We met with Baracsi Katalin on Nagytétényi Street so that she could show us artKRAFT, her loft where she breathes new life into discarded antiquities. Kati works as an interior designer and adores industrial style and functionless, but renewable items that have their own soul and history. Her collection grew immense through the years, so she opened artKRAFT, Budapest's most unique furniture and home décor warehouse.

The stylish items got to artKRAFT in an adventurous way: they get their place in the warehouse after a purchase tour, where they might sit for years before getting refreshed. The idea came naturally from Baracsi Kati. Craftsmen renovate, repair, complete and remake the household items following her creative plans. The goal is to preserve the antiquities without changing more than required. In artKRAFT, you won't find fake vintage items or replicas - it's not that kind of a place.

But you'll be sure to ponder about what not to take home for hours. The selection is really wide: fashion magazine from 1901, lamp from hairdressing shade, coffee grinder, explosion-proof lamps from chemical storages, mirror from an old mill's window, chesterfield chairs and Bauhaus specialties - we can find all these in the loft.

We're lucky, because after checking in, we're free to look at, knock on, or measure everything before we inevitably decide to take something home from the industrial wonderland. By the way, Kati thinks it's a Hungarian habit that we go after everything in real life, doubting the Internet. Which is a shame, because the website is very professional. Every available is listed with a small description and measurements - moreover, it's accessible in three languages so that foreigners can browse the selection, too. They trust web shops more, it seems.

Kati's purchase tours don't just include flea markets and the like. She got some items from abandoned factories and hospitals, and some originate from personal collections. So it's not unusual to find a lightweight, wooden pharmacist ladder, a lamp made from a Stühmer chocolate box, solid wood children's furniture, or a renovated, working "bőrdíszműves" ("leather works") neon sign. We can also find some rather off stuff, like an otolaryngologist chair, a dental drill lamp, or an dissected anatomical torso from a closed school's store-room.

Visiting artKRAFT is a whole-afternoon program, recommended for flea market fans and everyone in general. Mecca for creative home renovators and interior fetishists. Or loft.

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