Where to buy furnitures for my apartment in Paris?

Dear reader, you just arrived in Paris and you are about to move in. You already found a flat to rent (you're lucky!) and you definitly need to buy some furnitures, electrical appliances and decoration to feel well in your new environment. You don't know were to go. Let me help you!

There are two categories of people in Paris. People who have car and ... the others. Usually, people that live in "Paris Intra Muros" do not have car because it's very expensive to rent a parking, which is not included in the apartment rent in most of cases. If you live in Paris heart and if you just arrived you are probably in this category. If you live in suburb, you have more chance to have a parking, and the car is often needed when you make your shopping, as everything is a bit far from your home by walk. 

A very little pourcentage of people have both: the car and the lovely apartment in Paris.

So to summarise the situation: if you have a car, you will easily find a large choice of place to go for furnitures shopping. If you don't, it will be (a bit) harder because the furniture shops need space and they rarely have some shops in the middle of Paris for cost reason. It does not mean that you cannot find anything. Let's see together.

Shoppings accessible by car:

IKEA: you have many IKEA shops in Paris suburb. You can directly have the Ikea addresses on their website here. I don't advice you to go there without a car because they are not easily accessible and far from public transports.

If you really need to buy some IKEA furnitures and already have a precise list of what you need, I advice you to make an order directly on the web. Nevertheless the shipping is expensive and that you have to take that in consideration when you compare Ikea prices to other shops.

An other solution is to go there with an autolib car. But, as the Autolib cars are small, remember you will not be able to transport big voluminous cupbords and shelfes. If you attend to, prefer a rent car. 

Alinéa: same details and advices as IKEA. The same kind of products too. Alinéa is a little bit more expensive than IKEA but (on my own opition), the products are a bit better in terms of quality. The only thing where they are not good competitor is the kitchen and I say you with 100% certitude that IKEA is the best place to buy a lovely made-to-measure kitchen, with your own configurations, dimensions, for a small budget. 

FLY: Not my favorite furniture shop. I find that the models they expose are less IN than IKEA and Alinea articles. But you have to add it in your options if you don't find what you are looking for in Ikea and Alinea. shops are only in suburb too. In term of quality, on my point of view, what they propose are comparable with IKEA and Alinéa articles. 

GIFI: you will not find a lot of furnitures in GIFI. But you can find interesting things for your bathroom, your kitchen and in term of decoration. It's not expensive at all, but don't except a very hight quality. 

If you are looking for curtains and have a little budget, you can also check in this store. You will maybe find a good compromise. 

Shopping available directly in Paris:

Conforama: The most popular is without any doubt Conforama. You have two stores in Paris heart: one at Pont Marie station and another one not far from Nation. You will find furnitures, shelfes, kitchen ustencils, ... with a very correct price and a correct quality. I definitly advice you to buy your cupboard in Conforama, and even if you are able to go to Ikéa or Alinéa. indeed, I made a lot of comparison and also bought cupboard in Alinéa to make a comparison for you. I can tell you that it's less expensive in Conforama compared to Alinéa and the quality is exactly the same, if Conforama is not better. 

You have more choice on their web site and even with expedition cost, Conforama offer is more interesting. In addition, you can also find in Conforama a large range of household electrical appliances: iron, washing room, dish washer, computer, printer, television, telephones, ... It's not the case in IKEA for example.

But: you can also find a BUT in Paris in boulevard de Sebastopol. The range of products proposed is quite similare to products proposed in Conforama in Paris.

In both cases you may need to buy something heavy. You can eventually take a cab and ask for a monospace to be sure it will feat in the car. 

And have a look on Chape

Good look!

-Honey.