Your first Berlin flat: what to buy first
2026-08-08
A Berlin flat handed over empty is emptier than most people expect. There is often no kitchen, no wardrobe, no ceiling lights — just bulbs on wires — and sometimes no floor covering. Buying everything at once is the standard mistake.
What does a German flat actually not include?
Three things reliably: fitted wardrobes, light fittings and, very often, the kitchen. Berlin listings say "Einbauküche" if a kitchen is included; if they do not, assume there is none, and check whether the previous tenant is selling theirs (Abstandszahlung) before you buy a new one.
What should you buy in the first week?
Two things: a bed and somewhere to put clothes. That is genuinely it. The first night decides the mood of the whole week, and a wardrobe stops you living out of suitcases. Everything else can wait until you know how you actually use the rooms.
What is worth having assembled rather than building yourself?
Anything tall, anything with sliding doors, and anything that has to be anchored to the wall. A 236 cm wardrobe is the clearest case: it needs levelling, plumb alignment and a wall fixing chosen for your wall type. A single PAX frame with hinged doors costs €89 to have built, and takes us about 1.5 hours.
What can you comfortably build yourself?
Low, light, freestanding pieces — a KALLAX on the floor, a bedside table, a desk. Nothing that will fall on someone if it is wrong, and nothing where a 2 mm error propagates into a door that will not close.
What is a realistic order for the first three weeks?
Bed, then wardrobe, then lighting, then a table and seating, then shelving and wall mounting last — by then you know what goes where. Kitchens, if you need one, take the longest to arrange, so start that enquiry in week one even though it lands last.
Matching service
Furniture assembly Berlin – every brand, fixed price