Ngong Road. What? A road is a sight to visit now you might ask. Well. Ngong Road is something special. Nowhere else are you gonna experience a road full of original furniture just like this one. All along the several kilometers of Ngong road you will find furniture outlets of every imaginable sort.
Driving slowly past, as you often will due to heavy traffic, you will notice endless displays of seats and sofas, tables and chairs, garden decorations and wooden cupboards. But how is that special you might ask ? Well. First of all the sheer volume is overwhelming. You can walk all along the hundreds of furniture shops in a sort of pedestrian street looking at the supply of furniture. But more than that, these are not merely furniture shops, but actual small furniture factories.
Making a random stop at an Ngong Road furniture shop reveals a big warehouse behind the outdoor display of items for sale facing the road. Inside are an even wider range of sofa, chairs and every other type of furniture. However, once you engage the salesman you quickly figure out that the furniture on display are simply examples. The warehouse contains a small factory as well producing items exactly to your specifications.
Ngong Road – Tailor made Furniture
“Hey, I like that 3-seater sofa overthere, but I´d like it in black with a matching 2 seater, a footrest and a coffee table. Is that possible?”
“Of course Sir, let me show you some options for shapes and fabrics. We can make it for you within the week”
That is how they roll at Ngong Road. Custom made furniture is a specialty. You can bring your own designs or buy ready-made Kenyan furniture on the spot at Ngong road. Of course, with such a system the options and variations are basically only limited by your own imagination. The craftsmanship looks impressive and you can find furniture outlets specializing in metal works, hand-carved wooden pieces and everything else under the sun.
As a small social study we tried splitting up and went strolling Ngong road separately to get quotes for a few pieces of furniture we fancied. As you may have clocked, Morten is pink as a newborn piglet and speaks only English, Annette is chocolate brown and a hardened bargainer in Swahili. As such it didn’t come as a complete surprise that the prices Annette managed to get quoted were about a third of those of her English speaking competitor. As such, always go in armed with your Swahili – or if you dont speak the language, bring someone who does.
Either way, Ngong Road is worth an afternoon stroll even if you would just like a decorative piece for the garden (we bought an artistic frog shaped metal BBQ for instance) or simply to peek at the massive furniture displays and productions going on all around you. It really is quite an amazing spectacle!
Related Posts
- 46
Spent most of a week in Ongata Rongai right outside Nairobi ... theres one asphalt road through it, the rest are dirt tracks in all directions. From Ongata Rongai, a town right outside Nairobi. It may look like a bit of a dump, but its super vibrant & charming… - 31
What in the world was I thinking! I went on a bike safari near Nairobi. Being a bit out of shape and not having on a bicycle for months (holiday season) it was a bit of a mad challenge, but I loved every hurting bit of it! Today a very… - 26
Haggling is a sport in Kenya. It is an art form best performed with massive gestures and a cheeky smile. But either way, part of the street market experience is haggling over prices. Even the smallest item needs arguing over. But in reality it is all in good spirit and… - 23
The Karen Blixen House. The original farm house of Karen Blixen near Nairobi Being Danish i ventured to the home of Karen Blixen with high expectations of the legendary accomplishments of my fellow Dane. The well preserved farmhouse is located on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya in the high-end area… - 23
Rongai by Night Backstreet bars, sports cafees and discos are spread along the mainstreet of Ongata Rongai. It seems you can quell your thirst in cheap local beer or imported booze around the clock