Shipping Furniture

Two years ago we turned our small third bedroom into a media room.  We took out the twin bed and sold it to some nice island girls. We purchased a love seat recliner from a local "Best Buy" kind of store.  The recliner was a floor model and we thought it would be fine but it didn't last long.  

Our hunt for the replacement furniture was done on line.  We located a model that we really liked but we didn't know if it was comfortable.  Keep in mind, that Rick is very tall and I am very short.  Buying furniture that fits both of us is hard. 

We enlisted the help of our son and daughter- in-law in the States because they have similar body types to ours and there was a store in their town that carried the furniture we wanted.  They tried out the recliners in the store and said that they were comfortable for both of them.  Now we were ready to order and ship.

We ordered the furniture from a store in Miami.  They delivered the couch to AMCAR (also in Miami) which is a shipping company that specializes in shipments from the US to the Dutch Caribbean. AMCAR ships by cargo boat to Racargo which is a receiving company on Bonaire. Once it goes through customs, Racargo delivers it to us.

The recliners came in one big box but it had to be assembled.  Rick, the engineer, read the instructions which were in English.  It's rare for us to see instruction in English. The items we purchase on Bonaire have instructions in Spanish, Dutch, German, Japanese and sometimes English.

Rick has seen several videos on repairing furniture as he had hoped he could replace the previous recliners. He had a good idea of what it took for assembly.

It took two of us to hold the pieces and affix screws. Rick was able to figure out the electrical.  We traded up and got electric motors that operate the chairs, Now we have to purchase a transformer so the Bonaire electric currents don't blow up the motors in the chairs.

We were very proud of ourselves for ordering furniture from the States and getting it shipped here in three weeks. We were also pleased that we could move furniture, assemble furniture, and clean the room in one day.

This is a well deserved rest in our new recliners.