More of Israeli home nuances

amother

↑ Bubblegum

Today at 2:54 am

water_bear88 wrote:

That last one is a good point, true. I'm happy with the cinderblock walls between my apartment and my neighbor's, but if I ever have cause to renovate I think I'd prefer built-in closets between bedrooms.

AFAIK cinderblock walls are 10cm thick and so are sheetrock walls, so in terms of space saving, sheetrock isn't saving any space. So you can have built in closets with cinderblock or sheetrock, doesn't really affect anything other than price (and mice).

I think one reason why the standard is not to have American type closets is because they are much less space efficient. Even American olim designing their own apartments here (not necessarily the super luxurious ones, referring to the nice sized on Israeli standards apartments and cottages) don't put in those kinds of closets because there just isn't enough space.

heidi

Today at 2:57 am

amother OP wrote:

Why the impossible to maneuver trissim?

And why do doors need keys to lock them from inside? What a challenge when we lose one key and one of us can't leave because we can't lock...

The top floor less cabinet with dish drainer kills a storage cabinet for me as I use disposables.

Many apartments I stayed in needs Sun for hot water. On a cloudy day if you forget to manually turn on the hot water boiler you have to wait to have hot water.

OP, I have been living here for many years and honestly, have a list of things that I like better in America. But your post oozes hate and revulsion.
And that's really sad.
If you can't see past the MINOR INCONVENIENCES to the major benefits and zchut of living in Eretz Hakodesh you probably shouldn't be here.
Please try to focus on the many many many beautiful aspects of living in our land. You will be a happier person.

↑ water_bear88

Today at 4:20 am

amother Bubblegum wrote:

Looks like you're right. I do wish I had a coat closet, though, as opposed to a wardrobe.

amother

Indigo ↓

Today at 5:03 am

I'm an American and when I designed my apt in Israel, I specifically put in the over sink dish racks. It's a brilliant way to keep your counters empty! The new ones come with a tray underneath so the water drips on the tray. Mine are stainless steel so they don't get moldy either. I have 2 shelves over each one so I still have cabinet space.

I love trissim. I have such a hard time sleeping in America with so much light coming into my room at 5:30am! Trissim closed tight are awesome for getting a good sleep!

Dud Shemesh saves a ton of money and you get used to turning on the dud in the winter. We have a new one which only takes about 10-15 minutes to heat up so it's really not bad.

Closets- I do miss American built-in closets but that's because they come with American sized bedrooms! In small Israeli bedrooms, free-standing closets with built in drawers and shelves are the best use of space. I love the shoe drawers on bottom - brilliant!

amother

↑ Indigo

Today at 5:08 am

Doors with keys to lock them - first of all the keys are standard and can be bought in every hardware store. We have tons of replacement keys. My front door and my bathroom doors do not need a key to lock them - there is apiece on the inside that turns. We were given the option of that type of lock on our bedroom doors but didn't want a kid to get locked inside. With keys - even if the key is inside, you can knock it out with another key from the outside and then unlock the door, so it's safer.

Shoddy construction - that's because of bad construction workers. The Arab workers are known for making "mistakes" on purpose. I wish there were more trustworthy workers.

The thing I really don't like are the tiny ovens and stovetops. They do sell bigger ones but they are so expensive. It's not an Israeli thing - it's European. I bought an American sized oven and it's a huge time saver when cooking for shabbos and yom tov.

amother

Seagreen

Today at 5:15 am

logical wrote:

It's not standard like the other things OP mentioned. I wish my new build rental had a special cupboard for potatoes!

I have that but I don’t use it for vegetables because I need the closet space. Also the dish drying rack just keeps stuff, I dry my dishes after washing. What I need is more cabinet and pantry space, not weird shelfless cabinets or space for veggies where pantry items are supposed to be.