Shopping for home remodel

I know of a family who purchased triple pane windows made in Hungary and shipped them to the US.

Shipping and tariffs/duties would need to be explored. What if something arrives damaged or 6 months later you need warranty service?

No experience, but I see a lot of ways this kind of project could go off the rails. I would not want TUMS to become my primary food group.

Good luck with the project.

Keep in mind that the following will add to the cost of the item:

--shipping and delivery. (This cant be cheap on heavy furniture.)

--customs duties.

My suggestion would be to do some research on these costs and then see how much you would really save.

As stated previously, what if there is a problem with something you ordered and it needs to be returned or fixed. That will cost plenty to ship something back.

I know a few people who decorated their places with "foreign" products but they had money to burn and went through a decorator/designer.

I'm not saying don't do it, I'm just saying find out all the costs BEFORE you start buying.

Hi Barkinpark,
I have never shipped furniture or anything larger than my suitcase from Europe. So I cannot be helpful to you in that way. What I do have is a story my father told. He worked for an airline at a small station in Michigan. He worked many positions over his three decades as an employee. For a time he worked with freight. A shipment of furniture arrived from a Scandinavian company. The couple who had purchased and had the furniture shipped explained they had spend a lot of money on this furniture. They inspected every inch of that furniture. During the inspection they discovered that their furniture had been manufactured in Grand Rapids, Michigan! This has served as a cautionary tale for me when purchasing items while out of the country.

Best of luck with your renovation. I always thought it would be great to purchase furniture and other larger household items in Europe. I hope you will post how this worked out for you.

Traveler Girl

Thank you very much. Lots to think about. I just ordered a Scandinavian recliner from a US reseller for over $3000. I heard from an Internet forum that the same item retails for less than half in Europe.

Also, their plumbing fixtures look really good. Just wondering how I can bring some back.

Couple of thoughts:

Furniture repair can be done, if needed, especially if you are near a city. There are companies which specialize in manufacturer's furniture repair. My mother worked for one in New York in the 70's.

Cabinet hardware, hinges, knobs and pulls. sure are nice in Europe. One problem is knowing that you bought all the knobs you needed. For a bathroom or a kitchen, I could easily imagine coming home and realizing you needed just 2 more knobs than you thought. I'd really want to make sure you can mail order a few more of whatever you buy over there.

Plumbing fixtures from Europe sounds pretty cool. I think, when buying faucets, I'd also buy a spare rebuild kit (gaskets, "o" rings, valve cylinder, etc...). In 10 years, when your hard water makes it start leaking, or a rubber seal deteriorates, you may not be able to buy the rebuild kit anymore.

As usual, Frank II is absolutely right.
I would be contacting a very good Interior Designer/Architect to help with your project.

I worked for an interior designer for many years, and a project such as what you describe can easily turn into a big mess, OR become too overwhelming to be finished by the homeowner.

A good interior designer/architect can tell you right away what some of the costs would be for the fixtures you describe, plus the best way for them to be shipped from Europe to your home.

Many interior designers/architects who design with an international flair have a room (in their offices) of catalogs of such fixtures--from lighting & plumbing fixtures to doors & windows--for you to browse through.
They can help you as little or as much as you request them to.

With as major a purchase as windows (being shipped from Europe) mentioned, I would definitely be contacting an interior designer/architect.
As long as you are going to all this trouble to build your "dream home" I'd want it to turn out right.

Sorry, one more thought:

If you buy any sinks in Europe: I believe the hole in the bottom which the drain fitting fits into is larger in Europe than in the U.S., so a U.S. drain fitting may not fit right. Might work, and not leak, but not look quite right. If you get the drain fitting with the sink, there might be a complication as all U.S. drain pipes are either 1 1/4" or 1 1/2" diameter, and I'm pretty sure European would not be in inches. I saw a nice drain fitting made to fit a European sink for $100, so that's a possibility.

For the Hungarian construction products. Having overseen a few construction projects here and in the US i find it unlikely that the Hungarian products of equal quality are less expensive than US sold products.

Yes, plumbing measurements are different. In fact, all measurements. And our windows open into the room while YS windows open up and down. Also, where I live, disposals aren’t allowed. So there are differences that people need to become aware of.

I just ordered a Scandinavian recliner from a US reseller for over $3000. I heard from an Internet forum that the same item retails for less than half in Europe.

You mean this sort or chair (or something similar)?
https://www.stressless.com/en-gb

The folks in Europe do not have the shipping cost, nor US Duty to pay. Pretty sure that narrows the difference.

As for plumbing fixtures, I would be inclined to buy the sinks with them to ensure the holes line up correctly. ( inches vs metric) Would not have the counters made until the sink was on hand so the contractor could be able to cut the correct size hole.
Will the drains on the faucets match up to the plumbing in the house? Will the water supply connections fit. Presumably your house plumbing is 'inches' and the fitting on the faucet will be metric. Are there supply lines that are the correct metric size fitting on the faucet end and the correct 'inches' measurement for the supply line in the wall? Hmm...

Having to custom fit all the metric to inches stuff may eat into the perceived savings.

Also, their plumbing fixtures look really good. Just wondering how I can bring some back.

Perhaps go to a upscale/specialty plumbing store ( not Lowes- Home Depot types) and see what is available, that is designed for US use?

Cabinet hardware, hinges, knobs and pulls. sure are nice in Europe. (from travelerguy)

Many people do not realize the vast selection of all building supplies that an interior designer/architect here in the USA can offer. People talk about going to Home Depot or Lowes for things BUT there are literally hundreds of companies for building supplies and furniture that sell only "to the trade"--to interior designers and architects exclusively.

You wouldn't know about these fine products without going through an interior designer or an architect.

Just so you know. You don't have to go to Europe to get great stuff.
But hey!--It sure will be more fun (perhaps) to go to Europe on vacation and pick the stuff out yourself!

Thank you for your replies thus far.

Recliner--yes, I was referring to the Stressless. It's the only recliner I can sit comfortably on, after a car accident. It cost me an arm and a leg, but my back pain treatment has cost me more.

Windows--the US vendor is called Zola Windows. These are nice windows with superior insulation and construction. They are made in Hungary.

Furniture--I saw a sectional sofa in San Francisco that retails for over $10k. This price is ridiculous. I Googled Italian furniture imports and found an Italian dealer that would ship to the US for a lower overall price. There are more savings if I ship other pieces in the same shipment.

Other smaller items--I have thought of smaller, more portable items such as locks--the Swiss and German ones are much more well made and aren't more expensive than made-in-junkland stuff in the US. For the past few years, I have purchased all my luggage and kitchen tools in Europe and Japan exclusively. They are more or less of the same price but of a much higher quality.

Any other stuff that I should think of?

If it costs $70 to ship 6 bottles of wine from Italy, I hate to think what it would cost to ship a sofa. And then there’s the US CBP fees on top of that. It may be more cost effective to seek out a reputable interior designer. As others have stated there are craftsmen in the US that are quite good but you need a professional to access.

I may go to Milan and Rome next year and want to check out their Italian made furniture.

That sounds like a wonderful idea.

That is a most generous offer by Mr. E. !

about the Stressless recliner. I briefly looked into them here in the UK. They used to be much more highly advertised on TV and in print, but I haven't seen one of their ads for years. When you mentioned it I had a look at their UK website. Depending on which base and fittings you get they are listed at between £2,000 and £3,000 which is around $2,500 and $3,750, so not much cheaper here if at all.

The Italian furniture is worth the trip. Family that lives on the border with Italy goes across for all home furnishings, the kitchens and baths. In fact, this is what many people along the coast from Menton to Cannes do: buy in Italy. The companies send crews over to do the installations.

BTW, even the lamps could work. Despite the 110/220 electricity difference, I brought my US lamps when we moved to France and just had plugs and switches changed. I didn’t want to spend time shopping for lights.

The offer is still good. The post was withdrawn as the OP is on a quest similar to the M. Python quest and reason and results will probably work out abouy the same.

The only thing I will suggest is do your shopping in a tight region so you can fill a shipping container. Anything smaller will cost you as much to ship as buy. And don't forget, US sales tax will be less than 10%, but in Europe it will be 24 to 27% (VAT).

I believe these goods can be de-taxed. It doesn't cost that much to ship furniture. It's in the hundreds, not the thousands. The furniture makers build the crates, if a crate is needed. Whether it's a full container or a few crates in a shared container, the price won't change that much. Weight, however, is a factor, but she's not looking to ship a library of books. Personal experience.

European manufacturing far outweighs anything done in the US or Canada for that matter. Having been in construction for 40 years allows me to make that statement.

We have acquaintances who went to Europe when they were building a new house and landscaping. They took a backpack and credit cards. They had fountains, gates, fireplace mantels and other architectural items shipped home in the wake of their month long shopping trip. Fortunately nothing had to be fitted to US specifications and since it was new construction allowances could be made for what they found. Most of what they bought was heavy and could be crated and shipped for €€€. I’m not sure how that works with customs if purchases are used items.

I have never done it but one of my cousins and his wife bought a houseful of French antiques to furnish their new house and another cousin and wife bought a Murano glass chandelier for their house. I don't know whether the wiring for the chandelier had to be redone for US current. A friend (who is German) is building a house and using only German plumbing fixtures and cabinetry. She goes to Germany at least once a year. But she is buying all of her German-made items in the US.

On a separate note when are you going to Europe? I'm just thinking about the possible effect of the threatened tariffs. Might it be better to buy now in the US and not risk future tariffs?

I've had plenty of experience bringing furniture over on the commercial side and I can tell you that customs and duty will be an adventure, and not always consistent, and that's if you have experience. It may not even be a straight number such as a 10% duty. We had a shipment come in where customs officers broke a piece down part by part; I can't remember the numbers but it was broken down such as 10% on the wood component, 3% on the metal hardware (nuts and bolts), 5% on fabric, etc.....and don't forget your next government's threats to slap punitive tariffs on other country's products. The threat is not just on Canada, Mexico and China.

We worked with an interior designer, but the only thing we ordered from Europe was wallpaper for a powder room. We could not get this particular wallpaper in the US, it also could only be ordered by a designer not the general public.
I wish you luck on your project.