Furnishing & Setting Up Your Apartment in Tbilisi: The Complete Expat Guide (2026)

You signed your lease, got the keys, walked in — and realized the "fully furnished" apartment is missing half the things you need. Or you rented unfurnished because the price was right, and now you're staring at empty rooms wondering where Tbilisi's IKEA is. (Spoiler: there isn't one.)

Setting up a home in Tbilisi is one of those things nobody writes about because locals already know where to go and expats figure it out through painful trial and error. This guide is the trial-and-error part, pre-done for you.

We'll cover what Georgian apartments actually come with, where to buy everything from mattresses to mops, how much it all costs, and the quirks you won't expect — like why your washing machine lives in the kitchen and your heating situation matters more than the view.

What Georgian Apartments Actually Come With

The terms "furnished" and "unfurnished" in Georgia don't mean what they mean in Western Europe. There's a wide spectrum, and your landlord's idea of "fully equipped" might not include a shower curtain, decent pillows, or a kitchen knife that can actually cut something.

The Typical "Furnished" Apartment

Most expat rentals in the $400–800/month range come with the basics. But "basics" in Georgia has a specific meaning:

The Mattress Problem

Georgian apartments overwhelmingly come with thin, cheap mattresses that feel like sleeping on a padded board. This is probably the single biggest comfort upgrade you can make. A good mattress from JYSK or Comforter will cost 400–1,200 GEL but will transform your sleep. Your landlord's mattress has been slept on by dozens of tenants. Just replace it.

Unfurnished Apartments

"Unfurnished" in Tbilisi usually still means the kitchen is fitted (countertops, sink, stove) and the bathroom has a toilet and shower. You're buying everything else: beds, sofa, tables, shelving, lighting. The upside is rent is 20–40% cheaper, and you get exactly what you want.

Where to Buy Furniture

Tbilisi doesn't have IKEA, but it has a surprisingly decent furniture market once you know where to look. Here's the landscape, from budget to premium:

JYSK — The IKEA Substitute

JYSK is a Danish furniture and home goods chain with several locations around Tbilisi (Chavchavadze Ave, Agmashenebeli, Vazha-Pshavela, and others). It's the closest thing to IKEA you'll find here — affordable Scandinavian-style basics, flat-pack assembly, and the kind of standardized quality that's hard to find elsewhere in Georgia.

Best for: mattresses, duvets, pillows, bed frames, office chairs, towels, curtains, and small storage solutions. Prices are reasonable by European standards and good by Tbilisi standards. A decent mattress runs 400–800 GEL, a duvet set 80–200 GEL.

Comforter — Largest Furniture Showroom

Comforter has two big showrooms (Kazbegi Ave and East Point) with 15+ international brands. This is where you go for sofas, dining sets, bedroom furniture, and anything where you want to sit on it before buying. Mid-range pricing — a sofa will run 1,500–4,000 GEL, a bed frame 800–2,500 GEL. They deliver and assemble.

Saba Market — The Budget Option

If you need to furnish an entire apartment for under 2,000 GEL, Saba Market is where Tbilisi locals go. It's essentially a furniture bazaar — dozens of small vendors in one location selling everything from beds to bookshelves at rock-bottom prices. Quality varies wildly, but for a desk that just needs to hold a laptop, it does the job. Bring a Georgian speaker if you want the best prices.

Secondhand & Facebook Groups

Tbilisi has an active secondhand furniture market, driven by the constant churn of expats leaving. Your best sources:

Appliances & Electronics

Georgia has a robust electronics retail market with several major chains. Prices are comparable to European levels for most brands, sometimes slightly higher due to import costs.

What You Might Need to Buy

Even in furnished apartments, you'll likely need at least some of these:

Kitchen Setup

Georgian apartments often come with a stove, fridge, and not much else in terms of kitchenware. If you plan to cook at all — and you should, because groceries in Georgia are excellent and cheap — you'll need to build a basic kit.

Where to Buy Kitchenware

The Minimum Kitchen Kit

Total for a basic kitchen setup: 155–480 GEL ($55–175). Not bad.

Bedroom & Bathroom Essentials

This is where your quality of life either soars or suffers. Georgian rental bedding is usually thin, flat, and has seen better decades. Bathrooms in older buildings can be creative with plumbing.

Bedroom Upgrades Worth Making

Bathroom Must-Haves

You will almost certainly need to buy these yourself. No Georgian landlord considers them their responsibility:

The Heating Question

This is the single most important practical detail about living in a Tbilisi apartment, and it's the thing most guides skip. Georgian winters are properly cold — January averages hover around 2°C — and how your apartment is heated will define your comfort and your utility bills for five months of the year.

Summer Cooling

Tbilisi summers hit 35–40°C regularly. If your apartment doesn't have AC, you'll want at least a good fan. A portable AC unit costs 600–1,200 GEL at Alta or Gorgia, and your landlord might split the cost if it stays in the apartment. Wall-mounted split units are better but require installation — negotiate with the landlord before drilling into their walls.

Internet & Workspace Setup

If you're working remotely — and many Tbilisi expats are — your home office setup matters. Good news: Georgian internet is fast and cheap. Bad news: your apartment's existing setup might need work.

Budget Breakdown: Setting Up From Scratch

Here's what it realistically costs to set up a home in Tbilisi, depending on how you approach it:

Shopping Malls Worth Knowing

When you need to buy multiple things in one trip, these are the places to go:

East Point is the clear winner for home setup — it has everything under one roof. Plan to spend half a day there on your first visit. Take a Bolt, fill a car with bags, Bolt home.

Delivery & Assembly

Good news: most stores in Tbilisi offer delivery, and it's cheap by Western standards. Bad news: delivery timelines are flexible.

Georgian Apartment Quirks You Should Know

Tbilisi apartments have personality. Here are the things nobody warns you about:

Repairs & Handymen

Something will break. A pipe will leak, a door handle will fall off, the gas boiler will make concerning noises. Here's how to handle it:

A note on who pays: structural issues and major appliance failures are the landlord's responsibility. Your shower curtain, a clogged drain you caused, or a lightbulb — that's on you. Get this clear in writing when you sign the lease. The Georgian word for handyman is ხელოსანი (khelosani) — useful for Google searches.

Your First Week Checklist

Here's a practical order for getting set up after you get the keys:

Common Mistakes

Frequently Asked Questions