Furnishing an apartment - some advice please ;-)

Hi
You just need to check when you buy and avoid large sofas which may not swing around the doorway and yes you do have to arrange to take the rubbish away.
There are also lots of big diy places around Budapest just like B &Q . They are always stuffing leaflets in the doorways.
If you want any more help just send me a private message I have got a local handyperson who is really good at sorting things for me. Regards Anns

Hi, if you need professional help to furnish your apartment by interior designer send me a private message. Regards, Balazs

Normally deliveries are to the building, not to your flat. You can ask at time of purchase if they offer additional options to install a washing machine your flat for an added fee. If not, you can hire locals to haul things up to your flat for you.

Hungary is not (yet) completely taken over by big box stores. There are plenty of small hardware and furniture stores that might suit your needs for minor DIY painting jobs, maybe some even local and in your neighborhood. And the small stores may help you the most in suggesting delivery people who might help bring your purchases all the way up to your flat. A good way to get know about such things (and your neighborhood in general) is to walk around and see what, if any, little stores might suit your needs.

You can always go to Ikea as a fall back option (but they don't deliver either).

I would have to say that yes, delivery will be indoors to your flat. I purchased a washing machine and dryer while the elevator was broken in my building and they carried them up the stairs. Just make sure to inquire and advise the delivery office appropriately and ensure that delivery is indoor/inside the flat.

As for furniture there is also Kika. For DIY there are plenty of places in Budapest that will sell supplies. Not sure about the construction rubbish as I haven't done any renovations.

Enjoy Budapest, it is my favourite city in the world.

Ron

Thanks Anns, Ron, klsallee, Balazs!
I may get some basic/cheap 2nd hand stuff until I get a feel of Budapest and can check out the local shops.
Some of the furniture stores I've looked at online seem to be quite expensive - perhaps I'm missing where to find the bargains. For info, I'm planning to move to near Dob utca/Akácfa utca.

Hello!!

Yes, all very exciting or worrying?

1. Do not buy big pieces. Apart from IKEA there is KIKA, much more stylish, but expensive Austrian store.
They deliver to the 'gate and then you ask them to take it up for you. You should have a price from the sales people. advising you on price.
2. DIY is not a Hungarian specialty... like for us Brits. Bet, in our opinion is OBI.

Good Luck!

Look up 'jofogas' website. Lots of second hand furniture there.

Eva

Hi there,

Not many gave you names of places so I will:
For furniture def check out Kika (but nicer than ikea), max city (need to drive but lots of interior stores under one roof), Black-White-Red, Mobilix, Art & Home (nice but pricey).
For home Reno type stuff go to Obi, Praktiker.
I've found moving people comparatively cheap (cheap labour) but in contrast rubbish removal is costly as they have to pay a fee to dump the rubbish. Am renovating an appt now so feeling all the costs myself!
Good luck.

The movers here are real pro's in our experience with getting items, even heavy items up stairways and through tiny hallways.
I was blown away watching the 2 movers take our things up to the second floor. They use a system of straps and pulleys, you should tip of course for any services here in HU.
We tipped the two guys on top of their normal fee and bought pizza and beers for them when it was finished.
My husband speaks Hungarian, so that's why we went the extra to order food, they made 2 long trips from Erd into the 7th district for us so we figured they would be hungry.
You can look on line for used furniture with varta.hu. The problem is the adds are written in HU.
I personally think new furniture prices in HU are on the high side and the styles are a bit old fashioned. Our friends just re modeled their flat in Buda. They went 85% Ikea and brought over some nice leather sofas from the US.
They spent allot of $, looks great but for as much as they spent one would have to stay put for awhile to recover the costs. Be sure you want to stay long term in your flat before going to crazy with re doing everything, unless you have deep pockets.
We think OBI is ok for prices for do it yourself projects and Praktiker is a bit over priced for items.
Believe it or not they sell small things like new sink faucets at the city park boot sale. About half the price as one of the home repair stores charge.
The big stores all deliver to the flat if you don't have a car, tip for the delivery people though.
You might wish to redo your floors before moving in, much easier then living in a construction zone.
You are not suppose to leave materials in the common house trash that do not fit in the cans.
Once a year they do have a toss out day where you can dump large items out and the city picks it up for free. Otherwise you have to pay to have it removed. If you have a cellar in your new flat then you can store your materials until toss out day. Should happen in another 6 months time in the 7th district, forgot which month it happens but it is in the springtime.

I just now mentioned your moving situation with my husband.
His advice was to settle on a price, let the movers know exactly what you want them to do etc.before they move a thing.
With tips he said if it is a private mover, then probably the pre arranged price is enough without tipping extra but if it is a co. truck then tip the workers.If you feel generous and they did a good job of course.
Hungary is very tip centered, even the doctors expect a tip.
My husband and I usually are big tippers but then again we have always worked for tips ourselves.
My new friend from the UK has a couple of properties here in Hungary. She plans on retiring here in a year or so for good. She brings over caravans of items from the UK.She picked up a few nice things from boot sales in the UK and brought them over. They look brand new too.
We think furniture prices in HU are a bit high for what you get.But not everyone is willing to drive over and carry things themselves up flights of stairs. Maybe you have some friends that will help you out? I will say again, the movers here have got it down to an art, fast no injury and no damage to the furniture.
You can look on craigslist too but I never see much furniture being resold on that site.

I was out visiting last week and had a walk around the Antique area. I loved the traditional lighting and some bits and pieces, but thinking to get some more modern stuff for the main sofa, bed and probably shelving.

Thanks Eva! Haha yes both exciting and worrying!
I think I saw a Kika on the main utca that the trams 4-6 go along, Terez utca I think... Will check that out as it's not too far from the apartment too. A few people have mentioned OBI now, so I think this must be the place to go for a B&Q type store. Thanks!

Thanks Claudia - will definitely be checking out Kika, and Max city website looks good. I don't have a car, but I'm hoping they will deliver if I see something nice. :-)

Thanks to you too Marilyn. When I visited around March time last year there was loads of furniture on the streets - so realise now this must have been the chuck out day your mentioned!
Thanks for the tips on moving furniture.  I found another post where someone recommended calling a "Teher Taxi". Not sure if anyone has any experience of them, and if they may speak English?
I couldn't seem to find anything on the Varta website apart from batteries. Perhaps I'm looking on the wrong website?

Thanks again to all for all your advice!

Hi
OBI is very good and Ikea does arrange delivery and some staff speak  English and they do call English speaking staff over to help you.
I dont know about the other places. I usually prefer second hand furniture but then it is always the case of waiting for the right pieces to turn up.
Good luck with it Anns

Sorry, I made a mistake the site is called, Vatera.hu
I had my husband look there because I am interested in buying a comfy chair for myself.
The adds are written in Hungarian.
We noticed some nice furniture on there

The teher taxi may have some people who speak English, you would have to ring them up and check it out.
We used them once to help deliver some boxes that arrived from overseas.
They did carry them upstairs for us.

for furniture check Ikea, Kika, Jysk, RS bútor (rs.hu), Alpha bútor (butordiszkont.com) - these are my favourites

handyman stores are OBI, Praktiker, Baumax, Bricostore

I prefer going to Budaörs on the M1/M7 motorway where you can find all of the biggest stores in one spot.

For getting rid of the renovation litter you can rent a container - this will be dropped at your spot and stays there for 1-2 weeks till you fill it up, then the company comes to ship it. The prices start from 20,000Huf per container. You can search with "konténeres sittszállítás árak" keywords in the google for price lists and phone numbers.

One cheap maker is L&O bútor:

http://www.holtalalok.hu/index.php?act= … amp;cat=54
around 5 min walk from Blaha Lujza tér:
1081 Budapest, Népszínház utca 20.
Hétfőtől - péntekig: 10,00 - 18,00-ig.
Szombat: 10,00 - 13,00-ig.
Telefon: 06-1-210-51-34

This is cheap (around 70-90k for a new sofa)  but the service is that of a small hungarian company. It is produced in the east of the country and sold to reailers AND in this little(!) shop operated by a millde aged women who is not always in the best of mood, and better to call them right before you go as I did stand before close doors already.

You can be lucky and just find something - they arrange the transport for you (a very busy guy) or you can find any of the hundred "tehertaxi", but in the latter case, your warrranty is not valid.


A retailer for their products is:
http://megfizethetobutor.hu/hazhozszallitas

perhaps their service is better, its worth a try.
Of course English communication is a bottleneck, Id not expect drivers to speak it.

Hello Gary,

Congratulations for buying a property in Budapest!
If you need property and house insurance,[moderated: no free ads please]
If you would like to buy fournitures, you can find : JYSK, Tesco, ikea, Auchan, and DiY like OBI, Praktiker, Bauhaus..
Best regards,
Sebastien Hidreau

Hello Sebastien Hidreau,

I sense that you are an insurer, In this case please register in the Business Directory in the Insurances in Budapest section.

Members can have easier access at your services there.

Thank you,

Marjorie

gazamataz wrote:

Hi everyone.

I'm just purchasing an apartment in the 7th district of Budapest, on the top floor of one of the old buildings.
I won't have a car in Budapest and I wondered if anyone had any experience of furnishing their apartment?
I'm worrying about:
- The lift is very small, so any furniture will have to be walked up 3 flights of stairs and along a thin walkway to the apartment. So if I wanted to buy a washing machine, bed, sofa etc will companies deliver to the actual apartment (and carry it up all the flights of stairs), or will they just deliver to the building entrance and we need to find a way of getting it up ourselves?
- I need to rip out an old kitchen, will the normal dustbin collection people take this away, or do I need to find someone to take it to a refuse place?
- Apart from IKEA, can you recommend any places to buy furniture?
- I will probably want to rub down and repaint some of the doors and windows. Is there a popular DIY store you can recommend? (e.g. like B&Q in the UK)

Thanks for anyones advice on these matters ;-))

Garyx

How much you paid for a house , I rented a hotel and I don't like the price very expensive http://www.triparbiter.com/hotel/12782/ … st-hungary now I am afraid that can not leave Budapest ) I can help you in repairs , I straiten my Golden hands can help in all types of work .

Hello,
As far as getting furniture and other goods up three floors, you need to ensure that you agree and pay for this service when you order the goods. Actually three floors is not too bad, our sofa had to come up nine floors of stairs!  Hopefully the lift is big enough to take a washing machine!

As you dont have transport, you will need to find a man with a van to take your building rubbish to the approved refuse depot in your area. It will not be taken away if you leave it outside, unless its valauable, when it will soon dissapear!

IKEA is great but there are other excellent furniture stores providing you have a deep pocket. Suggest you go to KIKA.

The best DIY store to go to is OBI. You are bound to have one in your district.

Make sure you get at least three quotes for any serious work, electrical, plumbing etc. If you dont speak Hungarian then expect the prices to be inflated as you are bound to be rich!  Get hold of the small booklet published regularly with names of different trades and services. Its called KISOKOS and is area specific. I think it gets delivered to every house/building.

Hope this helps you and good luck.

@anns Could you recommend where to buy reasonably inexpensive bedroom furniture/sofa bed/lighting etc.

many thanks

Kat