IKEA - wonderful or overhyped?

JupiterKid · 17-03-2015 11:51PM #1

I was out at the IKEA store with a friend with a view to buying a couple of chairs and some kitchenware. I had never set foot in the place until a few weeks ago and I wondered what all the hype was about. It's very like any furniture/kitchen store but on a bigger scale.

Anyway we got the chairs in flat packs and assembled them but I thought to myself if you were buying something bigger like a wardrobe or table it might be a bit of a challenge to assemble.

So - do AHers think IKEA is the wonderful everyday or greatly overhyped fare?

The_Valeyard · 17-03-2015 11:53PM

Flat packs, flat packs everywhere and a day spent trying to put the stuff together only to find one screw leftover which is probably the screw needed to keep the whole thing together.

jimmii · 17-03-2015 11:54PM

I enjoy putting flat pack furniture together. Its what I like to do after I have finished doing VAT returns.

Birneybau · 17-03-2015 11:55PM

I think it's fine, nothing more, nothing less.

Charlie19 · 17-03-2015 11:57PM

It's great for a game of Hide and Seek.

Woshy · 17-03-2015 11:58PM

I really love IKEA

I just wish you could order the stuff online so you wouldn't have to actually go there. You can get stuff delivered but you have to actually go to the shop to purchase it.

miezekatze · 18-03-2015 12:00AM

Got a lot of our furniture there, worked out a lot cheaper than if we'd got it somewhere else. I like the style as well. It's a bit of a hassle having to assemble it all yourself, but it's not that difficult.

dan1895 · 18-03-2015 12:02AM

Woshy wrote: »

I really love IKEA

I just wish you could order the stuff online so you wouldn't have to actually go there. You can get stuff delivered but you have to actually go to the shop to purchase it.

Soon. That's all I can say on that matter.

cloud493 · 18-03-2015 12:04AM

I wanna go out there just to see this famously cheap canteen.

_Brian · 18-03-2015 12:04AM

Its just a shop..
Go if you need something, don't if you don't.

Miall108 · 18-03-2015 12:06AM

Prefer LEGO myself

tink2 · 18-03-2015 12:07AM

I like it but find it easier to pick out stuff online than in the shop always end up picking up silly small bit too when I'm there

delthedriver · 18-03-2015 12:15AM

Depends on what you are looking for !

Reasonable quality at a reasonable price.

Ideal for fitting out rental units. Cheerful, latest styles.

It is a pity they don't do an online service.......yes one can order on line but still need to visit the shop!

Mallagio · 18-03-2015 12:17AM

Flat packed furniture making is a gift that only a few can master.... I'm thinking its a place that people like to go & view and pretend to think that they'd be able to handle it....

A D.I.Y. enthusiasts wet dream I'd imagine.

Desolation Of Smug · 18-03-2015 12:20AM

Buying a full kitchen is Duuuulllllll. You'd visit the Pope faster. And he wouldn't leave you a few bits short.

Tigger · 18-03-2015 12:35AM

ikea is substandard at a high price
i priced a kitchen and gt the same from an irish kitchen wholesaler for half the price

Stone Deaf 4evr · 18-03-2015 12:40AM

the key to most flatpack furniture, and how to make it last longer, is to actually glue everything as you assemble it, it'll prevent bits and pieces coming loose over time, specially those poxy fixings that are like metal dowel, but you twist an oversized plilips head capped thing to tighten the pieces together - usually found in drawers.

Dawn Rider · 18-03-2015 12:41AM

I'm rubbish at flat pack stuff, so I give it to the kid to assemble. She loves it, even does other people's (friend's and family) when they get IKEA stuff.

Sh1tbag OToole · 18-03-2015 12:44AM

Ikea makes a killing off selling bits of particle board from China cut into rectangular pieces. You are better off buying some real furniture which is not necessarily expensive.

Most of the stuff that comes out of there is so simple you could make it with a few hand tools and a jigasaw and some paint.

Aongus Von Bismarck · 18-03-2015 12:45AM

It serves the same role as Pennys does for fashion. It takes the ideas of high-end designers and knocks out cheap copies for the masses. The quality just isn't there though. It wouldn't be the type of place I'd be visiting to furnish my apartment. To each their own.

Toots · 18-03-2015 12:46AM

I really like IKEA, they've got a huge range of stuff and you can actually see what it looks like when it's built, rather than just going by pictures on a website. I think it's particularly handy if you live in an apartment, because the stuff seems to be designed to be as functional as possible in as small a space as possible.

Anything I've bought there was excellent quality, and the one and only time I had to return something because it was damaged (mirror panels for a sliding wardrobe door) there was no hassle at all. I was worried we'd have trouble because we had no way of proving they didn't crack in the boot of our car on the way home, but when we got to the counter we were given a full refund straight away, no questions asked.

mad muffin · 18-03-2015 12:51AM

IKEA furniture, especially the particleboard, is designed to be assembled in the view that it will never be disassembled.

delthedriver · 18-03-2015 01:01AM

First visited IKEA in Dubai , thought it was amazing.

Have also been in their shop in Malaga on several occasions and their shops in UK and Dublin.

The layout in each store is identical

On each visit to IKEA it fascinates me the volume of shoppers and the trolleys laden with goods.

IKEA must be doing something right

Cienciano · 18-03-2015 01:05AM

Restaurant is decent for the price. But the shop is painful to walk around. Takes about 2 hours to go there and buy one thing.

Dawn Rider · 18-03-2015 01:06AM

delthedriver wrote: »

On each visit to IKEA it fascinates me the volume of shoppers and the trolleys laden with goods.

IKEA must be doing something right

It's a pity their till operators are soooo slow.
If you see two trollies in front of you, get your book out…

Desolation Of Smug · 18-03-2015 01:22AM

Dawn Rider wrote: »

It's a pity their till operators are soooo slow.
If you see two trollies in front of you, get your book out…

It goes to feck at the checkouts and at the "collection point" - the portal to hell. Sit there like a tool for what feels like days, craning yuour ears for when the spanner vaguely calls out your name/number. We draw straws at work for who has to suffer it - we collect a lot of stuff for clients out of there, desks etc. I like going in for small stuff, but for a bigger order, I'd rather pull out my own fingernails with a pliers.

dee_mc · 18-03-2015 01:26AM

I like IKEA but only since I copped on to shortcuts etc, it's handy enough once you know the layout. I just find it a bit claustrophobic after a while, so always print a shopping list and no pissing around getting lunch there, in and out in 60 to 90 minutes, not so bad!
The quality is good for flatpack and their kitchens are great, so it's worth the hassle once or twice a year.

c_man · 18-03-2015 01:45AM

I'm 29 years of age and have yet to buy any furniture.

tampopo · 18-03-2015 02:00AM

Overhyped.

hfallada · 18-03-2015 02:06AM

Its great. Before IKEA all we had was either ****ty, horrible pine furniture or expensive furniture like IKEA. Now we have affordable furniture from IKEA. Try getting a quality desk elsewhere for €60.

Desolation Of Smug · 18-03-2015 02:09AM

hfallada wrote: »

Its great. Before IKEA all we had was either ****ty, horrible pine furniture or expensive furniture like IKEA. Now we have affordable furniture from IKEA. Try getting a quality desk elsewhere for €60.

They do quality desks now?? :eek: Must have only come in this week, eh?

IKEA - wonderful or overhyped?

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