How to Successfully Furnish Your New Condo or Home in Mexico

Penthouse model in Palmar condominums

You’ve made a dream come true and bought a great vacation home in Mexico, Bravo! But you have no idea how to go about furnishing it. Maybe you’ll rent it and have a management company, or you want it all to yourself to enjoy – either way you are ready to get started but don’t know where to turn.

 You work all the time in the United States or Canada and only get a few quality weeks a year to go away with your family. The last thing you want to do is spend the entire two weeks of your vacation driving from Cancun to the Riviera Maya or crossing on the ferry to shop the mainland. It’s your vacation time you want to enjoy your place in Cozumel and go diving! 

Showroom of The Magic of Design 2011

Freeing up your vacation time and allowing you to shop from your home in the US or Canada is where an interior designer’s service (like ours) comes in.  Here is how it works:

1.       Let the designer know right off the bat what type of furniture you like. Do you like modern, clean lines? Do you want traditional furniture? Do you want rattan or wicker? Cut out some photos of things you like, scan them into your computer and email them to the designer.  Tell the designer what you are interested in. All the best furniture manufacturers’ catalogs are available online, for the lines we represent, so you could also look through a few catalogs online to see what is available.

2.       Just because you’re in Mexico doesn’t mean you need to order things only made in Mexico. It is a global economy today. Furniture is made all over the world, so you should have access to anything you would like. We import furniture from all over … rattan and hardwood with veneer from Indonesia, China, the Philippines, Vietnam and Mexico. Upholstery from the United States with a comfort level unmatched around the world. Rustic style furniture is available in Mexico and it has its place, but if you have a small-scale condo, it may just be too big and bulky.

3.       So now the designer comes in armed with choices. You show us your plans. We make suggestions and work closely with you to bring your ideas to reality. If whoever is making the design decisions can come to Mexico and meet with the designer, that is the easiest and simplest way. But I have worked with many clients whom I never meet until the day they walk in their place when it is completely furnished.

Client's living room accent table & lamp

4.       Work with someone who is in Mexico full-time. If the designer you are working with is in the United States or Canada, how will they be able to coordinate the shipments? They need to check the items as they come in, deliver and install them. All the beds will need to be assembled. Most dining tables and chairs are shipped unassembled, too. Assembling a house of furniture is not something you want to do when you arrive.  You want to be able to put your feet up and sip a margarita, not figure out if you have enough screws to put everything together. If something is broken, the designer in Mexico can return it or replace it. We install everything so we know if a part needs replaced.

5.       By working with a designer, you don’t have to worry if something will fit. We measure your place and if something doesn’t fit or looks oversize, we can arrange to return the item for credit  and get you something else. When we don’t like the way something looks, we will tell you. We are professionals. That is why you hire a professional and guess what – it costs you nothing extra.

6.       Don’t pay everything up front. I hear horror stories of clients who go online, without a designers help, and pay 100% up front for furniture they have never seen. When they arrive, the furniture doesn’t look like they thought it would. A sofa is delivered when they ordered a sleeper and nobody is there to help them straighten it out. We require a 60% deposit and balance before delivery. We live in the Riviera Maya/Cozumel area full-time; you’ll be able to find us, so we can help if a problem arises. 

7.       You’re in Mexico… work with a Mexican company. By working with a Mexican company, you are covered under Mexican law. People tell me all the time that they want to support the local economy. I know we buy furniture all over the world, but all our employees are Mexican except me, I am from the states, but our corporation is located in Mexico. All profits support the local community. We pay Mexican taxes, sales tax, rent, salaries, pensions etc. here in Mexico.

At The Magic of Design our goal is to make your new home or rental property beautiful to look at and comfortable to live in. We have been in business here in Cozumel for 8 years. But interior design has been my passion since 1987 when I worked for Carole Korn Interiors and other design firms in Florida. This business is what we do full time, it’s what pays our bills. So we are very customer driven and will work very hard to keep you and the friends you refer to us as lifelong friends and clients. We want your experience with us to be stress-free and fun. Furnishing a new place should be like Christmas morning all bright and shiny, or  like that feeling you get with the first whiff of new car smell.

So there is it is a nutshell. An interior designer is there to help you bring your ideas to reality. They have the pulse of what’s going on in the furniture and decorator markets around the world and they have your comfort at heart.

The Magic of Design is run by professional US interior designer Luh McDevitt. Luh has over 20 years’ residential and commercial experience in interior design, including 7 years as a Director at prestigious Carole Korn Interiors in Florida, USA. Luh has worked on countless hotel, resort, condo and restaurant projects. For more than 14 years she has lived in Mexico, where she has worked on over 1,900 projects to date and over 3,000 people have bought her products.

The Magic of Design Furniture & Interior Design  website

https://www.facebook.com/magicofdesigncozumel/