Wood Furniture in Costa Rica

Costa Rica offers different styles of furniture and many options of woods to choose from. In this country, wood is still affordable and attainable. Among the different types of woods used for furniture are Guanacaste, Cedar, Cenizaro and Melina among others.

One of the most important things to watch for when buying wooden furniture is the treatment that the wood has had prior to manufacturing. This, because Costa Rica has many different climates and the wood that is used for manufacturing in the Central Valley sometimes might shrink or expand when the items are transported to the coast, for instance. The high temperatures along with the dry climate of Guanacaste, sometimes causes wooden items to crack or expand. Also,there are manufacturing companies that offer nice styles of furniture and at reasonable prices with treated and dried woods under high standards. We have an interesting catalogue of Costa Rican made furniture that most of our clients love to check.

Another good option is teak wood. This furniture is of recent manufacture in the country because this wood has not been in the market for so long. Most teak in Costa Rica is used for outdoor furniture. In order to get aged teak furniture you need to look at Indonesian imported items that sometimes are not so bad in price considering the beauty of carvings and the quality of the woods. The balance in price is given by the low cost of labor in those countries compared to Costa Rican labor. Of course the items pay duties but you might be surprised to find pieces at bargain prices from certain suppliers.

Comfort is not one of Costa Rican furniture pluses. We usually recommend imported items when our clients need couches or sofa beds due to the quality and density of foams found here. Some custom manufacturers do a good job in sofas but we prefer to advice on imported items because the price is similar and sometimes lower compared to the items locally produced.

Among the wood furniture that is mostly produced in Costa Rica are beds. With beds you will find something very different from the usual in the United States. Most beds in Costa Rica don´t take box springs. Instead, they have a platform that serves as a base and makes the bed very firm. This reduces the cost of the bed because you don´t need to buy box springs and you avoid bugs eating your box springs.

One interesting item that we sell a lot is the carved wood beds. Local manufacturers carve the figure of the animal you want. This way, people who live in the ocean like carving sail fish, turtles, etc. in their beds and also in the drawers of their nightstands.

Most of the wood manufacturers are located in the Central Valley, near San Jose, Grecia and Alajuela. They have a culture of working the wood and expertise in manufacturing. Some of our clients want to have custom made items from a magazine but using the local woods and our manufacturers will make anything they want. For their surprise, they usually accomplish what they want at very reasonable prices.

Indonesia Outdoor Furniture by Ana Arata