Buying a Condo in Serbia (the design)
There is good news and bad news about buying a condo being built in Serbia. The good news is you get to pick out all the details inside the box, the bad news if you must spend the time picking out all the details inside the box. I am sure I mentioned early on that when you buy a new condo in Serbia you must buy way before the building is finished. When it is finished you basically get the walls, plumbing and wiring. The appliances, cabinets, bathroom fixtures are then left for you to complete. If you purchase soon enough in the process you can make even more decisions, like tile and wall placements.
So our condo was at the point in the last few weeks were we had to spend several days each week working on the design and fixtures in the three bathrooms, the cabinets in the kitchen and study, the built-ins for the living room, and three bedrooms as well as some of the furniture which is going to be custom built, like the dining room table, couch and our bar tables one attached to the outer wall of one of the balconies.
With that said one week we had to work on the bathrooms. Our builder took us to the edge of town where he had a contract and we spent an afternoon looking at skinks and cabinets and showers and tubs and the fixtures. This was also the tile place. They had already laid a bleached white wood looking tile on two of the balconies, but we selected a darker simulated wood tile for the large balcony where we will grill and eat.
The next couple of weeks we spent with our architects Goran and Jelena (BiroVIA) working on the plans for the cabinets in the kitchen and the custom furniture for the living, dining and bedrooms. This sound to the average American way more expensive than you could imagine, but in the end, it is about the same price as Ikea. This was the really fun part, getting to decide the cabinets and counter and bar in the kitchen and my study off the kitchen. It took several days and several meetings to get is all straight including one with the carpenter who runs the factory that builds all this before we had a plan developed.
Then we had to go to the store where they sell the boards and countertops and various hardware and make all those decisions. There are so many different finishes and materials it takes a while to get through all that. This is the part that for me is not so much fun though I did like picking out the sink and the pull-down faucet. We got through it in an afternoon and now we are just waiting on the price to make the final decision.
We’ve taken a pass on the appliances and have a few ideas but will have to spend some research time selecting the right brand to fit into the spaces of the cabinets. Fortunately, we have some suggestions that will work.
Prijanto!
I would be remiss if I did not mention that there are other members of BiroVIA beside our friends especially Anđela Radovanović who has done a lot of the measuring and marking in the condo were things would go for the builders, working out the details of the actual plans and the rendering. The pictures in this blog post are from her work. Hvala Anđela
Web Site: https://www.birovia.rs/en/studio/ They’ve won a number of design awards and are one of the most well-respected firms in Belgrade and love a good steak!