Mexico Furniture for your Mexican Dream Home Blog

2010-03-05T17:01:00.037-05:00

Is there a Dream Sofa in the future of your Mexico home?

February was an exciting month at Gringo Furniture. Our new website design is well underway … more work to be done but shaping up nicely. We traveled again to Mexico to meet with our artisans. We gathered ideas and were yet again impressed with the quality, simplicity and beautiful workmanship of our products. We have had direct contact by phone and email with many of you. We are grateful for your trust and patronage. It’s a joy and a pleasure to help you furnish your Mexican dream homes.

In the course of the month, many of you asked about comfortable furniture, comfortable sofas in particular. We are dedicating this blog post to you: Seekers of comfort, practicality, beauty and durability. Is there a Dream Sofa in the future of your Mexico home?

Here are some tips to help you choose a great sofa:

1. Before you call us, know yourself: Style, budget, preferences, priorities. Do you have a vision or dream for your living room and sofa? Make it tangible. Take photos; gather magazine clippings; save colors you like. This will make the process much easier.

2. Research available options. Sofa options in Mexico are different from those in the US or Canada. Concerns around care, durability, style, materials and “greenness” will be different. In Mexico, finding a super comfortable sofa (please see the video below, we have!) is not always easy.

3. Think about the practicalities of your choice of material. If you are renting your Mexican vacation home, you will want stain and wear resistant upholstery. (Yes, you guessed it, we can offer you both!).

4. Plan ahead and order in advance. This is so important! It is Mexico, things can and do happen. We are very diligent at following through and monitoring your furniture from time of order to delivery. It’s part of our service to you and our commitment to you. Even so, unforeseen circumstances can come into play. When choosing a sofa, begin narrowing your focus and contact us at least 3 months in advance. This also serves you well because it will help you start to envision and create not just a living room, but an environment.

5. Make sure you are not just thinking of styles you like, but also consider ergonomics, feel, support, materials and durability. It is important for all of these in a sofa to match your style and your family’s.

6. Shop around for the right provider. Not just for price but for great customer service, track record, follow-through and willingness to work with you to get you what you need, on time and on budget.

7. Some structure is good. If a sofa is too soft or too hard, it not only means that it may be uncomfortable – it may also mean that it is not a well-made, durable sofa. Our sofas at Gringo Furniture are not just pretty and comfortable, they are durable and well-made.

8. Be realistic. You may want the best sofa in the market – generally a down-filled or leather sofa. We have amazing sofas and sleepers that are down-filled or leather-uphosltered. However, these will be more expensive. If your Mexico home is also a rental property, this may not be the best option. Visit our website for a variety of styles.

9. Do think about care and upkeep of your sofa. For example, a dark leather sofa should not be placed near windows – if so, the light of the sun could discolor it over time. At Gringo Furniture we can offer you durable and weather resistant fabrics that are also quite beautiful and pleasing to the touch.

10. Do call or email us. We would love to work with you, look at your photos, provide ideas and quotes and have a custom made amazing sofa built for you in Mexico and delivered to your Mexico dream home!

Check out our new video showing a sampling of our favorite sofas.

2010-01-17T14:05:00.032-05:00

Falling in Love with Mexican Furniture in Merida

My husband and I have just returned from a trip to Mexico. We were thrilled to be leaving behind nearly 10 inches of snow in the States to head to lush, beautiful Merida. We have had lots of activity in the past few months, some of which culminated in our purchase of Gringo Furniture. We are happy and excited to be embarking on this journey with all of you, our customers. We will be sharing our ideas for Gringo Furniture with you, and we hope to hear your comments, questions and anecdotes.

So we just returned from beautiful, colonial, bustling, friendly Merida. We met new friends and contacts, enjoyed delicious food and drink, and witnessed our furniture pieces adding charm, beauty and sophistication to homes in that area. We also had a chance to videotape and photograph some of our favorite Gringo furniture. We sat on the chairs, felt the surfaces and marveled at the artistry of our Mexican furniture artisans. We are sharing some of the results on this post, and will be adding other images and descriptions to our website.

Merida is a Mexican city like no other:

* It is a city growing, developing, shedding its skin. Huge, newly renovated colonial houses next to dilapidated ones, next to utilitarian small homes.

* It is a city of warm, friendly, polite people who want to connect and share their town with you expecting nothing in return.

* It is a city of contrasts -- Large churches, modern restaurants, spectacular sunsets, relaxed pace of life, bustling commerce and street noise.

* It is a grand dame of Mexico waking again to newfound youth, interests and opportunity.

* It is a city of great artistry and artisans. A city of great architects and unique interior spaces.

We were thrilled to be in Merida. Thrilled to see our furniture contribute to the beauty of Merida homes, thrilled to appreciate the quality, variety and durability of our Gringo Furniture.

As we move forward building and developing our Gringo Furniture business, we eagerly await your comments, suggestions and the sharing of your Mexico and/or furniture experiences. Here are a few video images filmed at the home of one of our happy customers. Enjoy!

2009-12-30T16:22:00.018-05:00

To all our Mexico, Canada and U.S. Friends: Happy New Year from Gringo Furniture!

Winter has undoubtedly arrived. Many of us are heading to warmer climates, at least for a little while. Others of us are contemplating a time when we can do so, dreaming of brighter colors, ocean, being outdoors again feeling the sun on our skin and the soft breezes on our faces.

This has been a great year and a pivotal year for Gringo Furniture. We collaborated with many of you in the design and creation of amazing living environments. We continued to bring new opportunities and work to our beloved Mexico. We discovered new and exciting furniture pieces, made new friends, strengthened relationships with our Mexico furniture artisans.

There are many wonderful things about the work we do:

* Designing custom replicas of a piece of furniture you love.
* Helping you furnish your Mexico vacation home.
* Co-creating that beautiful room or design with you.
* Working with talented, creative artists in Mexico and helping them and their economy be stronger.

But none of it would happen without your support. So, as we position ourselves for yet another amazing year, we absolutely want to say “thank you.” You are our clients, our partners, our friends. You inspire us, motivate us and at times, yes, challenge us.

Our new year commitment to you is very similar to our commitment to ourselves: We will endeavor to delight you with the artistry, beauty and durability of our Mexican furniture. We will endeavor to continue to find new and better ways to meet and exceed your Mexican furniture needs. And because we love not just our Mexican furniture but also this lifestyle ... we will endeavor to share our love of Mexico with you, supporting your dream of owning in Mexico and encouraging you through our shared experiences to keep that dream alive until together we can help make it a reality.

Best wishes for a joyful, healthy and prosperous 2010!"

2009-10-15T12:26:00.003-04:00

It's Getting Cold Again

As much as I love the warm months I spend in Mexico, there is still something so refreshing about the Fall in Canada. Going outside all bundled up, seeing the trees brilliant colours, getting a cold nose and seeing your breath....maybe it is the Canadian in me, but there is just something about it that makes you feel alive. It is my favorite time of year to walk outside, I would not trade this time of year in Canada for all the sun in Mexico.

Don't get me wrong, as soon as that snow flies and the temperature dips to -30 my enthusiasm wains and I gather my luggage and head down to Mexico....I may be Canadian but I am not crazy!

We are driving down to Mexico once again this year. Leaving on the 26th of December and not returning till late March. We will divide our time between Puerto Morelos and Merida this year, hosting several friends and family and of course assisting neighbours with new furniture purchases. Our drive always produces eventful and humorous stories for which I will be sure and recount to you all in my BLOG.

The economic slow down has certainly hit Mexico. For us, we are still chugging along furnishing homes that were purchased before the slowdown happened. In fact, recently we had to halt orders in order to play catch-up. This week we started to take orders again and it is full steam ahead.

We will be featuring new designs in the coming months as well as new fabrics for 2010. Our rattan line is expanding and...if you can believe it.....coming down in price as well -- WHOO HOOO!

Anyone wanting to get furniture for Christmas needs to place orders now to make the delivery dates. Please email us ASAP if you are looking for this time frame or any time in January. Our suppliers are getting booked so we need at least 10 weeks to complete orders.

2009-08-21T11:05:00.003-04:00

Habitante Magazine

WOW, can you believe the summer is almost over. I spent the summer in northern Ontario which was down right cold this year. I can hardly wait to get back to Mexico!

One of our homes was profiled in a Mexican Magazine this month. Go to http://www.habitante.com.mx/detalle.asp?seccion=9&nota=1067 to see it. All furnishing are Gringo Furniture.

We continue to furnish homes in Mexico. Things have slowed down considerably, but we have managed to keep our suppliers busy through this economic slow down. It is a good feeling to help people continue to keep their jobs in this uncertain time.

We will continue to update you on our progress this fall.

2009-04-29T10:09:00.009-04:00

WARNING: Read Before Buying From Other Web Sites
Be Aware of Gringo Furniture Imitators

Shopping for furniture in Mexico can be a daunting and risky task. That is why we built Gringo Furniture 3.5 years ago on a solid and honest foundation.

Since our conception we have grown and improved. It has not always been an easy road for us but we have always stood behind everything we have sold.

During the past 3.5 years we have had some really wonderful suppliers and we have had some problems with others.

Recently, one of the suppliers who we dropped in December created a web site and are now advertising they will furnish homes in Mexico. They advertise a HUGE savings for you to purchase from them. They have taken photos off of our web site and used them on their web site. Many of the pieces they say they can make they have never actually made.

We at Gringo Furniture know that they will not survive for very long and therefore are not threatened by their presence. However, we are concerned for people who think going to them will save them money. The fact is, people risk losing any money they send if they use them.

To protect our customers we frequently visit our factories. In December 2008 Gringo Furniture dropped this factory as a supplier during one of our surprise inspections. We found termites in all the wood they had stored. The absolute filth and disorganization of the factory was unacceptable. Their credibility with us was compromised when we caught them in several lies about the quality of products used. They were not the kind of factory we wanted working for our customers. We are only as good as our suppliers are.

We understand we are not the only game in town and we fully realize we can not fill everyone's needs and wants. However, we feel it is our duty to warn potential neighbours and friends from purchasing from this unscrupulous company.

If you are considering going to another provider please email us first and we will send you the link to this site to make sure they are not the ones you are buying from. We take no offense to anyone's choice in provider, we just want everyone to enjoy their new homes in Mexico and not experience the problems we experienced with this supplier.

We do not want anyone to fall victim to this seller and seek to prevent this. Please email mailto:info@gringofurniture.com if you have concerns.

2009-03-03T13:35:00.002-05:00

Hot Off The Press
Financial Post Magazine

See the newest article on us in the Financial Post Magazine. We feel that this is the best article written about us. It conveys in an honest fashion the challenges we have in doing business in Mexico, but highlights our mission to always follow-up and make our customers happy.

http://www.nationalpost.com/related/topics/story.html?id=1298672

Next month we will be featured in HABITANTE, a Mexican Magazine focusing on design.

2009-02-27T09:28:00.017-05:00

Loving Carnival in Merida

and getting my new slip cover sofa!

This week I returned from 3 weeks in Merida. The weather was spectacular, architecture was beautiful, food was awesome and the carnival celebrations were fun. If you have never been to carnival in Merida, you must put it on your list of things to do in Mexico. To say it is crazy is an understatement, it is absolutely nuts. Hundreds of thousands of people (300,000 +) descending on the center of town for 7 days and nights to see parades, eat food, watch fireworks and celebrate til the wee wee hours of the night.

I wish I could say I actually made it to a night parade, but with my early to bed routine (total lose or what for 41?) it was difficult to make it up past 10:00 at night. Instead my husband and I laid in bed and listened to the bands play and the crowds celebrate.

We decided that the Sunday day parade was a good bet to see....at least I would be awake. From what I understand this is that best attended parade thru carnival...which is maybe not the best idea for someone who hates crowds. Undeterred, we went 3 hours early to get a shaded seat as we were with my 72 year old Mom and her friend who's steadiness is compromised due to a stroke.

You would think waiting 3 hours to see a parade would not be any fun and in fact something you would not try to do on purpose. Surprisingly, this was the best part of the day. The people watching was incredible, I was mesmerized by the activity, colours and things for sale.

As we sat it was like a moving buffet in front of us. Every food possible was brought before us. I am not one to shy away from something different so I tried pretty much everything offered. My favorite was the deep fried pork rinds with chili sauce. I know it sounds horrible, but I am now back in Canada craving it....it was delicious!

Once the parade started the streets filled up with large floats, music and girls in bikinis (man the girls looked good....my husband seemed to clap more for the bikini girls....but that may just be my imagination....NOT). There was one float that was certainly eye candy for the ladies for which I know I clapped louder, I may have even stood on my chair and yelped...but I will never admit to that). The dancing was wonderful, the children were adorable, the costumes were fantastic and I can't wait to go again next year.

Waking up each morning in Merida was made thrilling by an unexpected surprise (get your minds out of the gutter). Each morning I would lay in bed and hear the squawking of parrots...they always announce their arrival. They would perch themselves on the trees around my house and stay for up to 1/2 an hour. They never missed a s single morning. It really is the simple things in life that bring the most joy.

Being new to Merida I wanted too see some of the attraction in and around the Yucatan. Just 1.5 hours south of Merida is UXMAL ruins. If you can believe this, I have owned in Mexico for 7 years now and have never seen any ruins other than TULUM. Seeing UXMAL made me realize how much I had missed these past 7 years. To walk around these ruins and see these massive structures and know they are thousands of years old is mind boggling. You could spend an entire day there and still not see everything.

1.5 hours west of Merida is the small fishing village of Chelestun. Every year thousands and thousand of flamingos arrive here in the winter to feast on the abundant shrimp of the area. You can hire a small fishing boat to take you out into the lagoon to the flamingos. As you approach these flamingos the horizon of the lagoon is literally a pink hue. Once you get close to the flamingos you realize how absolutely noisy they are....squawking and squawking....this is what really surprised me was the sounds they make.

My time in Merida was not all fun and games...I did work a little. We are still searching for a manufacture in Merida to decrease the cost of shipping to the the Yucatan and Mayan Riviera...but still we have not found exactly what we need. We will continue our search.

Back in December when we took on our Slip-Cover sofas I ordered one for my house in Merida....OMG...is it so flippin comfortable! The material is soft and durable and you literally fall into this sofa. It is better than anything I even have here in Canada. Having owned in Mexico for 7 years I thought hard uncomfortable sofas were just a way of life....NO MORE, we have a real winner with this line of sofas. They are expensive, but they are worth every dime. My husband, who is never interested in furniture went on and on and on about our new sofa to anyone who would listen....if that isn't a testimonial I don't know what is! We even washed it already and it held up magnificently. Finally, I can have that white sofa in my rental!

Today we are awaiting a new line via FEDEX from a factory we visited last month (I think Mr. Fedex thinks I am nuts as I am always way too excited when he arrives here...I LOVE NEW LINES!). I will be working hard next week uploading all the styles. They promise to be very a very exciting new addition to our line.

Have a great weekend everyone!

2009-01-27T15:20:00.005-05:00

NEW VIDEOS

We have quite a few new videos of some existing models and of upcoming models. To see ALL our videos go to YOUTUBE and search "Gringo Furniture" or CLICK HERE

We will be introducing 3 new lines next month that you will see some of our new videos on. Here is a brief description of our upcoming new additions:

Cottage Series

This unique series combines rustic charm with simples lines and a painted distressed finish. The final product is reminiscent of an antique piece that has time etched into it's character.

Available in any colour you like. We highlight BLUE, RED, YELLOW, WHITE, BROWN and BLACK.

We can apply this finish to any of our pieces. We also have several new designs with this finish already applied.

New Marble Series

We will be introducing a NEW Rustic Marble Series that is just beautiful. We fell in love with the warm colour and textures of the marble inlays in these piece. They are conveniently shipped and required a small amount of assembly....but this will save you shipping costs.

Our 3rd NEW line....stay TUNED!

2009-01-22T15:03:00.009-05:00

LOVING PUEBLA

Ahhhhhh......what a fantastic job I have that takes me to such fantastic destinations all in the name of work!

Last week Alex, Cathy and I paid a visit to our suppliers down in Puebla. If you have never been to Puebla I suggest you put it on your list of things to do.

Combine the scenery with the architecture, throw in the 385 church's, add great cuisine and inexpensive prices all amongst the backdrop of an active volcano and you have a wonderful city to explore and enjoy.

It was not all fun and games, we did work...actually, we worked a lot, but when you do something you love it is really hard to call work WORK.

I am so excited to upload all our new models into the store. We have sourced some awesome new styles and have found some real cost saving methods for our customers. 2009 will be a year of change for us, changes that will make a different for our customers in their pocketbook, choice and availability of services.

Stay tuned to this page and our web site to see our changes starting in early February. We have videos of our new models and lots of new styles to accommodate peoples varied styles and tastes.

2008-12-23T09:37:00.002-05:00

Happy Holidays From

Gringo Furntiure

Click Photo to see our holiday dance!

Will be off on vacation from December 24 and back January 2nd 2009.

Happy New Years to Everyone

2008-12-04T09:07:00.002-05:00

Developer Furniture Packs

Each day we get numerous calls and emails from customers who have recently bought into a new development and are looking for alternatives to the furniture packs that their developer is offering. I am probably going to get some back lash for writing this BLOG....but in the end, it won't be from the people that matter the most to us....so here is goes

There are 2 reasons why people do not want to use the developer furniture packs; cost and choice.

Choice allows us to show our personality and creativity.
Many of the furniture packs offered look more like hotel room furniture. The only personalization you can make is in the fabrics. Most furniture packs have little personality and possess none of the Mexican charm we all pictured when we first decided to buy into Mexico. People do not want to have the same style as the Smith's down the street, nor do they want their dream home to reflect another persons’ tastes. You want people to walk into your Mexican dream home and see your personality, not the developer’s....heck, isn't this YOUR home. Would you ever consider a furniture pack for your residences in Canada or the States?

Cost has never been more important....we are all looking to save.
While the furniture packs are often beautiful and of good quality, the costs can sometimes seem...well....outrageous. I remember the first time I saw what a furniture pack cost...my jaw dropped. I have seen 2 bedroom furniture packs cost as much as $45,000. That is a steep price for a convenience.

Now for the stomach turning part....Most of These Homes Are Bought To Be Rentals! My gosh, spending that kind of cash on something that is just an investment? Pick up any real estate guru's latest, greatest book on real estate investing and the overwhelming message is "Don't Over Spend". Have you ever seen "Flip That House" and watched someone put too much money into a house and loose all kinds of cash because they got all caught up in unnecessary finishes? Why on earth do you need to spend that kind of cash to furnish a rental unit????? Think about it, it is nuts!

Developers will tell you that you MUST purchase their furniture packs to gain access to the rental programs. I understand this thinking because standards need to be met for rental purposes, however, I also know these developers are making money from these sales under the guise of these rental program standards. I hear everyday how the developer is "REALLY PUSHING" the furniture packs......stop and think for a second....why would anyone push something they were not being compensated for?

Furniture Packs also give developers and their chosen property management company the ability to control the rentals in the complex, thus, earning more income.....to the tune of 50% for each booking! Frankly, I think renting on your own or going to an outside rental company is far better....but that is another BLOG for another time.

The sad thing to me is that fear will often cause people to buy into the furniture packs and people will spend far beyond what is necessary. They believe that if they do not comply they will not be accepted into the rental programs. I guarantee, if the management company has more bookings than units they will not care if you bought the furniture pack or not, they just want to fill rooms and make their 50% commissions. In all my years I have never heard of a property management company turning down a customer because they did not have a standard furniture pack. As long as you have good mattresses, quality furniture and the right amount of furniture your place is 100% rentable. I rent both my houses www.casamerlot.com and www.casachablis.com and nobody told me what to buy or how to decorate. Each of my places boast a 75% occupancy rate (2008)...and I do it on my own....but again, that is another BLOG for another time.

I am not sure how our society got to this point.... of causing people to buy on fear. Marketers have done a wonderful job creating fear, especially in Mexico where people feel vulnerable.

Did you know that there is a standard that developers go by for pricing furniture packs? They price the furniture packs on the cost of the unit. So, for instance, if you paid $400,000 for a 2-bedroom unit you will likely see a furniture pack for that unit price at $40,000. This is typically calculated at 10% of the cost of the unit. Gringo Furniture can do 2 bedroom units for as low as $5,000 to a maximum of $18,000....quite a gap eh!?

Gringo Furniture would love to work with developers but we have had a hard time....mostly because we can't afford it. We can't afford the commissions requested to sell our furniture into developments without raising our prices. And, if we raise our prices we become less accessible to the people that matter most to us....people like us who ultimately are people like you. We hope one day a developer see us for the value we bring to their customers instead of the value we bring to them.

Furniture packs have their purpose. They save time, they make the decisions for you and you get a showroom furnished home. It is up to you however if you want to pay for these conveniences or if you want to save upwards of $20,000 - $30,000....imagine what you could do with the $20,000 you saved.

So, how are we different...here comes the pitch....

Choice
Gringo Furniture has all the Mexican charm you could want and you can customize till your hearts content. We have typical rustic designs that can be transformed into hacienda quality with a special finishes. Our wicker furniture is warm and romantic and our new slip-cover sofas as so comfortable you will have a hard time picking yourself out of them to go to the beach. We allow you to create your personal styles and we love this part of our job!

Cost
Does Gringo Furniture sell furniture for free...NO! Do we make money from selling furniture...YES! But, our prices are a fraction of what the Furniture Packs sell for! We offer less services as far as set-up goes but you save literally $10's of thousands not paying for these services.

Why are we less expensive? We price our furniture in line to what it should be selling for. We do not bundle everything up and hide our prices. You see what each piece costs and you see each charge itemized.

Heart
We are motivated by a passion for what we do, a desire to do the right thing and to promote jobs in Mexico and Canada. I can honestly say, making money has never and will never be our number one priority, it is important, but it does supersede what is fair to our customers. We make mistakes, we are not perfect, but we try to rectify each mistake so that our customers walk away happy. Maybe that is the wrong business strategy, but it is a strategy that gets us (and I honestly mean "us" as all of us here love what we do) out of bed everyday excited to get to work.....and that my friends is priceless.

2008-12-03T12:01:00.004-05:00

Interesting Article

I have not had a moment to even clean my house in the past 3 weeks, business is booming....which defies what the news is reporting everyday! We are thankful everyday to continue keeping all our suppliers and employees busy.

I promise to continue my story from Merida, but in the mean time I came across this very interesting article about investment in Mexico. Strangely it is reported from the Middle East. It is worth a read if you already own in Mexico or are thinking of buying.

http://www.bi-me.com/main.php?id=28335&t=1&c=35&cg=4&mset=1011

2008-11-27T15:49:00.002-05:00

For ALL Our American Friends

2008-11-18T15:34:00.006-05:00

Forgetting The Pain

I have never had a baby, but I am told that you forget the pain of child birth once the baby is put it your arms. I think setting up a home in Mexico could be compared to this. You forget all the pain of setting it up once you are sitting with a cold cervesa, the sun is shining and everything looks beautiful....OK, maybe not eactly like child birth.....but along the same lines.

I honestly thought I was smarter this time I actually got a little cocky (who is kidding who....I AM Gringo Furniture) bragging to my husband and mother that we'd be finished in just 2 days and then we'd have the rest of the time to explore Merida......yyyyyeah, that came right around and bit me in the you know what!

The first problem happened 3 days before we left. As I had indicated in one of my previous BLOGs I was going to use myself as a Guinea Pig for an accessories line. I had taken over 4 months to plan this, talking frequently with the supplier and going over any possible problems.

3 days before we left I called the supplier to make sure all was fine and I found out it had not even left the USA. In fact, the supplier had somehow screwed up the date to deliver and seemed really unfazed by his mistake. He actually had the nerve to say that he'd been working on a 3 million dollar piece of business and had given mine to someone else. I was so put off by his lack of interest in servicing me that I told him to cancel the order. I too have made mistakes (more than I can count) but I have never minimized what I did and I always tried to make up my mistakes to the customer. Weather you spend $1500 dollars with us or $100,000 with us, we will always treat you the same. Everyone is important no matter what the dollar amount it.

So, the long and short of it is....we are back to the drawing board for accessories. But not to fret, we already have ideas that we think will be even better for our customers. We will unveil this idea over the next month.

With that behind us we boarded the plane to Merida. We arrived late on the Sunday night and went straight to the hotel and got some rest as the following day was going to be busy. We woke up the next morning, went out for breakfast and then shot over to Walmart to buy bedding for our beds. We figured if we had bedding we could get through till the following day and focus on receiving the furniture after we signed all the papers at the lawyers.

We arrive at the lawyers at 10:00 and signed all the necessary paper work. Our lawyer was amazing and so was the real estate company we purchased thru, Mexico International (I will write another BLOG about this next week). By 10:30 we owned the house and had the keys in hand -- Whoo Hooo!

I called Alex back in Canada to make sure the truck was on time.....surprisingly, it was....this never happens. The plan was to have the furniture arrive at 12:00 noon and we were on-time......I was looking like a STAR at this point.

We drove to the house, opened the door and fell madly in love with the house. If you remember, we had never seen it other than on the Internet....so seeing it for the first time was incredible. It was perfect....I was speechless (which many will say is impossible)..... I will never forget that feeling of joy, it was indescribable to know this house was ours. It is truly a work of art.

By 11:00am our plant manager from Puebla arrived at the house with the carpenter. I lined up 6 workers to assist with the unloading of the furniture....how much better could it be going I kept saying to myself....I started to feel a like a SUPER Star!

Yeah, right....try a falling star. Unbenounced to me, you can not bring a tractor trailer into the center of Merida during the day....WHO KNEW? Apparently, I should have done a little more homework on the delivery into Centro. I soon learned through our trusty and wonderful Real Estate agent Henry Ponce (who also was the architect of the house) that we could not even consider unloading the truck until at least 10:00pm or risk getting a fine.

TEN PM! Are you kidding me!?! I had calculated that by 10pm I was to be finished unpacking and sitting on the roof with a margarita... this new reality was putting a spanner into my plans....my star status burned out at this point with my 71 year old mother who was already looking wilted and my husband who's patience is lacking at the best of times.....and it was barely noon.

It is always best to have a plan B, so, plan B went into effect. We left my Mom at the house with a cold beer (beer always unwilts her), sent the plant manager and Carpenter off to have lunch, sent all the workers away with orders to return at 10pm and jumped in the car and did a Costco run with my grumpy husband.

We went into Costco and attacked the task like a couple of dogs on T-bones, we must have looked like 2 crazed animals. Within 30 minutes we had 2 carts overflowing with bedding, coffee makers, towels, pillows, mops, glasses...you name it, we had it. When we could not fit another thing we went to the check-out. I still shiver when I think of the total we spent....but at that moment, who cared, it was one more thing that was done.

We drove back to the house, unloaded everything from the car and began to put the kitchen together. By about 5:00pm we were idle again with nothing to do. I decided to risk fate and ordered the truck to arrive at 7:00pm and called the workers to arrive then too. It was my hope that the police would not drive by and put a stop to us.

My star started to burn a little brighter as we never had any problems with the police and we were able to start unloading at 7:00pm. It took 3 hours and 12 people to get the furniture off the truck and into the house. It took an additional 4 hours and 5 people to take every scrap of wrapping off all the furniture.

By 2:00am we were all exhausted, red eyed and our fingers were raw from unwrapping the furniture. I went into my mothers room at one point to say good night and there was blood all over the floor from someone cutting their finger with a knife while unwrapping. We all fell into bed and had a very restless sleep as we were all still on an adrenaline high.

.....to be continued

2008-11-13T12:13:00.003-05:00

VIDEO'S
Our newest feature

We are still uploading all our videos. We have several ready to view. Please go to http://www.gringofurniture.com/videos_000.asp to see our furniture in real life!

2008-11-11T08:00:00.013-05:00

All Set-Up In Merida

(Percy table, made in antique and recycled pine paired with Iron Chairs)

For the past three weeks I have been busy setting up our new home and showroom in Merida. Boy, is it ever a big job to do. Since I had not set up a home in Mexico for over 3 years, I had forgotten some of the pain involved. One thing that was a surprise to us was the assistance of the real estate firm we bought thru. I will go into much more detail later, but I don't know if i could have been more impressed with Mexico International, the agents from there were top notch.

I will write more next week on everything that happened as this week I am busy catching up. We are currently getting slammed with orders for people needing furniture for the Christmas season. So, in the mean time, I will tease you with some photos of the furniture. Everything you see is Gringo Furniture, even the mirrors on the walls. ENJOY!

2008-09-28T16:50:00.011-04:00

Confessions of a Real Estate Junkie

I Confess, I have struggled for many years with a real estate addiction. It started innocently by frequenting MLS sites but soon grew into a full time habit with uncontrollable urges to constantly watch HGTV and go to open houses. My husband Greg, also suffers from this addiction which began to manifest when he started coming home on Wednesday's with take out in hand yelling "whoo hooo, hurry up, it is Real Estate Wednesday on HGTV".

The two of us would watch "House Hunters", "Buy Me", Flip that House" , "Moving Up...you name it we watched it. We played games trying to figure out what house was chosen, who lost money and who was totally out to lunch on their renovations. We believed we had become experts in real estate.

It all came to a head this June when we went on a business trip to Merida. My business meetings took place and then we planned a few days of free time to spend in Merida as it was our 15th wedding anniversary.

We walked around town, rented a car, drove to Progresso, visited all the popular sights and even took a carriage ride thru town. It was a lovely few days and we fell in love with Merida. One evening as we were having a glass of wine deciding what to do the next day Greg said "Hey, why don't we take a look at some Real Estate tomorrow?"

It was like the universe slowed down, I got all dizzy, broke out in a sweat and started to recall an episode of "Buy Me" that followed around a lady looking to buy in Merida. It all happened so fast. The next thing I knew I was in an Internet cafe, surfing properties for sale calling out ID numbers to Greg as he feverishly wrote them onto the pad of paper we found in our hotel room. Greg started calling agents trying to get appointments for the next day, he was writing times and locations down , I was punching a calculator figuring out our budget.....it was simply crazy.

The next day was hazy, we went from one house to the next, falling in love with each and every one we saw. I could picture myself in pretty much every property we waked thru. I began to decorate each and every one of them, recalling different styles and designs from my store and doing a quick calculation of the cost for each to decorate....I am a Realtors dream...buying signals galore.

The final house of the day was the one. It was perfect, it was everything we wanted (WANTED!!!!!...Like we had time to even put a list together). We put an offer in before we left the property. The next day we boarded a plane, flew home and arrived only find out the property has sold to another buyer. We were devastated, but not ready to give up. We decided to put an offer in on our second choice, but that too had sold.

The following night we took a deep breath and began to giggle about how ridiculously close we came to buying a house in Merida. Common sense had taken back over and it felt good. We made resolution to stop the madness, to take our time...why the urgency? We began to make plans to go back down to Merida in the fall, take our time, look around and not make any snap decisions. We were getting our addiction under control.

The very next day I had a lull between Gringo Furniture orders. I resisted going to the web site for homes in Merida and instead got on my bike and went for a ride. I came back made a coffee and sat back down at my computer determined to work on Gringo Furniture. And that is when it all happened again. My fingers punched in the web site for homes in Merida, I started to sweat and began to surf and send suggestions via email to Greg's blackberry.....the madness began all over again. His blackberry started to go off like a fire cracker, he called me and yelled "WHAT ARE YOU DOING"...I yelled back "I'M ONLY LOOKING."

Before he could get his key in the door that night I POUNCED on him...GREG! I have found our dream home in Merida...hurry, come look at my computer. That was all it took, he succumbed to the madness. He went thru all the photos of the house I had fallen in love with, then went thru them again, and again, and again, and again. Finally he announced "IT'S PERFECT!"

The next day we asked the agent to go and make a video of the property. The video arrive and it looked more like an Alfred Hitchcock movie but it still sold the house to us. We were in love and nothing was going to deter us. We placed an offer and within a few days and a little negotiating the offer was accepted and a deposit was sent.

To add to the madness, my mother took one look at the house on the Internet and insisted on owning 1/3 of it.....what is that saying????...... "the apple does not fall from the tree"....now you know where I get it from.

So here I sit, 3 weeks away from seeing my new home for the first time. Furnishing it from floor plans given to me from the real estate agency and preparing to wire the final amount.

Do I have any regrets....ABSOLUTELY NOT! Am I afraid the house won't be what I expect....NO WAY, in fact, I think it will be better than I expect. Since the purchase I have gotten calls from people looking for furniture who were also house hunting in Merida and went thru my house, they told me it was magnificent. Also, since we bought it we found out it had been profiled in Ambiance Magazine last year.

So you ask, is this the first time we've done something like this.....ARE YOU KIDDING, this is the 4th time we bought something without seeing it. And finally, the last question....how much of this story is true....ALL OF IT!

It feels so good to finally confess. I know we will repeat this story over and over again for years to come. When people ask how we choose Merida......we will say, Merida choose us, because honestly, is there really such a thing a Real Estate Addiction?!?

2008-09-27T08:25:00.004-04:00

Toronto Star Article

We are in the Toronto Star today. There is an entire section devoted to "Buying in the Sun" . There is great information and interesting stories that we all can relate to, I highly recommend the read. Access the article written about us by clicking here http://www.thestar.com/article/503797

To view the entire section with all the articles go to http://www.yourhome.ca/homes/article/507583

2008-09-15T12:01:00.002-04:00

Homes We have Furnished

2008-09-12T13:14:00.004-04:00

GF Welcomes Another Team Member

Due to the unprecedented growth of residential developments within Mexico, Gringo Furniture has hired a Development Specialist to tackle the very specific needs of developers.

We would like to Welcome Cathy Scott to our ever growing team of experts here at Gringo Furniture. Cathy brings with her a vast knowledge of total home set-up needs and will be able to manage and execute the very specific needs of developers. Developments big or small, Cathy will put programs together tailored to each developments needs.

We look forward to growing our presence in Mexico through Cathy's efforts. If you have any questions or comments, Cathy can be reached at cathy@gringofurniture.com

2008-09-10T13:09:00.007-04:00

Sneak Peek!
Coming SOON to Gringo Furniture is a "WHOLE HOME" accessories package. In this new module you will have the ability to purchase; linens, towels, kitchen utensils, BBQ's, outdoor resin furniture, home accessories, electronics, cleaning needs, floral packages....pretty much everything needed to set up a home.

All our products are hospitality grade and most are manufactured in the USA. We will be importing them specifically for you via FEDEX direct to your door.

I will be the GUINEA PIG for this new module as I am having the first shipment sent to my new home in Merida. Once we have done this sample run we will then offer it to all our Gringo Furniture customers.

We are looking for comments and suggestions at this point as to what people need and want. Please let us know your thoughts about the pricing, items or anything else that you can contribute. All your comments will be appreciated. Please click the link below and download the SAMPLE file and give us your comments.

http://www.gringofurniture.com/Accessories.asp

2008-09-09T13:45:00.001-04:00

Customizing Furniture

I thought that this would be a good topic to write about today as I just finalized my own furniture order for Merida and most my items are customized. It it a 3 bedroom home with several outdoor spaces. The total area I have to furnish is around 4,000 sqft.

As you can imagine, that is no small task. Luckily, I have the ability to visualize space in my mind (part of why I am good at this job). But, regardless of this ability, it still is a massive job and one that takes a lot of planning and thinking (something I am not so gifted at) .

Fortunatly I have floor plans to work from that have dimensions indicated. This will help in the understanding of what I will need and also allow me to see what will fit and what needs to be customized.

Both the down stairs bedrooms have no closets. Therefore I am going to need both an armoire to hang cloths and a dresser for each bedroom. I want to put a KING bed in each bedroom as well as 2 night tables...these bedrooms are getting very full and they aren't that big.

So, my idea was to combine both an armoire and a dresser to save some space. I printed off a photo of the armoire (right photo) I liked, marked it up to show what I wanted then scanned it in and sent it off to the plant in Mexico. Cost is $2100 which is 2 meters long and has 13 drawers.

I wanted something a little different for the other bedroom plus the space was much smaller. I specified a total length of 1.20 meters for the armoire and added 6 drawers down the side (left photo). Cost for this is $1250.

The result was 2 practical pieces that suit my needs, fit the space required and I feel as though I can have ownership to these pieces and be proud to say "I designed them".

This house has a lot of outdoor space. The roof terrace is nearly 800sqft alone. The current owner has a great iron table and chairs on the roof (see actual photo on the right) I LOVE IT! I tried to get him to sell it to me, but no luck, he is keeping it for his next houses. So, the next best thing to do....KNOCK IT OFF. I sent a photo of what I wanted down to Mexico and VOILA, I have the set I wanted. The cost of this is amazing, iron table and 6 chairs for just $1275! I also got 4 bar stools made to match the chairs for the bar that is in the background of this photo.

Finally, because this house has wonderful old world charm that would really lend itself to antique looking furniture. The following photos are ones that I have found and I am having made in reclaimed pine. All these models can be purchased from us.

Armoire $1200 (reclaimed pine price and iron accents)

Table with Iron base $691 (reclaimed pine price)

Round Table 60" Diameter $975 (reclaimed pine price)
Coffee Table (middle) $390 (reclaimed pine price)

Coffee Table (bottom) $385 (reclaimed pine price)

And for my favorite piece, the dining table. it will be 8ft long and seat 10 people. I have a specific table in mind that I imported for a friend up to Canada. It was from Guadalajara and made in MESQUITE wood...it is simply a stunning table.

I cannot afford MESQUITE or the price this Factory charges, so again, I am having it reproduced in Reclaimed Pine. I will have iron Chairs made not wooden chairs (I really like the look of iron and wood together). The iron chairs will match the ones on the roof terrace. The cost of the table in reclaimed pine at 8 ft with iron accents is $899.

As you can see, I really have customized a lot of furniture to suite my houses needs. Anyone can do this, all it takes is a little creativity. Once all this furniture arrives to the house and is in place I will take photos and post them.

We are available at any time to assist in making your ideas a reality.

2008-09-06T07:39:00.000-04:00

Figuring out FINISHES

I realized the other day that I had been less than "informative" on my site when it came to choosing a finish. Quite frankly I have done a poor job of showing what options people have. Of course this came to light when I was doing my own shopping for my house in Merida. It is amazing the things you realize you are doing poorly when you have to use your own service.

So here is a run down of what finishes you can apply to any of our furniture. We are not just a RUSTIC furniture supplier, we can can create some pretty cool pieces that are One Of A Kind

FINISH GUIDE

Light - Medium - Dark

These are our STOCK finishes and do not cost more. We use typical Mexican Pine which is very dense and extremely heavy. We then apply a wax finish in either Light, Medium or Dark. There is no distress to this finish and it is a clean finish.

Designer Series

This is a great finish for someone looking for something a little different. We combine several different colours and wash them onto the furniture to give it a Designer look. The wood is not distressed but the wash affect gives it a Shabby Chic feel to it. There is 30% up-charge for this finish. It is all hand done and each piece will vary from the next giving it that HAND MADE look.

Antique Finish

This finish is for those who like a distressed look. We make the furniture from the same Mexican Pine but we hand distress it to give it an antique look without paying the Reclaimed Pine price. There is a 30% up charge for this finish. It is all hand done and each piece will vary.

Reclaimed Pine

Our Reclaimed Pine is a very special look. It transforms a Rustic piece into a Hacienda piece. We specially purchase this wood and only about 70% of the wood is utilized due to nature of it. This wood is reclaimed from many different sources and each piece has it's own story told in the character of it's grains. The cost to upgrade any piece to Reclaimed Pine is 50% -- well worth the extra for the character is brings to your furniture.

2008-09-05T13:57:00.000-04:00

Great way to start the day

It is always a GREAT day when I turn on my computer and find a happy customer's email accompanied by photos of their furniture. There is no better satisfaction then knowing a customer arrived at their home to start a long awaited vacation and were greeted by their new furnishings. Complete testimonial can be read here.

http://www.gringofurniture.com/WhitneyChalled.asp

2008-09-04T13:13:00.000-04:00

Here we go into the world of Blogs...

I am new to this, and actually vowed I would never do it, but, decided after being a loyal follower of several other blogs that I needed to start giving back -- so here I am.

Ground Rules

I can't spell worth a darn, so please forgive me for any spelling mistakes. I will run spell check (my best Friend) but it does not always catch everything
The object of this blog is to give good information. I am not always going to talk about furniture as that would be rather boring....but I may drop a few sales pitches in every once and awhile. I also want to talk about my experiences in Mexico that relate to owning.
This is strictly for fun, please keep nasty emails to a minimum

Here I go again...Hello Merida

Just to give a little background about my entry into Mexico. Back in 2001 my husband and I purchased our first home in Playa del Secreto on the Mayan Riviera, it was a ready built condo. Furnishing it was a flipping nightmare, this was pre-costco days. When I think back to setting that house up the only solace was that I was 34 years old and had far more energy than I do now. We enjoyed that condo for about 4 years and then sold it in 2005 and purchased a lot in Puerto Morelos. We took the plunge this time and built a home from the ground up.

I got a little smarter with that house, but not much. First off, I scheduled the completion of it 3 days before Wilma hit. Everything got into the house; furniture , appliances, new linens, etc. a measly 24 hours before she blew ashore as a Cat 4 direct hit on our town. As luck would have it, I took my Mom (71 yrs) with me to help with the set up of the house, so she got to meet Wilma also.

Wilma devastated our town and my house. We hunkered down in Cancun for the storm and then went back to Puerto Morelos to salvage what we could. My husband worked on getting us out of there from Canada (between going to Hockey and golf games....still a sore spot with me) which took about 7 days.

To my surprise, the town and my house was back up and running in just 4 weeks -- it was incredible to see how Mexico handles disasters such as this -- totally amazing!

So that is a brief history. I still own my house in Puerto Morelos and love it!

Obviously, Gringo Furniture was born out of my own frustrations...somehow the word "frustrations" can not capture the entire feeling you get when you have to furnish a home from afar.

Living in Canada and trying to set up a house in Mexico is to say the least a challenge. Don't get me wrong, this is a challenge that the benefits absolutely out weigh the negatives...BUT, it is difficult to see those benefits when the task is at your door step, you are driving around in circles, you can't speak Spanish (other than knowing how to order a beer), unable to find a parking spot, getting lost, getting more lost, crying, going over budget, waiting on deliveries that never come, crying again, sweating in the heat, nobody is taking your credit card, hating everything you see and everything you like it out of stock AND all you really want is to get to the beach and actually enjoy all the money you just spent on this dream.

You'd think with a mind set like that I would be through setting up houses in Mexico and instead sitting back laughing at all those who still have to do it..... think again.....we just bought another home in Merida.

So, here I go again.

The cool thing this time around is that I have this great "IN" on a service/store that helps furnish homes in Mexico....Gringo Furniture -- How cool is that?

So, like all of you I am now faced yet again with furnishing from afar. I will use my own company to accomplish this task and keep it pretty honest as to how it goes via this blog. I am going to make myself the Guinea pig for a new accessories line that I hope to offer thru my store.

Our new home is in the Historic Zone of Merida in the Santiago neighbourhood. We bought it from an American who used Henry Ponce to remodel it about 3 years ago. It comes with all appliances and ZERO furniture. I have my work cut out, but this time I am excited about the job . I now have an opportunity to show everyone else just what we do and actually use my own company. Stay tuned as I go thru this process once again.