I'm sure this must have been asked before, and we have established that we will probably need to bring the most important piece of furniture with us (bed) but what about the rest? I am having difficulty trawling Bulgarian furniture websites, whether that is because I know nowt about computers or that the websites are difficult to use, I am not sure.

We need to know from you experienced people what is best to buy in Bulgaria and what to bring with us. I know we are jumping the gun rather as we have not even been out to Bulgaria yet, never mind sold the house, but Mr Eq is one of those people who have to know as much as possible NOW! Or better still....yesterday. From the pictures of furniture in houses for sale the goods look somewhat basic. (You can tell when it is a Brit living there!)

So, what we need to know for starters is, which of these things are better brought with us, and what do we buy out there.

White goods, ie washing machine, fridge, freezer, cooker.

Small electricals, ie kettle, mixers, dehydrator, toaster, lamps.

Soft furnishings and linen, rugs.

Sofas, tables and chairs.

Crockery and cutlery.

Outside stuff, garden tools, cultivator/rotovator (bearing in mind we will be growing our own) generator for emergencies.

Shower units. I notice they are thin on the ground.

There is something else in the back of my mind, but this will keep you all busy for now. Would love to hear from those lurkers who read but don't write, as I don't really want to join any more sites as I am easily confused. And we like this one.

Thanks for your time. Mrs Eq.

I came to bulgaria with the car and the dogs. i bought everything here in bulgaria from beds to garden furniture, that was back in 2007. things have continued to improve over the years and you can get most things here. if you bring uk electrical goods you need the plug adaptor which is a bit of a pain.
have you costed the transportation of your goods to bulgaria by a company or have you got a van.

Hi Mrs Eq

It will depend very much on where you are going to settle and what style of life you expect to enjoy. Small appliances are usually easy to find but tend to be a bit more expensive than in the UK..larger stuff of any quality is around, but you need to look for it. Here in Plovdiv, where I live, I am totally spoiled for choice when it comes to white goods, aircons, beds, carpets and most of the things on your list. Your gardening, building and DIY equipment is also easily sourced here. I arrived here about six years ago with a small trailer containing my 'treasures'..books, clothes and computer etc..I now have two homes full of all the creature comforts I could ever need. We certainly don't live a 'spartan' lifestyle.Everything we have, excluding the trailer contents, were purchased here.

Hope that gives you some insight.

You can buy everything here.

White goods are easy as there is lots of choice and I advise that you do buy here as if you live in a village the the electric can be on and off like a h****s draws, hence the 2 year warranty can come in handy.

Furnishings , well you get what you pay for.

Good luck

Ive just been looking into this myself, and decided to buy there when and if i need, its only coming if it fits in the container when i get round to it, most items that i am bringing over are for the factory things like auto filling machines , mixing tanks and printing presses

When i was over there in July I went to some local small hardware stores to see what was available, not big places and the prices of the few items they had in each were cheaper than in the UK, there wasnt much choice as they were tiny diy shops in places like Maglizh , I was amazed by the small diy shops they stock so many things, electric showers, boilers , microwaves etc

I was planning to take things over but im going to buy over there unless i have it already and its worth taking ( im taking a rotorvator and strimmer over as ive just bought them )

We bought a metal electric kettle for 10 Lev and a small one cup at a time electric percolator that needs no kettle for 15 Lev in Maglizh , both work fine.
When we went to Popovo to get all our company documents, on the main road there was a shop full of electric items, around half the window was filled with air conditioner units at decent prices, I didnt look at most other items as i was trying to find were i was supposed to be

We bought everything with us that we could - although we did move out in 2007. I did not see the point of selling all my stuff in the UK at second hand prices only to have to buy here new. I have Yambol or Burgas to choose from for my shopping, and I must say the choice is much better now. I did get a new washing machine, dishwasher and sofa here, they worked out marginally cheaper that what I would have got in the UK.

I have purchased some furniture here, but the quality is often not good - the choice is also a bit samey. Lots of chip board furniture with wood effect "
paper"
stuck on it, or "
yellow"
pine furniture. Better quality and more choice is now available.

We had a decent ride on lawn mower in the UK and a side by side Fridge freezer - the replacement costs of those two items alone justified the transport cost.

We also bought some of the stuff we would have thrown away before moving out - towels, bedding, pots, pans etc. and gave it to people here. A good way to make a good impression on your new neighbours.

Good Luck

Thanks everyone for your input.

I think that is more or less what we thought. We will probably be bringing a box van over, as we have some treasures too, as well as two dogs. I would probably not get rid of much just to replace it, and a lot can change in a year or so. The bed thing is a must, going by European holidays, and we are coming to the end of life for washing machine and sofas, so will not be using precious space for these if it is not essential. Some things I will keep an eye out for at work (large supermarket chain) where I am in a good position to grab anything useful from the household department before the public get up, very often at knock down prices. Also gardening stuff, but only if it is worth the hassle.

The other thing we are wondering about is solar power. Is it as common as in other countries? Or not at all. Would love to go down the solar route if viable.

Thanks again.

Mrs Eq

We have solar panel for hot water works very well.

For all your electrical and white goods, you can check the models and prices on the Technomarket site:
[url:23if8mmz]http:
//www.
technomarket.
bg/[/url:23if8mmz]

They now have it in English too!

(all the prices are in Leva, so you'll need to calculate them)

Chris wrote:

For all your electrical and white goods, you can check the models and prices on the Technomarket site:
[url:3n9oh1h3]http:
//www.
technomarket.
bg/[/url:3n9oh1h3]

They now have it in English too!

(all the prices are in Leva, so you'll need to calculate them)

We bought a freezer from them last year. Paid for at noon and delivered by 3pm! This was on a Sunday too.
I guess free delivery is on the distance to travel though. We were 15km away.

Thanks for the link Chris, have spent a fortune in my head.....then gone back and realised how much stuff we already have stashed away unused which will come in handy for a different lifestyle.

Might have to look at having stuff moved for us after all!

How nice to hear someone else is intersted in Solar, I was feeling a bit lonely over it! Are you intending to explore all the alternative methods of harnessing solar energy rather than simply the ubiquitus Photo Voltaic pannels?

fruitlover wrote:

How nice to hear someone else is intersted in Solar, I was feeling a bit lonely over it! Are you intending to explore all the alternative methods of harnessing solar energy rather than simply the ubiquitus Photo Voltaic pannels?

There are a few people who have mentioned it on here.

Know nothing about it yet, but will do some research as I get time. I just think it's crazy not to use something which is free, though the panels are expensive initially. it must be viable as other countries with plenty of sunlight use it as standard. I am on holiday next week so will do some hunting on the internet for information my little grey cells can cope with. But definitely outside and shed/ animal house lighting is simple, and we also have information about making a dehydrator run by the sun (and keeping the bugs and flies out!) I will also be looking at wind power, having seen it in use in Portugal, though I don't want a huge thingy like they had!

Mrs Eq.