Furnishing Your New Home In Hong Kong

As all new arrivals know, it’s a decision to make as to whether to rent a place that is furnished or unfurnished. International real estate agents may have briefed you on what to expect. 

If you plan to move here indefinitely, you’ve likely already organized to have your furniture and belongings shipped. For the first few months, you may have organized a serviced apartment whilst you wait for your household container to arrive. Serviced apartments make a good gap fill, as they are generally located in convenient locations, and you can arrive with a suitcase or two with everything else being supplied.

For those who have not been able to secure temporary accommodation in the more expensive serviced apartments, you may be frantically running around trying to look at apartments or houses trying to decide if you should lease furnished or unfurnished. There are more options for a furnished unit if it is a studio or a two-bedroom. Options for furnished units tend to narrow down as the number of bedrooms increase.

Properties for sale in Hong Kong such as larger apartments and houses, are generally not leased furnished (there is always an exception for shorter periods). So where should you go to get yourself sorted with the usual household furniture items? For the best results, you can contact your local real estate agents at Engel & Volkers to assist you in both the moving and renting process. 

Rent It

For those who are fully committed, there are companies that will come in and take care of you such as Indigo Living Design. They make renting easy with cost-effective, seamless solutions to making homes move-in ready. Whether you’re looking for a single piece of furniture, a room package, or to furnish an entire property, Indigo has flexible rental solutions which cover short term and long term leases (from as little as 1 month to 2 years) with everything from furniture, kitchenware, bed linen and electronics. On their website, you can find out how it works and get a quotation.

There are several furniture rental companies in Hong Kong due to such demand from expats relocating, so you may wish to shop around a number of these such as decor8, Home essentials, GL Furniture, just to get an idea of what you will be paying.

Let’s Go Shopping

Ikea has a massive store in Causeway Bay and the best advice is to go through the week. You can also order online and have it delivered. The best part about Ikea in Hong Kong is that they will deliver and assemble for an extra small cost so it can all happen at the same time. Shopping here is popular with younger professionals, who are on a tighter budget or don’t want to commit to designer pieces meant for luxury homes, due to their length of stay.

For those who want to have fun putting together their place, Hong Kong has an abundance of great furniture and homewares stores from Italian brands such as Poliform and Vareena to BoConcepts and the Australian Tree. There are also plenty of knock-off designs that come cheap and cheerful, which has a market for the short-term stayers. Wanchai is a good place to start your search, there are many shops to browse and you can also find a few more of the designer showrooms on Huddle Street in Central.

Horizon Plaza is definitely worth the trip at Ap Lei Chau. The location just got a whole lot closer with the opening of the MTR line close by. This is a huge ex-industrial building filled with furniture, homewares and fashion outlets. With 28 floors to cover, it’s worthwhile to plan a whole day here. No need to pack a lunch, there are quite a few good lunch places to stop off for weary shoppers. The variety is here and at times this is the place to pick up an exceptional bargain.