings all,

My wife and I will be returning on Monday, July 13 for another 2 week stay, for a total of 6 weeks this year. We're exploring the possibility of purchasing a villa and have spent a fair amount of time looking at villas.

Several of the villas we've seen appear very tired with dated furniture and would greatly benefit from a facelift. As an outsider, it seems like a major task to shop for and get furniture to the island.

Could you please shed some light on where most owners get their furniture from, how it arrives on island, are there any decorating services you could recommend, does it come form St. Maarten or Miami, etc.

Thanks for your help.

David

 

[didier]

If you wish to shop on island, I would suggest dreamtime in corossol. they have lots of pieces, such as armoires, chairs, tables etc from bali. very nice.

otherwise, if you want appliances or other furniture at reasonable rates, you will need to order from the states and ship here via tropical shipping in miami.

they sail every thursday for st. barths and arrive on monday or tuesday the following week. their prices to ship are reasonable.

 

[cassidain]

This made me wonder, is the Christian Liaigre boutique or studio still on the Island? Seems like I saw his lease in le Carré d'Or up to sublet recently. Does he still have a place on St-Barth?

 

[BBT]

This made me wonder, is the Christian Liaigre boutique or studio still on the Island? Seems like I saw his lease in le Carré d'Or up to sublet recently. Does he still have a place on St-Barth?

Yes he is still here as well as is his boutique

 

[elgreaux]

The Christian Liaigre boutique is not in the Carré D'Or.. it's on the road at the end of the port near the Teak furniture store and SiBarth, etc... they have lovely things, rather expensive...

in answer to David B's question, you can find a lot of things on the island, but large pieces such as sofas you might want to ship.. also depends what style you are looking for. I'd take Diana's advice and check out Dreamtime next time you are here as well as all of the other places on the island to see what's available... then when you purchase your villa, you'll have an idea of what you can source locally and what you'd have to ship.. there are also some local interior designers you could work with...

 

[tim]

If memory serves, there are several furniture stores on the island. Perhaps Diana of Ellen can verify their existence and locations.

 

[LMAC]

Tendencies is just above the airport -- just before you go down the hill to Anse de Cayes - it's down the road on the right. Have not been in there, but it is a furniture store.

 

[SBH pro]

We have had several large pieces shipped to the States from Dreamtime, that's where I would start.

 

[amyb]

And appliances, from refrigerators to coffee makers can be bought on island too.

 

[stbartshopper]

The people we know have had all of their items shipped from the States. Yes you can buy on the island some things but the choices are sparse and at premium prices. We suggest you shop as thought you have a Villa say in Naples, Fl., and buy whatever you want; put it all in a container and you can ship it by air to St Marten and then by boat over or by ship all of the way.

 

[BBT]

The people we know have had all of their items shipped from the States. Yes you can buy on the island some things but the choices are sparse and at premium prices. We suggest you shop as thought you have a Villa say in Naples, Fl., and buy whatever you want; put it all in a container and you can ship it by air to St Marten and then by boat over or by ship all of the way.

Shipment of a container by air would negate any pricing discounts you could find. It is also very hard to find appliances in the U.S. With French plugs

 

[elgreaux]

a lot of the appliances sold on the island are American anyway and use transformers... French clocks on stoves/ovens don't tell time here due to the hertz difference.. all of our appliances are Whirlpool or GE, but I would recommend getting them here or in St Martin and shipping from there by boat...

 

[KevinS]

My recollection is that the power on SBH is 220V, but that it is 60hz as Ellen noted, rather than the typical French 50hz. As Ellen noted, French clocks have typically run fast due to the difference in hz. US appliances with a transformer should work fine, as long as they are wired correctly. I've wondered if the reason for the 60hz might be because many appliances are US versions, which, back in the day, may have been cheaper or easier to acquire than similar French versions.

 

[elgreaux]

exactly, Kevin, because the first electrical things that came here, came from Puerto Rico or St Thomas....and how their names in English made their way into the local patois, they didn't know what they were in French and read what is said on the box... like a freezer...

 

[wafiw]

Greetings all,

My wife and I will be returning on Monday, July 13 for another 2 week stay, for a total of 6 weeks this year. We're exploring the possibility of purchasing a villa and have spent a fair amount of time looking at villas.

Several of the villas we've seen appear very tired with dated furniture and would greatly benefit from a facelift. As an outsider, it seems like a major task to shop for and get furniture to the island.

Could you please shed some light on where most owners get their furniture from, how it arrives on island, are there any decorating services you could recommend, does it come form St. Maarten or Miami, etc.

Thanks for your help with Live Edge Furniture Store.

David

Looking to buy a couple of bits of furniture (couch/TV unit) Had a look on Ikeas website but nothing that catches our eye or budget.

Any recommendations for decent shops around Palma? I know Manacor has some but I would rather go to see specific shops rather than trolling through.

Debz1? Supermac?

 

[le_reve]

We have bought furniture from Dreamtime, but unless it is in stock, it can take several months to arrive. Very good, high-quality furniture, however. Also want to give a shout-out to Le Cèdre Rouge located next to the bank across from Pearl Beach - small showroom, but you can order items online from their catalog and they arrive quickly. We purchased a couch and coffee table from them last year and it is very nice quality and arrived from Belgium in a matter of weeks and at a reasonable price point. The St-Barth Store has recently opened a home decor showroom and also has some nice items.