Furnishing a flat in Alexandria: bedrooms, sofas and curtains

Furnish after finishing, and measure the finished rooms

Plan the furnishing after the finishing, not alongside it, and take measurements from the finished rooms, not from the drawing or the neighbours’ flat.

The reason is practical: tiles or parquet raise the floor, plaster and cladding take width off the walls, and a gypsum board ceiling lowers the height where it runs. A wardrobe made to an old drawing may not fit its recess, and a curtain cut before the track is fixed may come up short.

• First, all the finishing: electrics and plumbing, ceilings, floors, and paint up to the final coat.
• Then the final measurements for made-to-measure pieces: the kitchen, wardrobes, TV unit and doors.
• Then the fitted pieces go in, and the final coat of paint follows once the dusty work is over.
• Then the furniture: the bed, sofas and dining set, then the curtain tracks and curtains, and accessories last.

Mark where the bed, sofa and TV will go on the plan before the electrics are laid, because they decide where every socket, switch and light point goes.

A newly-weds’ flat checklist, room by room

Write the list room by room before you buy anything. Start with the made-to-measure pieces, because they need measuring and making time, then the ready-made furniture, then the soft furnishings.

• Bedroom: a bed sized to the mattress you will buy, a wardrobe, bedside tables, a dressing table or mirror, and a blackout curtain.
• Living room: a sofa or corner sofa, two armchairs, a coffee table, a TV unit, and a sheer plus a blackout curtain.
• Dining: a table and chairs sized to the space, and a china cabinet or sideboard if the wall allows it without narrowing the walkway.
• Formal sitting room: if space is short, consider merging it with the living room rather than keeping two half-used rooms.
• Kitchen: the cabinets and worktop, with the fridge, cooker and washing machine sizes fixed before anything is made.
• Bathroom: a vanity unit with a mirror, a place for towels, and storage for cleaning things.
• Lighting and soft furnishings: ceiling lights, wall lights, rugs and throws come last, once you have seen the rooms furnished.

Bedroom: built-in or freestanding wardrobe?

A built-in wardrobe, wall to wall and up to the ceiling, uses every centimetre; a freestanding one moves with you if you change flats. The size of the room, and whether you own or rent, decide it.

In the small bedrooms of older Alexandria flats, sliding doors usually suit better than hinged ones, because a hinged door needs clear space in front of it and may hit the bed. Sliding doors add a little depth for their tracks, though, and open only half the wardrobe at a time.

A hanging wardrobe is typically about 55 to 60 cm deep, so measure what that leaves between the wardrobe and the bed, and keep an easy walkway beside the bed. In a tight room, choose a bed with drawers or a lifting base, a wall-hung dressing table instead of a floor-standing one, and mirrored doors that make the room feel larger. A modern bedroom with plain fronts and recessed handles looks calmer in a small space.

Living room: sofa size, walkways and fabric

Choose the sofa or corner sofa from the room and its walkways, not from a photo in a shop, because a piece looks smaller in a big shop than in a flat’s living room. A modern sofa with simple lines and raised legs shows more floor and makes the room feel bigger.

• Mark the sofa’s footprint on the floor with masking tape before you buy or order, and walk round it.
• Keep a main walkway of roughly 80 cm or more, and about 40 to 45 cm between the sofa and the coffee table.
• A corner sofa seats more along two walls but closes off the corner; a sofa with two armchairs is easier to move around and rearrange.
• Do not push the sofa hard against a damp outside wall; leave a small gap for air.
• Humidity: synthetic or blended fabrics dry faster and resist mould better than pure cotton or linen, and velvet holds dust.
• Sun: fabric fades in west- and south-facing rooms; fabrics dyed in the fibre resist fading better than printed ones, and a curtain protects the sofa.
• Cleaning: removable, washable covers or a wipeable fabric, and mid-tones or patterns hide daily use better than white or very pale colours.

Curtains: blackout or sheer? Track or rod?

Most rooms need two layers: a sheer that lets light in and keeps privacy, and a blackout curtain for sleeping and strong sun. Blackout is a must in bedrooms; in the living room it depends on which way the window faces.

• Track: hides inside a ceiling curtain pocket, suits two layers and wave-style curtains, and can be motorised.
• Rod: visible and decorative, needs wall space above the window and strong brackets, and suits a single layer better.
• Width: measure the window, then run the track beyond the frame on both sides so the open curtain stacks beside the glass, not over it. The fabric is usually about twice the track length or a little more, depending on the heading.
• Drop: measure from the track to the floor at several points, because old floors and ceilings are rarely level, and let a full-length curtain stop just above the floor so it does not drag.
• A curtain pocket in gypsum board: decide it while the ceiling is designed, wide enough for two tracks if you want two layers, with a backing to fix the track into, because the board alone will not hold a heavy curtain, and a power point if the track is motorised.

Cut the curtain after the track is fixed and measured on site, not before. In flats near the sea, choose aluminium or rust-proof tracks.

Materials for Alexandria’s humidity

Humidity attacks furniture through its edges and metal parts before its face, so ask about the carcass and the edges before the door colour.

• Boards: carcasses in moisture-resistant board, especially for wardrobes against an outside wall or next to a bathroom.
• Edges: every edge sealed with edge banding, including the wardrobe back and cable holes, because a raw edge is where moisture gets in and the board swells.
• Solid wood: handsome and strong for frames, beds and chairs, but wide solid panels move with humidity and can crack or warp, so large doors are more stable in engineered board with veneer or lacquer.
• Hinges, runners and handles: a rust-resistant finish, especially in flats near the Corniche.
• Ventilation: leave a small gap behind a wardrobe on an outside wall, air the rooms and wardrobes, and treat any damp in the wall before anything is fitted in front of it.

Getting furniture into an older building

Before you buy or order any large piece, measure its route from the street to the room, because a bed or corner sofa that will not go through the door is a problem nobody can fix once it is made.

• The building entrance, the flat door and the room doors: the clear width and height inside the frame.
• The stairs: width, headroom, landings and turns; a long piece stops at the first tight turn.
• The lift: the inside of the car and its door, and whether the building allows it for furniture, and at what times.
• Made-to-measure wardrobes and kitchens: made in sections and assembled in the room.
• Sofas and corner sofas: ask whether the legs and arms come off, and whether the corner sofa comes in separate pieces.
• Do not count on hoisting furniture over the balcony with ropes unless you have checked that it is safe and that the building allows it.

Itmam and furnishing in Alexandria

Itmam is a finishing, decoration and supply company from Alexandria: head office in El Ibrahimya, marble and granite showroom in El Deresa, Moharram Bey. Wardrobes, dressing rooms, beds and headboards, TV units, doors, kitchens and vanities are made to measure in our own workshops, delivered assembled or in sections depending on access, and installed by our team. We also supply sofas and living-room seating, upholstery and curtains.

We agree drawings and samples with you before anything is made, and we visit, measure and give you a written, itemised quotation before work starts, showing every piece: what we make and what comes from suppliers. On a finishing contract you pay each supplier directly at their price, and the tax invoice is in your name; our management fee for supervision and execution is agreed in writing before we begin, and we add nothing to the price of materials. Supply-only is available.

Itmam was founded in 2016, with 20+ years in the trade. Phone and WhatsApp +20 106 926 2572, Saturday to Thursday, 09:00 to 18:00.