[salpal]

Help, we are closing on our home in TV in September and need to get completely furnished by November 1st for snowbird rental. Ideally, we need to do this in one week so we are not going back and forth from Northeast. We are aware of Southern Lifestyles store and that may be our final option. Has anyone ever bought from Rooms To Go? We really would love to buy everything from Bargains and Treasures or similiar type store, but not certain we can find everything we need in one week. Any ideas?

[clod]

Two thumbs up for Rooms to Go. They have a store in Ocala & a warehouse in Tampa. They will tell you what & when available at the store. I bought a houseful on a Sunday PM & got delivery of all of the stuff the following Tuesday AM. There are plenty of "horror stories" about some other stores, few about RTG. No connection, just my opinion.

Steve S

[l2ridehd]

Not sure where you live, but I did two entire homes from Craigslist.com. I live in Northern Virginia and on the weekend under furniture for sale there are 100 new posts an hour. I spent two weeks and bought everything I needed, used a U-Haul truck and moved it down. Hired Arthur Martin in TV to unload and set everything up. Did two entire 3 bedroom home with high end, great quality furniture for under 5K each. That was everything including new mattresses. Had to purchase some small decorator items and a couple area rugs from overstock.com.

[nONIE]

Another option would be to check your local newspapers for garage and estate sales in and around The Villages. Seems like there is always people having sales and I have seen some really quality pieces at the local sales.

[larrydube]

It can be done in a week. My wife and I have done it twice. We mixed new furniture (bedrooms) and Bargains and Treasures furniture. We used the list that Property Management put out when you rent your home through them and went shopping. It actually took us less than a week. We closed on a Monday and left on Friday. All the renters had to do was bring food and their clothes.


Good Luck

[michaelkir]

Southern Lifestyles had a service at one time where they contracted with a very nice couople who actually did a lot of the shopping for people like you. They had a list of what was needed for rentals and made sure your home was equiped.
Things like coffee makers cheap tv's, plates and dishes, towels sheets just aboout everything .

I used that service as a bachelor and was very satisfied.

[Jazzper]

I was also wondering if anyone has been to either of their showrooms in Leesburg or Ocala to check out the furniture in person?

Leesburg EXPRESS
10300 US Highway 441
Ste 9
Leesburg, FL 34788

Ocala Showroom
2832 SW College Rd
Ocala, FL 34474

It's kinda difficult to see how well it's really made by just looking at pics on their website.

[nanci2539]

Showcase Direct in Spanish Springs has most furniture in stock.

[steaknife]

We have done it twice and used Southern Lifestyles both times. They will deliver right away and if there is something you love that has to be ordered, they will deliver while you are gone. We also shopped with the list from property management and I did some pre-shopping online - if you know someone in TV that you can have things sent to. By shopping online I was able to take advantage of sales and got some good bargains. We did a lot of Walmart Belk and Kohls shopping!

One suggestion - Call your credit card company and let them know you are going to be in FL and furnishing a home. We didnt the first time and got into a bind a t WalMart when the $500 sale (2+ carts) would not go thru because the card was not being used in our usual pattern - away from resiidence and large purchases one after the other. We had to go to the manager and call the company. I appreciated that they thought they were protecting us and that perhaps someone had stolen our card but my husband was mortified. Every time we go to TV now, we call first.

[Jazzper]

Just did a search on "Rooms To Go" and found this on the Consumer Affairs website.

Although, as someone mentioned above, it is most likely a function of the store location and what they carry, you might want to employ the caveat emptor strategy.

UPDATE:
Since we're in a similar situation, I called the Leesburg store directly yesterday and spoke to a salesperson there. She definitely recommended stopping into the store as opposed to ordering via the internet. Not only do you see exactly what you're getting, but also if there are any problems with internet purchases, you have to deal with the website. You will also get a definitive delivery date.

Lastly, she mentioned that items in stock can be delivered "express" and will arrive in a day or two since they have trucks coming to TV almost every day.

[salpal]

Any soiled cloth would be obvious, but really talking here about bedroom sets, coffee table, dining table, chairs, bar stools, etc....nothing with alot of cloth on it. Only cloth items would be sofa/chair. Would, of course, purchase brand new bedding.

[salpal]

A big thank you for all your posts. We feel much calmer now!!!

[salpal]

A big thank you for all your advice. We came to Villages in October and had 7 days to get our villa ready for rental. We arrived late Friday evening. We checked out Bargains and Treasures on Saturday They had some lovely things, but not what we were looking (comtemporary traditional). I realize their stock changes constantly, but we did not have the luxury of time to keep checking.

Then we went to Showcase Direct in Spanish Springs and Sam's Club on Saturday. The furniture was delivered on Wednesday and at the time they said it would arrive!!!! We spent rest of time buying the small stuff and we even had a day to relax! I highly recommend Showcase Direct to anyone, fair prices, but just be sure to tell them to show you only items in stock if in a hurry. We were fortunate enough to have family living within TV to help us with a truck for the Sam's Club stuff. Funny side story: the salesman at Showcase Direct is from our hometown, small world.

The hardest part was leaving TV, especially after we saw how lovely everything looked in our Villa. We cannot wait to be full-timers and with any luck, it may be late 2010.

[graciegirl]

Please post pictures. It is interesting and fun to see how each interprets their space.

I LOVE to see these very similar spaces made unique by each persons ideas!

[jimmer]

I would suggest Neerlee New Furnishings. The store is very clean and the owners are very nice.