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Child Item

IKEA - wonderful or overhyped?

JupiterKid

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?

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JupiterKid

The cafe in IKEA is great - such good value for their tasty meatballs but going through the warehouse to pick up your flat packs is pretty stressful - especially if an item you have thought was in a certain place on a particular aisle is actually elsewhere. Plus the tills are very slow.

Kevin McCloud

I borrows my uncles mobility scooter when I go there, be all day walking around it otherwise.

NachoBusiness

Was in the place once and after twenty minutes of walking I realized that the place is a claustrophobic's nightmare. You can't go backwards. I mean you could but you don't know how far you're in and so you keep walking thinking that you're nearly out so you're better off to keep going than to double back. Course that's what they want you to think. There are no windows either so you can't even jump out. I started walking faster and faster and ended up running at the end, close to tears to be truthful.

It's genius really as you have to cover every inch of the place before you can leave and they know damn well by that stage you will seen at least three things that are so well priced you will just have to buy them, whether you need them or not. I truly felt like I was suffocating for the last mile or so. Felt like I was in some weird Swedish version of The Shining and then I seen the car park in the distance through a window. I just paid for my velvet throw and maple wood salad bowls and left as quick as I could. Never again.

BnB

I went to Ikea for the 2nd time last week.

I HATE it. I HATE it with an utter passion.

Reasons I hate it..

1) Lack of choice. They have a big huge shop filled with furniture in 1 Style (I think they call it..."Crappy apartmenty minimalistic cheapo crap"). If you don't like the first bit of furniture you see inside the door, you might as well sod off home for yourself, because you won't like the rest of it. Go to a normal decent furniture shop and you will find lots of stuff in lots of different styles

2) I hate the way you can't just walk in to get one thing and sod off. You have to follow this path of doom through the shop to get to the end while you lose the will to live. Last week I was looking for one particular bit that my wife sent me a pic of. It took me about an hour to reach the till. WHY WHY WHY ?

3) The till operators are horrendous

While I was waiting at the tills (roughly 20mins so I had a lot of time to think) it struck me as I observed my fellow drones, that the Ikea people themselves must be surprised with the smap that the leave lying around the shop that people will stick in their trolleys and buy.

Shenshen

I like IKEA.

I particularly like a set of shelves I got from them decades ago - they've been with me all my adult life, and I kept adding on to them to accomodate my collection of books and comic books. I find them extremely hard-wearing (books weigh a lot, and many more expensive shelves will sag under the weight. Not mine, though), very easy to assemble and ver adaptable to any size room.
They've moved house with me many times (from home to the town were I studied, to my first job, to Dublin, to Cork and a few times in between) and are still as good as new.

IKEA is also always good for all the little things - from cheese graters to potted plants.

I don't think I'd get a full kitchen from them (mostly because I don't like the styles they do at the moment), but everything else I might consider.
I also have to admit to being one of those weird people who like putting furniture together - I will happily offer to do it for friends and family, too.

vienne86

I like the way they dispay stuff, and they have quite good ideas for kitting out small spaces, but I find that I go to look, and buy elsewhere. It was crazy busy on Monday.

Mr E

Shenshen wrote: »

IKEA is also always good for all the little things - from cheese graters to potted plants.

The little things on the middle floor are the killer. You go here not expecting to buy much, and leave with a pack of 3 scissors, 4 espresso cups, a bath mat, a few towels, a potted plant, ice cube trays, some glasses, some bulbs, a wall clock, some storage boxes, a laundry basket and some of those apple glazed chewy biscuits that your dentist would love....

Yeah, I love Ikea.

ZiabR

You get what you pay for. I don't think there is anything wrong with the stuff from it. Yes it can take awhile to put together but I have a few items in the house and they are still standing. The price wins out most of the time.

There are little tables there that are 4.99. Great for kids room etc and if they get broken it is not the end of the world. They can be replaced for 4.99

Ush1

I wouldn't go often but I think it's worth it for a bit of a project.

Got fitted wardrobes from there and saved a lot of money instead of getting a carpenter to do them. Plus you can really customize it and then change it easily enough if you want to rearrange compartments.

jester77

Some of their stuff is great. I bought a large set of wardrobes, 2.5m high & 5 or 6 M long, about 10 years ago. Have moved 3 times and it was so easy disassembling and reassembling them. They weren't exactly cheap at the time, but cheaper than custom ones that would probably have been thrown out by now.

jester77

BnB wrote: »

3) The till operators are horrendous

While I was waiting at the tills (roughly 20mins so I had a lot of time to think) it struck me as I observed my fellow drones, that the Ikea people themselves must be surprised with the smap that the leave lying around the shop that people will stick in their trolleys and buy.

You should use the self checkouts, best thing ever and gets you out of their in a fraction of the time.

jaykay74

Seems from a lot of the answers that people aren't aware of the shortcuts that mean you can skip large sections of the shop. Apart from maybe being delayed at the till its possible to go get your item and to the till pretty quickly.

Reggie.

Never been to the IKEA store

fleet_admiral

The meatballs and 'mash' are lovely and Im partial to a hotdog or ten on the way out too

polydactyl

I love the place, key to it though if you are doing a big item shop (not just browsing) is look it all up online, create a shopping list online, this gives you the warehouse section locations, skip the main floor head straight to basement and get your stuff and use self check out.

Managed to buy complete bedroom set including wardrobes and was in and out in an hour.

Boom_Bap

I live quite close to it, I only go in there to eat the odd time now. My most recent trip was to buy a matress, in and fooking out of there.
I pretty sure I know all the shortcuts at this stage as well from just going in and getting what I need and getting out.

The stuff is decent as well, fairly durable furniture and handy to put together.

The meatballs are the main reason for going there though. Plus, buying a pack of meatballs in the shop on the way out.

Meatballs.

Mountain Rescue

But In 3 wardrobes in the last few months.i think the secret to assembling the stuff from Ikea is to glue it all together,it will then stand up perfectly to the every day abuse we give our furniture,prices are great up there quality is good and meat balls are devine

[Deleted User]

I can't stand it. Having to follow the path through the store, which is always rammed, to get one or two things you know you're looking for but want to see in in the flesh, to be sure of what you're buying.

It can take an age to check something out, get to the warehouse to pick it up and pay for it.

Aongus Von Bismarck

I really cannot believe the number of posters around here who say they like the Ikea meatballs. Absolutely vile and disgusting pustules of cheap meat and filler dosed in violently oversalted gravy. They may be cheap but they are very bad value. The only use for them I can think of is if you suddenly felt a desire to have an impromptu game of handball in the Ikea restaurant and needed a rubbery sphere to use as the ball.
The artificially smoked salmon wasn't much better.

[Deleted User]

The quality is very good I got two couches for the siting room and they came with a 10 year guarantee.

Ush1

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

I really cannot believe the number of posters around here who say they like the Ikea meatballs. Absolutely vile and disgusting pustules of cheap meat and filler dosed in violently oversalted gravy. They may be cheap but they are very bad value. The only use for them I can think of is if you suddenly felt a desire to have an impromptu game of handball in the Ikea restaurant and needed a rubbery sphere to use as the ball.
The artificially smoked salmon wasn't much better.

I agree, I think the restaurant food is foul.

suicide_circus

I think the quality of some of their stuff has decreased compared to years ago. My friends parent's had ikea stuff they bought when they were living in Austria in the mid 90s and my friend got some of this stuff when he first moved out. It's still going strong to this day. I've bought stuff in the Dublin store over the last few years which has already crapped out.

Tarzana2

Little from column A, little from column B. A lot of the furniture is crapola, but some of their utensils are very well designed ie. molded ice cream scoops (rather than crappy two piece scoops) that don't cost €30. Also, photo frames! I have very little disposable cash at the moment, and had a few pictures I desperately wanted to hang up. Nowhere was as cheap as IKEA for photo frames, and they look the bizzo. I can easily get my spray paint on with them too if I wish.

But the furniture always seems a bit flimsy to me.

Tarzana2

suicide_circus wrote: »

I think the quality of some of their stuff has decreased compared to years ago. My friends parent's had ikea stuff they bought when they were living in Austria in the mid 90s and my friend got some of this stuff when he first moved out. It's still going strong to this day. I've bought stuff in the Dublin store over the last few years which has already crapped out.

There seems to be a few different price ranges though for furniture: chape, not so chape and not chape at all. :pac:

I wonder if there is differences in quality between the price ranges?

And anyone who buys a €30 bedside locker and it doesn't last... what did you expect? :pac:

Cantona's Collars

circadian wrote: »

I can't stand it. Having to follow the path through the store, which is always rammed, to get one or two things you know you're looking for but want to see in in the flesh, to be sure of what you're buying.

It can take an age to check something out, get to the warehouse to pick it up and pay for it.

If you know in advance what you want,simply go through the returns area and pick it up at the warehouse.Saves traipsing through the whole store.

I got a massive Besta unit there and saved about €2k going by quotes I got locally.

PARlance

I enjoy going there to rob the little pencils that I then use (keeping score) in golf.
Usually get 30-40 per trip.
If I haven't gouged my eye out with one of them by the time she's done... then I consider Ikea and I even.

Much classier than using a bookies pen on the course.

Generic Dreadhead

Wait.... people actually go and eat in Ikea.... FFS :pac:

rob316

Brilliant I really couldn't fault it for what you get.

Our bed, sliding wardrobe, kitchen, kitchen table, tv unit, lockers, chest of drawers are all IKEA and most is the cheapest. Bought everything almost 6 years ago when we first moved in, I was broke after doing a deal for the house so we planned on fitting it out in IKEA and replacing within 5 years.
Honestly I see no point everything looks great still.
Kitchen cost something stupidly low like €400 and its perfect still.

Everything is absolutely piss simple to put together too, instructions are excellent.

The €3 red lack table is the real prized possession, you can stand on the thing even and its solid, just a few scratches.

The only thing that doesn't stop me buying more is I'm in Cork.

CantonasCollar

Mr E wrote: »

The little things on the middle floor are the killer. You go here not expecting to buy much, and leave with a pack of 3 scissors, 4 espresso cups, a bath mat, a few towels, a potted plant, ice cube trays, some glasses, some bulbs, a wall clock, some storage boxes, a laundry basket)

Also known as the Ikea tax!

TheDoc

I think it's actually brilliant. Grand for a little walk around to pickup little bits and bobs.

But when I have specific stuff to get, I already know where it is and where to get it from the website, so I head straight down to the warehouse and pick it all up.

In terms of how they are built and constructed, they are pretty much genius for the market they sell too. someone with ZERO DIY experience can put together a wardrobe, bed or couch with zero fuss.

Granted some of their stuff skimps corners, in that rather then solid wood it's wooden beams with plywood or chipboard centres, but can't say I've ever experienced a problem because of that.

My current house and last apartment, IKEA was a godsend. Affordable durable stuff, that can be pretty slick as well.

Their office selections are incredible, and there is the infamous "IKEAHACK" community which is brilliant also. Through my parents house, apartment and current house, have been able to setup three excellent PC desk's cheap as chips.

And their MARKUS office chair is probably the best chair I've ever used for PC gaming/work.