We hope you won’t have to stay too long in your home, but there is definitely truth in the saying: “it’s better to be afraid than to be frightened”, so we collected the things you will need to form your apartment into the perfect safe spot during a quarantine!
We, the ones living in Budapest are at a bit of a disadvantage compared to village dwellers, since in the case of a quarantine or total lockdown, they still have their gardens or fields to walk around on, they can distract their minds from the grim situation by tending to their lands or their vegetable garden if they have one. Nevertheless, there is no reason to panic, no need to go mad from a couple weeks of lockdown in a city. There are some black belt city-survival tips, and Flatco is here to provide its readers and tenants with some extra ones, which will prove to be a real treasure in quarantine-time. Let’s get into it, and you will see that renting an apartment in Budapest during the coronavirus epidemic is just as worthwhile as ever!
Stocking up
Photos: Fully furnished and equipped kitchens in Flatco’s apartments (Metrodom Park residential building)
Forget about robbing the nearby store of all its goods! A bulkier grocery shopping will be enough, since the virus won’t keep you locked between four walls until the end of summer and the grocery stores will be open even at times of crisis. Regardless, you still have two reasons to renew your pantry’s contents: first, you may not normally cook at home, so now you have to get even the basic stuff, and second, since most Budapest apartments do not have pantries, you probably didn’t go out of your way to pack your kitchen cupboard full of stuff.
Let’s start with the prior one: you can download a million lists from the internet, or you can just ask your parents to tell you what you should buy, both are great options to quickly find out what you need. Flour, sugar, oil, potatoes, canned food, fruits, some chocolate – grocery shopping is not a big deal. Since Flatco only rents flats that are well equipped with an array of useful and necessary household tools and items like a high-tech fridge, stove and microwave, you will not die of hunger even if it is the first time in your life that you cook for yourself.
Replacement for the pantry
It is a fact that we cannot make extra storage space magically appear in your flat, but with the help of a couple large plastic boxes, you can transform the bottom of your wardrobe into a mini pantry: canned food, dry pasta, instant soup (and the massive amount of sweets and snacks that we know you bought – we did the same), they don’t require refrigerating, thus they will be perfectly fine stored under your shirts. If you ran out of storage there due to bought water and juices, feel free to name a corner on your balcony or in a room you use less as your mini-pantry.
Make sure you take the onions, potatoes and other vegetables out of the bags you bought them in, visit the nearest interior design shop and get yourself a couple wooden boxes – these are quite trendy these days anyways – and stack them up in your kitchen. We bet a fiver on the fact that you will keep this practical and stylish solution even after the coronavirus epidemic is over.
Photos: Cabinets with unique design in Flatco’s apartment (City Home residential building)
Internet and friends
Go over some things: is the internet strong enough? Does the washing machine work properly? Are the rooms adequately warm? What’s up with the oven or the microwave? Don’t wait for your heating to stop working in the middle of the quarantine – if you have any questions or things you know need fixing, take the matter into your hands as soon as possible!
How great it is that Flatco takes care of everything from the public utilities to smart solutions, right? If you have any questions about the home office that you will have to set up, all you need to do is contact customer support. The company’s own maintenance team, in case of a technical failure, will get out to you as soon as they can, this way you don’t need to run after technicians on your own. In case you haven’t had any experience with the smart home system found in the newly built homes, you can ask for help to get familiar with the settings and we will gladly help you.
+ Long live the virtual community!
You will experience it first hand, that after a couple days, you will miss even the always-grumpy old lady from two floors below. Don’t worry, this is totally natural! We are all social beings; it’s not fun to be alone. However, if it does happen that you have to get through the coronavirus quarantine on your own, turn to the socializing opportunities granted by the internet!
Family, colleagues, friends, all cool – where is the Flatco extra? Well, does Flatcommunity mean anything to you? We are talking about a bubbly little community with all the tenants within Flatco who live near each other and probably think about the same problems these days and sit at home just like you. You will have a lot of common ground to cover, that’s for sure! Check in on the digital channels connecting the Flatco renters and hang out with your neighbors – you’ll see, they are fun, and they also might want to share tips and creative solutions to the everyday problems you all might share. And when the worldwide epidemic is over, you can even personally share a high-five at a tenant house party!
For more photos check our gallery: