Pre-Relo Purchasing & Lamp Question
I've been thinking that I should pack a few things before heading over to Germany that are new and hard to find over there - things I've been wanting for months and just never saw the reason to purchase due to my upcoming relo. But now I'm thinking maybe I should grab a few things that I not only need in my new flat but that are also ones I truly love that I won't be finding abroad anytime soon. Of course, I can order and have things shipped to me but the shipping charges are enormous and never mind the tax on foreign goods. When things arrive from outside of the EU you can expect to be called to the tax office to go retrieve them and pay a nice chunk of cash on import tax. That's why I'm not going to play this stupid - shop now and then no regrets later. Of course I will find tons of great things in Europe to keep me busy (I mean isn't at least half of the Anthropologie merchandise from Europe anyway?) but there are some brands that are impossible find. The lovely Jonathan Adler comes to mind.
Here are a few things I picked up today from Burke Decor since she's a friend and gives me a generous trade discount and free shipping, I splurged a little and purchased these placements and napkins, all in either linen or jute. I love the iconic patterns and the frame placements. But also the lovely silver and white linen towels. If you're in Europe, you can buy all of these things from Danielle in her beautiful shop Le Souk at a 20% discount right now if you read this blog or decor8. Just tell her you know me and she'll give you the discount, but you have to email her your order and it covers everything in her shop. Buying in dollars is better for me now than to buy in Euros which is why I purchased from US company Burke Decor but once in Europe I'll be shopping Danielle of course. I've ordered from her when I was in Germany before and shipping is fast, there's no import tax of course. Plus I adore her so please go support her shop! The napkin rings are from Jonathan Adler. My husband suggested one of each vs. all of the same animal. I agree, I think it will be cute for each friend to see what animal they have and may spark cute conversation. Plus I see them coordinating so nicely with the gray linen napkins against my white dinnerware. I also see them looking just great with the iconic placements too. What do you think? You like? I can't wait to use them in my dining room abroad. :) Can you think of other things I may want to bring over that are hard to find in Germany and in Europe in general? Any expat opinions for me? I was told that I cannot bring my lamps right? I am bringing only one because I'm hoping I can find someone to rewire it. It's a $400 lamp and it's my favorite of all the lamps I own, even though I have a few runner ups but I've decided to sell them. :*( But lamps ARE really out of the question right? Different electric outlets/requirements/bulbs, yes? (images: simrin, jonathan adler, real simple magazine)
Comments
You can try to bring your lamps but there is a chance that they will not work. However, what about bringing the lamp and changing the light socket piece when you get here? Any electronic I would be cautious of.
Things to bring...I am in Hungary and I have problems finding the weirdest things....most recently rubber bands! I could find small packages with a variety of sizes but I needed 100 of the same size. After trying many stores-including Office Depot-I finally found them at the post office-for free! The woman pulled out a box and started handing me handfuls! Who would have thought. Good Luck. These are hard decisions-I know!
-Diane
My husband, Martin, is plotting a way to rebuild the adaptor and structure of a US KitchenAid mixer if we bring one from the US. You saw the cost of those in Germany, right?
Katie
Katie - You realize that you've just opened yourself up to a million questions. But I have two because I'm out of touch from my days as an Immigration manager. How many months a year does your husband have to return to the states to maintain his perm residency card here? And second question, can you tell him these are the specs on my lamp and ask him if there is hope for using it there with a simple adapter and new bulb OR will I have to have it overhauled completely by an expert lamp person?
The socket says 150W/120 VAC Only...
Also, when buying things from abroad - if you can, get the sender to mark the item as "gift" with no value on the customs declaration (especially if it's not a high-value item). You won't be insured if it goes missing in the post, but you should avoid any customs fees. I did this in Brazil, because not only are customs fees up to 80% on top of the original item - but a big sticker saying "electric kettle" alerts theives as to what's inside (the kettle actually made it because it said "gift" but the usb memory drive which was marked as such did not).
Good luck!
Before we moved here 2yrs ago I did research on many different expat forums. Everybody was saying things with heating elements in them (curlers, hair dryers, irons, crock pots) do not transfer well, even with a transformer. I read that even with a transformer they just perform so-so. I sold everything except a travel set of curlers to use on my visits to the States.
Lamps were always stated as being super-iffy and basically usually not worth the space/cost of their shipping to validate the iffy-ness. However, your giraffe lamp I'd say validates the risk! =) Re-wiring is possible, but the bottom line is that I think you have to decide what it's worth to you.
Kitchen-Aid mixers here are atrociously expensive. It's sick. And you don't usually get the choices of fun colors either. I only ever see black, red, navy, and I think I saw a white one once. 700 euros or so. SICK. I have a US one and it works fabulously with my transformer. I also have my dearly beloved USA 14 cup Cuisinart food processor which also works like a charm with the transformer.
I wish I'd brought this old beater of a blender I got many yrs ago. I bet it would've been fine with the transformer in hindsight. It had a metal motor and glass jar and was just awesome, even if it was brown and mustard! =)
I bought our transformer for $40 from our shipping company, Astro Intl. Maybe you can find them cheaper online, but it was just simpler to buy from our shipper. Best $40 I've spent in a long time. We can charge our US cell phones up before heading state-side for a visit (or our American guests can) as well as plug in our few US appliances.
We also brought a little DVD player thing that plays all sorts of stuff. It was an experiment b/c it was only $35 when we bought it and it was tiny. But it's been great for us and saved us from having to buy one here. We use it with the transformer too.
We started our time here with a US laptop that just needed a plug adapter, so that's no problem. We had to buy a German laptop when our US one finally died. (I can switch from a German to US keyboard at the click of a mouse, so handy for our German/US marriage-no more freaking out over finding the @ sign! =) Our Vonage phone box also just needs a plug adapter.
Other things I've brought from the US and am glad: Almost everything b/c buying replacements here costs so much more. Comparable quality to price ratio from my US stuff to German equals would be so much more expensive in Germany. We love our big US towels. I'm 6'1" so big towels are esp important to me =) I love all my american measuring cups/spoons. Especially ones with the metric also marked on them. I can use them for my German recipes to and it definitely helped me learn metric faster! Speaking of metric, I brought a US sewing tape measure for when I've ordered US clothes, and a US construction tape measure to help me figure out stuff in my 'measuring language'. I don't use them much anymore, but they were handy in the beginning. I still keep a printout of metric cooking conversions taped to the inside of a kitchen cabinet door for reference.
All my bakeware, pots and pans, tools in my toolbox: all have been worth their shipping costs. Skip the cookie sheets, though. German ovens are too small to accommodate the large US cookie sheets. I also cannot make round double layer cakes here anymore =( but last fall my dad brought over two 11x7 pans and they are great. You end up with thinner layers and a rectangle shaped cake, but still, you have a layer cake! When I head state-side this Christmas I plan to check out a few cake supply shops and see if I can quickly find smaller round pans or something.
That's a lot!! Those were things that have affected my time here in Germany, so maybe you can sift through it and pick out parts that might apply to your lifestyle too =) Hope that helps!
Katie
I assume you know about German bedding, so if you are bringing a US mattress/bed, bring the bedding to go with it. I think the bottom-sheet/duvet system is brilliant, actually, but I'm only 5'7" and think the duvets here could stand to be about a foot longer.
I have a hard time finding plastic hangers - the hangers here are bigger and shaped differently, and I'm a little OCD about my closet. ::grin::
Obviously if you have a favorite food, stock up, and expect to find foods you didn't know you missed. For me it's Diet Coke, which I think of as pure battery acid normally, but it's the battery acid I'm used to...
Oh, and bring all of your imperial measure measuring items - measuring spoons/cups/tapemeasures - if you bring your US recipe books you'll need them, and sometimes for measuring furniture, etc., it will just be easier to think in imperial than metric.
So you'll be fine too - bring whichever lamps you love.
btw, I am a Senior Interior Architect - German Dipl.Ing. of Interior Arch. and Design
Love your blog -
Angelika, Augsburg/Germany