Furniture & planning ahead for aliyah

amother

Thu, Apr 03 2014, 8:43 pm

We are planning on making aliyah in the near future and are trying to plan ahead. We don't want to take any of the stuff we have now (it's all old/bad quality and no point in packing it up to ship it all the way there). Our idea is to rent a storage unit which we need anyway, then buy items we like as we see them - that way we won't miss any good deals, and we won't be scrambling last minute to put our future home together.

one thing I'm wondering about is what to do about kids bedrooms. G-d willing we will have a bustling home filled with more kids, but is it silly to get things like bunk beds or loft beds now? It just seems like those would be such a good thing to take. I love the idea of the extra space with a loft, or at least a bunk bed with storage. Any input would be really helpful... and any suggestions about stuff to definitely take or leave would also be welcome! thanks!

shabbatiscoming

Fri, Apr 04 2014, 2:09 am

amother wrote:

Just one thing to remember. Furniture not from israel (you did not say where you are located) is different sized than israeli furniture, so you would have to measure to see if your own furniture would fit into an israeli apartment/house. The rooms are generally smaller here.

vicki

Fri, Apr 04 2014, 2:37 am

We were given advice ranging from BRING EVERYTHING to BRING NOTHING.
I personally was very happy that I brought almost everything with me on aliya.
It helped me focus on the aliya process, running to offices, getting the kids ready for school and starting work within 48 hours of arriving on aliya.
We brought a bunk bed, couches, tables, chairs, many beds, dressers, desks.
We brought pots, pans, dishes, including our pesach boxes, food.

But we had good stuff and there was no need for us to start over. I believe we saved a lot by doing it this way even counting in the cost of the lift.
And the relative ease we felt upon arriving in a new country is priceless. There was no need to rush to stores to buy big ticket items that we needed by Day #1.

Some points though:
Shabbatiscoming is correct, be aware that rooms are smaller than you might be used to.
There is little use for dressers. In Israel, due to floor space constraints, people buy floor to ceiling closets.
Also, our oversized couches are, well, oversized for our salon. Be aware.
B'hatzlacha