Furnishing from afar

The Bacon Report has already given a fillip to buying abroad as witnessed by the organisers of an overseas property fair in Dublin last weekend. Numbers were swelled by couples who had been hinking of buying a second home in Mitchelstown or Mulrany, but are now considering Marbella.

But furnishing and fitting out such homes abroad poses obvious difficulties. Nipping into town to return home with fabric swatches to match the new couch is not an option if the room you're catering for is 1,000 miles away.

So what are your options? Gabrielle O'Malley who looks after Hamilton Osborne King's overseas properties explains that "ready to sell" in Spanish terms typically means an apartment with marble or ceramic tiled floors, a fully equipped kitchen including cooker and dish washer, and built in bedroom furniture.

People buying to rent out their apartment are more likely to buy a basic furnishing package, which does away with shopping hassle.

Her company have an office in Marbella which offers such a service. A turn-key package which includes everything down to forks and spoons will cost about £10,000. "People buying for themselves have more scope and may like to take their time to shop around and furnish it themselves," she says. Opinions are divided on the relative merits of buying here and shipping out or buying locally - with cautionary tales from both camps. One woman thought she would save money by shopping in Ireland, but it didn't work like that. Her half crate cost £2,000 to ship to Spain, it was late arriving, there were unloading costs, and she felt generally ripped off. There have been other accounts of Spanish stores accepting deposits for goods, later reporting that they were not in stock, attempting to substitute a different style or fabric, and mysteriously losing their fluency to comprende when Celtic tempers frayed.

Dubliners Margaret and Joe O'Reilly, who are buying a large two bedroom apartment in Puerto Banus, Spain, went out for a week in April to source furnishings and fittings. "We plan to buy locally", says Margaret, "you can get everything you want there. There is a wonderful department store called Courte Ingles, which is as good as anything I've seen in Los Angeles and prices are somewhat cheaper than at home, with VAT at 17 per cent. "We plan to camp out in our apartment for a while before furnishing it because you need to get the feel of a place. Our kitchen and bathroom is fully fitted so we have the essentials. I'm looking forward to the shopping, there are the markets too where you can pick up all kinds of bits and pieces. Setting up a new home is a whole new adventure, and I plan to enjoy it." Or if it's hand-holding you want in Ireland, that's available too. Flanagans of Mount Merrion, Dublin offer a complete service to Irish people buying villas, houses and apartments in Spain and Portugal. It includes sourcing all furniture, furnishings, and lighting equipment, right down to television, hair dryers, juicers, face clothes - even a Scrabble board. These are shipped out and arranged in the apartment ready for the owner's arrival. The service is managed by interior designer Maureen Comerford. "We get the house plans which tells us the floor sizes," she says, "we send out our own fitter to measure window sizes for absolute accuracy. Then I design a number of themes and colour schemes.

"Apartment living which is more open plan needs a minimalist, uncluttered approach," she says. "Floors tend to be marble or ceramic. We may suggest a dining table in a dark wood like teak or mahogany with a pale floor, or pale beech shaker style with a dark tile. We encourage people to go for a classical look like an elegant sofa upholstered in plain navy which won't look dated in five years time. Some customers want antiques, they may put their eye on a little Victorian lamp table, and we could add some vases or mirrors to complement that. If someone is buying to let, we suggest practical, durable furnishings and fabrics."

Be adventurous with colour when planning a home in the sun, she says. "Good Mediterranean colours are aquamarine, burnt umber, with Moorish reds and terracotta. We choose fabrics that won't fade in sunlight, heavy white towels and face cloths. Most apartment walls are white, but if people want a colour, we code the mix and fax the details down."

She needs eight to 10 weeks advance lead time, and travels to the resort to meet the crate on arrival. Costs vary from £16,000 to fit out a two bed 1,000 sq ft apartment, £19,000£20,000 to fit out a 2,000 sq ft apartment, up to about £40,000 to fit out a five bed house. Prices exclude VAT.

Eight out of 10 of Mary Carberry's Marbella Property Investments' customers buy to rent out their properties. Buyers, she finds, make the same repeated furnishing mistakes: "They buy cheap beds which need to be replaced in five years, they buy decent lounge furniture and ruin the look with cheap prints or ceramics, they choose colours in Dublin which just won't work in the sun, they upholster in cotton when you need something much stronger and durable that will wash or dry clean, they buy white plastic terrace tables which turn yellow. I have seen people who have outfitted their apartment so badly that they can't let it. People coming on holiday want to live in an attractive atmosphere."

As a rule of thumb, expect to spend 10 per cent of the buying price in outfitting the apartment. Mary Carberry offers three design packages, working with a team of designers and wholesalers and sourced locally in Spain.

THE £6,000 starter pack suitable for a two bedroom 900 foot apartment includes a two and a three seater couch, coffee table, side table and lamp, terrace table and six chairs in dark green or blue plastic, two loungers, beds, bed linen, lockers, lamps, and bedroom chair. A £10,000£12,000 "key to the door" pack will have better quality furniture and furnishing fabrics, and include extra items such as customised bookcase, or dresser, TV stand, hall table, wrought iron lampstands and a third fold down bed. There is also a £20,000 de luxe package which gives a more exclusive customised service. Digital computer imaging is available.