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Really surprised to hear I have furnished our home with crap, and am wondering how you define it?
Design? Some of the best designers in Europe have designed for IKEA and their classic designs have stood the test of time.
Longevity? We have had our Karlstad and Ektorp sofas for 19 years now. The covers are removable and washable and still look great.
Materials? Yes, they’re a mixture, but a lot of high-end furniture is not made of solid wood these days. The Hemnes range referred to above is mostly solid pine as are some of the other ranges.
Price? Yes, it’s affordable - hooray! Not everyone can spend a year’s salary on a sofa.
Obviously everyone has their own idea of style, and if you only like 19th century mahogany or only ever buy designer you won’t like Ikea. I like to mix things up, so the cushions on the sofa above are mostly Indian and African, the coffee table you can see a corner of is part of the doorway of an old Coptic church in Cairo that was being demolished, the dining room table (not seen) is 19th century brazilian hardwood, as is the dresser and the chairs came from my late mother-in-law.
And no, I don’t own shares in Ikea (wish I did), but I do own shares in not having people describe others’ taste that is different from their own as crap!
As with anything, it takes a discerning eye to select and arrange items into a cohesive manner, no matter where they are from. THIS you have done so well.
As this topic has confirmed, there are many items at IKEA that work and are not “crap”.
In my last home, I renovated a bathroom with a mixture of high end and inexpensive products. One of the items that got the most compliments (and then surprise) was a $129 IKEA mirror that I used above the vanity. https://m2.ikea.com/us/en/p/hovet-mirror-aluminum-50038213/
Yes, I suppose it depends on the kind of bathroom set up one has. True, I remember mine was expensive to install ( but then it is quite big, probably 1,5m x1,5 m, but it looks fantastic and fits a modern space perfectly.
I have vinegar in a spray bottle. A few sprays and a quick wipe and it is spotless- no marks.
I agree to this. There are some cheap items of furniture that will disintegrate if you have to move (and therefore take them apart). Some sofas (cheap ones) will start to sag in the middle if you regularly sleep on them, but this is true with other furniture stores, right? They do have better quality sofas too. it’s also true that I bought dressers from LL Bean, here in the states, that are made of composite material and made in China. I bought rugs at ikea (for my son), chairs, plates, cutlery, curtains, curtains rods for the rental. duvet covers too (but that for me). Tools… yeah, i’m a woman whos not too skilled with repairs but I need some screwdrivers and a hammer and the ikea tool set is just perfect for me. I also have some pink handle screwdrivers in the car glove compartment, just in case).
Edit to add that what I like the most are the freshly baked cinnamon buns. I always get a box of them when I go there.
As veteran IKEA shoppers, some things we’ve learned:
Product quality has improved greatly over the past 20 years
There are actually multiple ways through a store, once you learn the store; if all you are doing is self-pick and you know what you want, come in through the exit
All 3 of our cabins are furnished through IKEA - from beds to cabinets to dressers and end tables
And, if you know what you want, use delivery. It is really inexpensive, they do the picking and driving, all you have to do is receive and build.
Yup - I think the leather IKEA POÄNG chair (retail is $199) looks great next to the Design Within Reach sofa ($3500 new). Both are items I picked up for a fraction of the retail price on FB Marketplace.
Oh dear, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to offend anyone. I was being a snob You are quite right that there are many excellent designs from Ikea. I was thinking of that sterile generic Ikea look (I stayed in an airbnb like that).
Yet again I am reminded of a Monty Python sketch…
“What did Ikea ever do for us? Nothing!”
“Well… there’s the affordable flatpack furniture. Remember the cost of getting a bed and wardrobe fitted!”
“All right, fair enough. But apart from that…!”
My favs’ from IKEA:
Mini kitchens ( instant kitchen for $150.)
Tea towels (Tekla .99 each)
Sheets & duvet covers ( affordable, 100% cotton, wear like iron )
Swedish meatballs & wine…
I wanted to paint to match my 1938 stained straight grain fir woodwork, so I bought unpainted beds and nightstands.
TARVA beds and nightstands
with Luroy bed slats
and like others, the maze is just insane. I walk in after looking at the online catalog, and I have a list of what I want to see. Once I’ve seen it, I want to go downstairs, grab a cart, and pull it.
When I buy furniture for my rental rooms I want nice looking stuff that looks good but is sturdy and will last, which means I want to see them, test them, go through bed changing or cleaning movements, and test their structural integrity. New or used, I want something that will last. When you grow up in a family of woodworkers, it sticks.
IKEA has been in the UK since the early '90s, long before they delivered, but we bought a kitchen from them in about '95 and left our builder to fetch it/fit while we went on holiday.
He’d never been to IKEA before, and had to bring it all back to the house on the London Underground, fortunately helped by Aussie mates. Hilarious story that cost me a few beers.
At the time I was managing a Not for Profit organisation, providing supported housing and res care for people with mental health needs or learning disabilities, most of whom had left institutional settings. One gentleman, with LD, moved from residential into his own supported flat. He stolidly refused all help with assembling the Ikea flat pack furniture he’d chosen so carefully.
Senior on-call over the weekend, I was contacted by staff to be told that the police had been called, after he was seen throwing stuff out of the flat window by a neighbour. The two police officers who visited him, went back at 2 pm after they came off their shift, and helped him assemble everything, even to putting up roller blinds and curtains.
A truly heart warming story of the British Police at their best.
I have FIVE of these!!! I am never happier than when reading in one. My guests like them too. I have not bought a one from Ikea, they are either former roommate’s, off Craigslist, and THREE salvaged off the street but in EXCELLENT shape.
My temporary “listing” for people arriving on red-eyes is the Karlstad in the LivRm, and I have slept on it MANY nights and find it far, far FAR more comfortable than any sofa bed.
You are quite right that there are many excellent designs from Ikea. I was thinking of that sterile generic Ikea look (I stayed in an airbnb like that).
