I was so excited when my husband told me that we were getting a 290 sq meter house (about 3000 sq ft). I walked through in awe and forgot one 'small' detail - Storage space. You'd think I'd know better. I'd been to Europe before, I knew that they didn't have walk-in closets; but did I prepare? Nooooo. For those of you new to this concept, imagine that every room in the house has four walls, windows, a door, light sockets and a light in the ceiling and nothing else.
Look around your place right now and count the number of storage closets that you have...in the kitchen, entry way, bedrooms, hallway for linen, bathroom cupboards, kitchen cupboards, etc. and imagine they are now gone. Where would you store things? What about your pantry? Gone. So, off I go to the local Kika, a furniture store for shopping for 'wardrobes'(free-standing closets) where we spend literally 5 hours picking out what we want and need, find someone that can speak English and is willing to endure us. We sit down to finalize the sale. Expecting we would have to wait a few days for delivery, we discuss what day would be best for the delivery to take place. Without even a blink, the guy asks which day in the second week of October would be better for us. I'm certain the guy thought I was crazy when I exclaimed, "TWO MONTHS! It takes TWO months to deliver this stuff!?" No, he explained with fear in his eye, they have to make it first. Mind you this is not high-end, expensive stuff we are talking about here. I mean this is plywood and screws type furniture that you'd buy in Home Depot or the like. Okay, another wake-up call for me. My on-demand consumer expectations are keeping me on my toes here. I'm coming to that cruel realization that this country and other small European countries don’t just have warehouses full of things waiting for people to pop in and take home by the loads.
In retrospect I would have gone to IKEA in the States and bought 5 boxes of wardrobes and had them put together here in Prague. But I don't even know if IKEA in the States sell free-standing closets. Here we sit with everything neatly stacked in corners of every room; our clothes, towels, and everything else that would have gone into those neat, wonderful little storage spaces we Americans take for granted. Lesson for those of you readers moving to Prague - bring storage closets with you or order them as soon as possible.
My Heavens!
ReplyDeleteOne would of course never have not thought there were no storage spaces,
The truely unthought of things we most certainly take for granted!
Love and Miss You,
...Pamela
LOL. Loved the comic strip. It cracked me up because I could see Cam, Lisa's daughter, saying that "mixed blessing" comment. LOL. As for non-existent storage space....that would totally suck. So they actually have to make the pieces for you to put together? Or they make the whole thing and deliver it? I doubt we'll ever move outside the U.S., but I'll be sure to keep the storage space issue in mind if we do.
ReplyDeleteWe miss you over here.
OMG! I need your help! I just bought a KIKA wardrobe from a serbian couple....I live in Los Angeles. They told me the instruction manual was inside the many several boxes that came along with the closet. However, when I unpacked EVERY single box there was no manual to be found! ;( I have been pestering them for the past week and a half to contact the store in Serbia for a copy of the manual however, they keep giving me excuses! They are moving to CHicago this weekend and I have been trying to get in contact with 1 of the stores but no one I know speaks German Russian or any of the other languages. If you could find a moment in your busy schedule could you please PLEASE PLEASE help me! If the store is nearby could you go in and ask for a copy of the instruction manual for the Strada Wardrobe model its 106 inches long and the brown wood w/ silver stripe on it. Please do let me know if you can or can't..As you can see I am in desperate need because now I am stuck with several pieces of wood just hanging around my apartment....you can email me @ dorcas_t@hotmail.com
ReplyDeleteTHanks for reading this!
Well, I did go to Kika and ask them if I could have a copy of the manual for your Strada wardrobe and they said that they "couldn't" but suggested that contact be made to the main office http://www.kika.com/?id=contact
ReplyDeleteGive that a try and see if they "can" help out. Generally the instructions arn't in any language and are just pictures of what piece goes together first and where the screws/nails go, so if you could get your hands on the manual, translation isn't an issue.
Good luck and let me know the outcome.
Peggy