Finding Italian Designer Furniture at Reasonable Prices
Finding Italian Designer Furniture at reasonable prices in Italy can be a challenge – in fact a Minotti sofa can cost as much as a Smart Car! Whilst both look fabulous you are probably going to get more mileage out of a high quality sofa. Quality is the hallmark of Italian furniture and it can be an investment for a lifetime. Unfortunately Investment and lifetime are two keywords required in the search for Italian designer furniture which can be costly and surprisingly hard to find.
Italy is still a country of small speciality stores with very few large department stores to find great deals. Most of the big brand names such as Minotti, B&Bitalia, Cassina sell through speciality stores and not direct. Unlike Prada and Gucci, the furniture makers don’t have factory outlets where you can find fantastic deals on last years models of the big name Italian designers outside of Italy with costs in the US or UK being up to 25% cheaper.
For middle of the range design there are a few large chains of furniture makers throughout Italy that provide a wide selection of well designed furniture at good value such as Confalone or Divani & Divani. Both are good stores but for the true Italian Design furniture one either needs to break the bank or look a little further.
For those with a limited budget but a good eye for design you can’t beat IKEA. You aren’t going to find Italian furniture here but with selective shopping you can find excellent quality for value and great international design. Stay away for the knotty pine and futon look and go for the high design inspired furniture and you can’t go wrong. IKEA has stores located in most large urban centers and provides very economical delivery throughout Italy.
For excellent quality and high design, but not with the big name price tags there are a number of Italian furniture companies that sell both on-line or through their showrooms but for the really big name companies, Minotti, B&B Italia, Cassina, Flos, Flou, Zanotta and more, the options for deals are few.
Furniture Factory Outlets for the big names just in Italy just don’t exist but you can occasionally find excellent discounts at companies such as Cyrus Company that has three shops in Milan Factory Outlets. At their factory they sell furniture that has been used for photo sessions or sent to various international furniture fairs. It all ends up here at sharply reduced prices. Last year’s collection and great discounts.
It isn’t as easy as one would think to buy fantastic Italian furniture in Italy but with some searching you can find beautifully designed furniture to fit your budget.
Have you visited the Living in Italy Furniture Store yet?
