Woodcraft in the Philipines #7: How much?

So you made the move to the Philippines and you want to furnish your house with some nice examples of locally made furniture, how much is it going to set you back. If your in Manila expect to pay more than you would in other urban centers like Cebu or Davao, but even so you won,t break the bank. A sala set, like the one here, usually consisting of a sofa, two chairs a coffee table and two side tables, will cost you around 55000 peso (US $1150) The somewhat awful photo shows it as you will find it in the shop awaiting final finishing and upholstery which is then chosen by you. The wood on this set is Molave and weighs a ton so forget shipping this set home in your excess baggage, seriously it took two of us to lift it!.

The display case here, made from Narra, is selling for 25000peso (US $520). This one took a month to complete start to finish, stands around 7 ft tall, comes with glass shelves and has matching carvings on the bottom. The finish is typical here, thick heavy orange looking goop that completly obscures the timber and i,ve yet to understand why they insist on useing it when there are much better options out there. But for $520 bucks it still looks great.

This cabinet can be yours for about 20000 peso, with a bit of haggling. Thats about US $420. 420 bucks! You can,t even buy the wood for that price. Well you can here. The timber used on this example is Gmelina thats been stained. and it,s all hand carved.

How much for a dinning table and chairs? How longs a piece of string. They vary fom 10000 pesos for a four seater up to six figures for the eight seaters and above. They are usually pretty solid in the undercarriage department. This Gmelina table is over 8 ft long and all the rails are at least 2inchs thick.
Shop around and you,ll find something you like, but never accept the first price your given, especially if your a foriegner. The additional cost is known locally as ” skin tax” or as a friend called it “long nose tax” and they won,t be upset if you negotiate. But do check it over before you sign up for anything, some of the pieces I saw in this store had insect damage and doors and drawers that didn,t quite fit right. Delivery is usually thrown in if you live close enough. Happy shopping.

-- if the hand is not working it is not a pure hand