hi i would also like any info or help regarding buying furniture. we have just purchased a villa in altinkum and need to furnish through out. estate agent recommended possibilities, but would be very interested if anyone has any first hand experiences. i would like to say i am new to this forum but already found it to be a wealth of information that has helped us in regard to buying in turkey. i just hope i have posted this in the correct way...cheers

we bought two years ago and trailed round as far afield as soke. there is a lot more choice now or should i say better looking furniture than we got at the beginning.also have you thought about a trip to ikea at Izmir.its a fair way away but you will get everything under one roof and you wont have to haggle or get ripped off. it was not there when we bought. you could have the whole lot delivered and it might be worth it in the longrun. i still find such things as lamps, small pieces of furniture really hard to buy as the turkish pieces are a little too ornate.
our bedroom furniture is very similar to mfi, twenty years ago. the same fitments etc.

mine and friends suites for the room travelled all the way from soke. what they did not tell us was they were coming on an open topped lorry. we could have cried when we saw the state of them but laughnow. we had to clean them.

also try the million lira shops for cups, plates, bits of household stuff.there is one in didim and a shop similar not far up the boulevard on the way to didim, still in altinkum. a large discussion on furniture last year may be found on this site, if you trawl back numbers or maybe the moderator may be able to tell you where the discussions are for that period.

if you dont go to izmir, stick with didim as the prices are the same everywhere. but do haggle . really expensive also is their garden furniture, sun beds etc. seems strange, but good luck.

hi all, im late in replying (sorry) thanks Franny for your reply, most helpful, will check out ikea and the other shops you have recommended. I will however get conformation of the delivery mode of transportation for the furniture! i can imagine your shock when you saw your furniture on the flat truck...i would have died. I will no doubt be posting future inquiries as turkey is new to myself and my husband. many thanks catherine.

we have just bought in Didim and are coming out in August to furnish the place. Would love to hear how you got on and in particular how much it costs for a load from Ikea - is it worth hiring a van and driving there?
Thanks
Roy

dont ikea deliver .
the one near (notts) me does
does the turkish one have a web site ....i wonder
steve

i went on the site not long ago and you can choose the language in english even though its the turkey site.

cant remember if they deliver but it should be on there.

Thanks for previous reples.
I've looked at the Izmir Ikea website but it says nothing about deliveries. I've tried emailing them but have had no reply.
Has anyone got any recent experience of getting furniture (enough to furnish an apartment) from Ikea at Izmir?
Roy

Hi,

Ive just bought and furnished my villa in Yesilkent ( 5 mins from Altinkum) and it was a dream!!

I dont know wether its worth going to Ikea - its 2 hours away for a start and also will it save you that much??

I bought all my furniture from Altinkum as my complex builder took me to a few places and recommended places for small items such as plates etc.

I got my main furniture from 'Kartal Mobilya' - which is a chain - I went to the large showroom near the Petrol station just out of town.
My sofa turns into a bed and so does one of the armchairs - I picked a nice one and had it made in the fabric and colours i liked and it cost £400. You can get them a lot cheaper.My ash extending dining table and six chairs was £300. Coffee table in ash wood was £60.

I got all my white goods from 'Gursoy Ticaret' on Ataturk Cad - bought all Arcelic goods - most have 7 year warrenty - bought TV and stand, Very large fridge freezer (like those american types), cooker/oven, washer, full size dishwasher, microwave, toaster, iron and board, hoover and it came to £1500.

Everything I bought for the villa was delivered free and put in place - which was great cause Ive got a lot of stairs!

My curtains I had made and fitted - they cost £900 - but that was because I bought the curtain and a separate lining curtain to keep the sun out ( so there are two sep curtains to every window and door!!) and also I do have a three storey villa which has an awful lot of windows and french doors on every floor!!

If I can help anyone - just ask and I will do my best to answer!

Joolz

we visited the kartel mobilya shop when we went to furnish our apartment. we thought their prices were too expensive and no different from other shops in didim town. don't always think that your agent or builder is going to take you to a 'friend' and believe you are getting the right price. not meaning to sound too over the top in your purchases but our white goods were all arclik and we paid just over 1,000 pounds for the same things. we had the kettle, toaster, iron and ironing board thrown in . maybe its because we went in as two couples and spent the same each. there are plenty of electrical shops so go and price everything up and barter. i still believe a visit to ikea would be good for prices, even though you may have to get a man and a van to take you. i wish there had been one when we furnished.

the good thing about the curtain shops is that they do come and measure up at your house and then come back within a couple of days and put them up. we were really pleased with the prices. if you cant go to ikea or they dont deliver, i would personally stick to didim. we went to soke' for our suites and the prices were the same as didim.

because we wanted a certain colour in one bedroom we had to buy the furniture from the people you got your stuff from. they were the only ones that had the colour. they came and built the wardrobes etc. and in the end my husband took the screwdriver from one of the lads and finished the job himself. the insides of the drawers looked like they had bullet holes inside, they hadmade so many attempts at screw holes. our builder asked if we wanted to send it back. i dont want to put people off going to the place but i can only report what we went through. also when we came to pay for the goods they charged more until we phoned our builder in their office to sort things out. you have to remember that turkish people like to do favours for their business friends so that they can also get something out of it too. its the same all over, that is why the tourist reps try and sell you their trips. they get free meals etc or bonuses for doing this.
suffice to say i love the place and the people and everyone has to make a living.

Hi ,

I agree with Franny shop around - we did - not that my Hubby was pleased about it!!

Our builder did point us in the right direction for most things.

At the furniture shop we got 6 patio chairs and a table for free - plus cushions all for the outside and as we bought 4 matresses for the two double and the 2 single beds he threw in 8 free pillows.

At the electrical shop everything was priced up on tickets and we bought top end everything and the biggest tv - Hubby insisted - he is a electrical addict and has to have all the good things - if your not going to use them often its not worth it but were out there at least six weeks a year and all our family and friends are too.

Im sure you will find out that most Turkish people are very friendly and wouldnt rip you off - they have businesses to run and know that word of mouth is the most important thing.

The main thing is that you get what you want and actually like, have fun doing it and pay the price you want!

Joolz

joolz,

what a beautiful spot for your house. we went on a dolmus and went to the terminus at yesilkent. the view was magnificent. we didn't tell many people about the beach there if they did not know about it. i did notice when i was in the water, the fish try to nibble your toes. this hasn't happened on the altinkum beaches yet.

we are going out on the 1st sept. and cannot wait to get there. i think a lot of change has been going on especially on the boulevard and up towards didim. there are a lot more places to eat up there . it looks like the go ahead for the marina is happening which will be good . i just hope the golf course proposal materialises. i think they want outside investors. no doubt if a golf course was built, we could all be a lot happier with our investments.

Ooo!! I can tell you that the golf courses near Bodrum are going ahead defo!! My friend on Absolutley Altinkum lives near there and he says its happening.

The new airport terminal at Bodrum is also going ahead.

The plans for the marina are on hold at this time - but its still possible - afterall they had put in a new quay already.

There is a lot of naughty builders selling property stating 'views on the marina' etc and its not on the cards just yet.

We were out in June for two weeks and again in July - next trip Oct for 12 days. There was an awful lot of changes happening - buildings are going up in town at an alarming rate - but there is no work going on at the moment as the mayor doesnt allow it during the main season.

May bump into you next year!!

Joolz

can you tell me where you got your curtains from
joolz307
kind regards
jan

Hi Jan

My curtains were from a little shop on the Saturday Market road.

As you turn right at the roundabout on Attaturk Boulavard the shop is about the fourth one up on the left hand side - think it was called Yuvam Perdi.

They took my address, went to my villa and measured up while I sat in the air conditioned shop drinking my Turkish tea!

Once I had picked them and paid (sob!) they were fitted straight away.