[graciegirl]

They offer interior design courses at the LifelongLearningCollege on how to "Islandize" your home using traditional furniture.

When we bought our Camellia last year, it was fun to use a lot of white furniture along with medium maples and shoreline colors on the wall to produce a sweet vacation getaway.

But...I think eventually we will sell it furnished and bring down some of our traditional stuff. You can make it look lovely. I have two friends in Bonita who have done just that.

I WISH there was just a decorating forum. I love seeing how each home is made the owners own given that the interiors are pretty similar. I like to hear who found what, where, and how they added it to their "look". Bargains and Treasures is a lot of fun to shop.

[wlou]

Hey There Goochland neighbor!,
My hubby and I bought in TV in 2007 but currently live in Mechanicsville VA ! We are putting the VA house on the market this year and we plan to move nothing but our clothes! Having a big "estate sale" when we get the Va house sold, ..
FYI>...We currently have our Village home in the Property Mgmt program there in TV. They keep it rented Dec, Feb and March, so we had to have it fully furnished to keep it in the rental program...

[faithfulfrank]

When we bought our Florida home 3 years ago, it was empty. I had 3 weeks to buy everything it needed, furniture, dishes, kitchen stuff, vacuum cleaner, toilet plunger, TV's, golf cart, garage stuff, towels, all this bedding stuff I never even heard of, (like duvets, dustrufflesomethings, sheets, blankets, pillows, my God it seemed way more complicated then I thought), lamps, pictures, art, fake plantstuff, dustcatcher nicknacs, etc, .....everything.

The payback is now when we move there, only a very few pieces of furniture, only one or two items my wife wants will come down there. Most furniture does not "fit" the new lifestyle.

Many of my tools, (that the kids don't try to take), my laptop, a few pictures, and my wife.........(not in that order) is all that will come down with us. Just one small ABF Relocube delivered. I'll just drive down in the Prius and that's it.

The 4 wheel drive Jeep and the snowblower are staying up here.

Frank

[rshoffer]

here's my opinion: I would only bring those items that have a high emotional value. Moving furniture is pretty expensive and the homes here are quite unique. The many local furniture stores have a well stocked inventory of pieces that look great in these style homes.

[Don H]

We're planning on leaving about 60 percent of the furniture in New York while taking only necessary desks and such. During our LSV we dropped in on the furniture store at Lake Sumpter Landing and liked the light style. We didn't have time to visit other furniture stores in the area. I think the temptation is to "start over".

[SteveBressi]

I bought a courtyard Villa last year and plan to move to the Villages next year. Because I am renting it, I had to completely furnish and equip the home. If you decide to buy, I found good quality and good prices at the Southern Lifestyles in Sumpter Landing. Also, I found some good pieces at Babbett's in Leesburg. Actually, had I gone to Babett's first - I would have bought quite a bit more there.

I will get rid of most of my furniture and hiusehold items in Virginia. However, there are a few pieces that I like allot and have saved room for at the Villages. The question is that I am not sure whether it will be cost effective to hire movers for just a few pieces of furniture. I understand your question quite well.