Budapest X

Kitchen floor tiling is well under way and I expect to have it done by Thursday. Also to be done by Thursday is refinishing of the parquet at least near the kitchen area, all plumbing and electrics in place, and wall tiles grouted. I also expect the affected walls to be painted, but this is less critical because the parts inaccessible because of the kitchen units will of course be covered by the said kitchen units.

Following an issue with the parquet floor that neither I nor the builder had anticipated, although we should have, the kitchen was further delayed by a day. The old wall between what is now the sitting room and Bedroom 2 left a gap in the parquet about 100mm wide. The gap had to be moved to the new wall by relaying three more rows of parquet blocks.

In anticipation of IKEA’s requirement to arrange delivery exactly two days after arranging it, I went to the store on Monday evening and pulled the trigger. I paid an enormous sum of money for a kitchen and some bedroom wardrobes for delivery on Thursday. I look forward to seeing a big pile of flat-packed boxes to be delivered, comprising mostly METOD, RINGHÜLT, PAX, KÖMPLEMENT, and NÅRNÏÅ.

“We can deliver on Wednesday, and fitting will be on 15th February.”

Oh, FFS… They refuse to allow me to arrange this a week in advance and then impose a week’s delay. I said so (cleaned up for language, obviously), and after several phone calls the fitting company agreed to start installation on Thursday as previously agreed. They can’t do Friday, but I have been informed that the fitting will be completed over the weekend. IKEA’s delivery and fitting subcontractors have proved 100% true to their word so far, and I therefore have every confidence. For some reason, payment for delivery and indeed installation has to be made in cash. Actual, real-life C.O.D.

As it’s a monster delivery of boxes, I went ahead and also arranged the fitted wardrobes for both bedrooms. There’s going to be a small sink in one of these, so it’s important to get the NÅRNÏÅ fitted sooner rather than later. An irritating water meter pokes out of the wall behind one of the wardrobes and this will need to be concealed by a small bathroom cabinet.

Now, bathroom cabinets. I have been trying and thus far failing to find a suitable bathroom mirror. I want a big wall-mounted mirror over the wash basin with a light and shaver socket, and that doesn’t look hideous. There must be a Venn diagram somewhere that illustrates the impossibility of this combination. Failing a mirror, a wall-mounted cabinet with a concealed power socket, perhaps? Alas, despite visiting every bathroom supplier in both Buda and Pest, the only one that would have been remotely acceptable was not available in white. Only in brown, and that wouldn’t match anything else in the bathroom.

There is something bizarrely wrong with a bathroom cabinet with a power socket inside. How do you look at yourself shaving when the mirrored door has to be open for the power cable?Beloved Wife has now vetoed a cabinet, so we are back to a mirror as the only acceptable option, with a shelf below for brushes and toothpaste.

After failing at this task, the builder and I drove over to the wood floor supplier and I paid the balance of monies for skirting boards and dado rails. And then it turned out that they’d deliver everything, so there had been no need to drive a large pick-up all over town.

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