I am getting ready to move into a new apartment, and while I am really excited about the place I found (it is completely remodeled and the location is perfect) and the roommates (really down-to-earth, green-minded Israeli) it is unfurnished. That meant I had to decide how I wanted to buy new furniture: first hand or second, fancy schmancy, or on a budget. I needed to buy a closet, a bed, and some furniture for my (private!!) balcony.
For my closet, I decided to buy new because by the time I found one (big enough) second hand, paid for delivery, and figured how to rebuild the not so stable closet, it would be comparable in price and not such great quality. Buying a bed new, though, was not comparable in price to buying a used one. It was, however, a smart decision, especially when considering what might have gone on in the bed before I bought it...
I spent most of yesterday shopping in the furniture "district" of Jerusalem: Talpiyot. It is an industrial area with a ton of bed stores, furniture stores, kitchen stores, and the like. I wandered around for a few hours, bounced on a few beds, took a few naps, and sweated a lot (summer here is brutal). I met a lot of fun[ny] store owners too. It was so Israeli when one saw that I was taking notes about prices and told me that I had to start a new, nice, clean page for his store. It was also so Israeli when I tried to leave another store and the manager and the woman helping me (who had both brought me cups of water and asked my name--as did several other store owners) tried to get my phone number to do a follow-up. I told them not to worry; if I wanted to buy from their store, I would obviously return.
In the end, though, I did not return to either of those stores. I bought my closet at one store (I got to pick a finish and handles!!), and on my third trip there in one day (once to look at prices, once to order the closet, and once with a friend and her car) I also bought balcony furniture. It wasn't such an Israeli store, but my "olah chadasha" (new immigrant) status came in handy when I asked for them to rush the order so it would come in time for me to move in without too much rush or stress. I bought my bed (a futon, actually) in another store. I also bonded with the manager there and managed to get a bit of a discount on the futon/delivery. I made a comment while lying on the futon that it seemed very low to the ground. He surprisingly told me that he would be able to special order the futon several centimeters higher, and with a bit more bargaining, I was able to order that at no extra cost too.
On the whole, furniture shopping was definitely stressful, but it wasn't so Israeli. It was actually quite American, which was nice. Hopefully everything will get built well (I bult my balcony table well!!) and delivered in time.
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