One of the most difficult things when you're moving abroad is figuring out how to buy things before you get there, or even when you get there. It's freaking expensive to move abroad. If you're lucky, someone else is paying for it, like an employer. But if you're a student and aren't going for the tiny box room with a brick bed and something they claim is a "kitchen" but is really a sink with a half-working burner to cook soup on, then likely you need to shell out some cash and figure out where to go.
First of all, if you haven't already embraced IKEA, like Nike says, just do it. You can find it basically all over the world, and there is usually some way to get there. It's new, it's cheap and mostly you can find some nice, fashionable things. You can also get all those random gadgets you need around your house that you never think about until you need it and don't have it. The great thing about Ikea is you walk past everything and have a few light-bulb moments where you spot something you forgot you needed. It's also great for finding a lot of things you're used to at home, but may not be common in the local furniture store. It's a pretty standardized store, you don't find that much difference anywhere you go.
The con of course is that you have to do the transportation and assembly yourself. Or, if you're smart enough, you'll convince your foreign boyfriend who lives in the city you're moving to, to go do all the heavy lifting before you arrive [Thanks sweetie! ;)].
First of all, if you haven't already embraced IKEA, like Nike says, just do it. You can find it basically all over the world, and there is usually some way to get there. It's new, it's cheap and mostly you can find some nice, fashionable things. You can also get all those random gadgets you need around your house that you never think about until you need it and don't have it. The great thing about Ikea is you walk past everything and have a few light-bulb moments where you spot something you forgot you needed. It's also great for finding a lot of things you're used to at home, but may not be common in the local furniture store. It's a pretty standardized store, you don't find that much difference anywhere you go.
The con of course is that you have to do the transportation and assembly yourself. Or, if you're smart enough, you'll convince your foreign boyfriend who lives in the city you're moving to, to go do all the heavy lifting before you arrive [Thanks sweetie! ;)].
(Yes, all of that is for me. No, I was not there.)
Now, after Ikea, for those of you that are utterly opposed or just don't want to have to build everything. (Though, something I forgot...if you live in a tiny apartment, it's not always easy to get big pieces of furniture into them in Europe without hiring professionals, something else to consider being ruling out the boxed wonder of furniture that Ikea offers).
Your other options:
1. Expat sites. There should be one in every country. If little Belgium has one, well lots, but one huge one, then other countries should too. In Belgium I recommend checking out The Bulletin at www.xpats.com. It is great, lots of listings of furniture for sale. You have to be willing to travel to get it, but you can get some great deals. I got my 42" plasma TV for like 200 euro. People selling on here are usually moving out of the country and they want to get rid of their stuff, and get rid of it quickly, so you can get some good deals. Sometimes you'll even get lucky and find free stuff. You can also ask questions here if you're looking for something specific and having trouble finding it.
Tip: Act fast. If you hesitated, especially on electronic goods, they'll be snatched up by someone else. I think I asked about 5 TVs before I finally got a response saying they still had theirs available.
2. Local second hand sites. E-bay can be a good one, there are often local versions to try your hand at bidding. And most countries will have a second hand website, similar to Craig's List, but hopefully with less creepy stalkers. In Belgium a good one is www.2dehands.be.
Tip: Unless you speak Dutch or French, open this in Google Chrome so that you get an option popping up at the top of the browser to translate. It should translate most of the page so that you know what you're looking for. And thankfully, if you want to inquire about someone, most Belgians speak English, so writing to them in English isn't a problem.
3. Local Shops. There will still be some decent ones out there, like the equivalent to Target. You just need to ask around when you get there and see where is good to go. It's a bit different than the U.S. at least, in that you'll sometimes not be able to find what you wanted in the type of store you were thinking, but just look around. In Belgium there are some good stores for kitchen and household items (not furniture), like Blokker. You also find a lot of great shops that aren't chains, just walk in and look around if you stumble upon something.
Tip: Aldi has great deal every so often on various things, we just got a great Canon printer/scanner/copier for pretty cheap there, but you have to keep an eye out and make sure you get there in time.
4. Internet! You can find anything here, of course, hopefully I don't need to explain that. One site I particularly like for Belgium is http://www.3suisses.be. This is especially good for buying bed linen. If you're coming from the US, the bed sizes are different, so sheets from home don't work well. One thing to keep in mind is, in Belgium, most people have lots of duvet covers instead of lots of sheets. They change those like we change our sheets, and it's nearly impossible to buy a flat sheet. I still have to try and explain to my boyfriend what that is. Just adapt to this one, it's easier ;)
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