What do YOU think of IKEA?

[NightWatcher]

I spent a couple of hours in the huge Atlanta store this weekend. After feasting on a huge plate of meatballs and two chocolate bars (YUM), I bought a few pieces of necessary junk and contemporary storage solutions for my modern lifestyle, I saw these cool little nite-lites for kids. They glow when you smack them on the head.



I got the red one and my gf got the green one. I highly rec picking one of them up if you have a store near you. I dont know why, but they are the definition of a groovy nic nack.

Do you like Ikea? and if so, what is your fav little waste of cash in the place?

on edit:
I almost forgot to mention their good stand on plastic bags. They now charge for the cheap onetime us bags and have lowered the price of the huge bags from .99 to .59 per bags. I love to show up at the grocery store here in South Georgia and watch the bag boy freak out when I turn down a bag because I have brought my own.

[bridgit]

1. you have to pick through allot of stuff, but they're cool...

picked up some inexpensive but still cool sea-green drapes the other day, making hubby put them up tomorrow :thumbsup:

[KitchenWitch]

2. IKEA is my happy place.

I don't really have a favorite...I like it all.

[flvegan]

3. "contemporary storage solutions"

They obviously own you now.

[LaraMN]

4. I had to pee at Ikea, once.

It took me about TWENTY minutes to find a bathroom.
Other than that, it was cool.

[kay1864]

8. Couldn't you have just used the one in the "live in 372 sq. ft." apartment?

What are you, shy or something?

:rofl:

[unpossibles]

9. Ijust used those bathrooms they had set up in the middle of the store

although for some reason, the toilet would not flush.

[kay1864]

11. SMTA!

:hi:

[unpossibles]

24. what does the "s" stand for?

Sick?

:)

:bounce:

[kay1864]

28. Of course!

The few, the proud, the warped. :patriot:

[redwitch]

33. The building layout scares me.

It's one thing to not be able to find the bathroom, how about the EXIT? The first time I was in an IKEA people kept coming up and asking if we knew the way out. I think the stores are dangerous for that reason and cannot understand how they pass code.

[NewJeffCT]

5. It's fun to shop there

I don't have any particular favorites that I like there, but I do like finding the occasional cheap item there for a few bucks.

But, we've also bought several of those "Billy" bookcases and a huge bookcase that is made up of 12"x12" cells or boxes, I guess you'd call them.

[edbermac]

6. They're the 'Olive Garden' of furniture stores.

:7

[MANative]

7. My parents are there right this very minute!

Picking out closet pieces for their new house. Much, much cheaper than California Closets or Cozy Closets, and just as functional and flexible. Good stuff at IKEA! :)

[MrCoffee]

10. my entire downstairs is ikea products

love it.

[Orrex]

12. It's great when I'm buying furniture for the dorm's tv room

But when I'm buying for a grown-up house, IKEA kind of misses the mark IMO.

[Ellen Forradalom]

13. Sensory overload

Going to IKEA is like going to a ball game, only worse. At the ball game, the crowds are generally moving in one direction, but at IKEA, everyone is coming at you from every direction, like a giant pinball machine run amok.

After about two hours I need to sit down and have a cup of coffee and an apple cake slice, or I decompensate very quickly. Once my husband overtaxed me at IKEA and I had a nervous breakdown in the rug section, screaming at the top of my lungs at him to STOP! STOP! STOP ALREADY! PICK A FUCKING RUG AND BUY IT!

[RubyDuby in GA]

14. Ha! I almost went to the Atlanta IKEA store yesterday.

We're going next weekend. I'll definitely get some of these. How cute!

And about the bags - I got two while I was there last time and use them for everything! I never go grocery shopping without them or my other bags.

[NightWatcher]

19. they are called SPOKA and they are in the children's lighting department

I'll be sitting over here in shame now.

[RubyDuby in GA]

48. We have a 17month old - we usually just go straight to the children's dept

I want one in every color. They are so cute!

[eyepaddle]

15. Funny you should mention IKEA

I think this was my second finest DU moment:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=6374135

[NightWatcher]

17. I posted on that thread as well

In April, I mocked them, and in November I went there again...and I even had the meatballs, YUMMY

[eyepaddle]

18. I've never tried the food

and to be honest, I don't see myself going back anytime soon--but when I do, I'll save room for the meatballs!

[eyepaddle]

20. I just re-read the old thread

Have the two of us just surrendered? :)

[LynneSin]

16. The only bad thing about the Philadelphia IKEA....

..I have to pay that damn sales tax. I wish they'd open one up in Delaware!!

But I love going there and tend to rack up the sales. Last time I bought a great hamper & drying rack along with a WOK.

[MissB]

21. One opened up here in September

or maybe it was late August.

Anyway, I now have a new Ikea loveseat, two kid storage units (awesome storage for legos), and um, a whole lot of other stuff. Lots.

[Snarkturian Clone]

22. hit or miss

I like the style of the items there but it seems like for every 5 things I buy, 1 of them falls apart in 4 months.

[Chovexani]

23. I practically live in the Tempe AZ one

I wouldn't decorate my whole apartment in IKEA but the place rocks for poor 20-somethings like me. When I got my first apartment recently, I bought a nice little dining room table AND four chairs for $100. I got some nice seat cushions and a nice Moroccan-style lantern as a centerpiece from Cost Plus and no one knows the difference.

The only thing I don't like about IKEA is the kids section...too many screaming brats, and unfortunately you have to get through that to get out.

(Oh, and those meatballs are to die for! :D)

[electron_blue]

25. love it. Refreshing alternative in the midwest.

I love all their cute lighting ideas for $9.95 each.

[Sequoia]

26. A place where I used to work used nothing but IKEA furniture.

And I got to do the ordering. It was my job to furnish the offices and based on the room layout I would size the furniture and do a little blueprint. Once we got the furniture another company would come along and put everthing together. I liked IKEA.

[eeyore]

27. Sometimes great, sometimes not so great....

I've had multiple pieces of furniture fall apart on me. I've learned not to buy furniture to last there.

As my friend so aptly stated, "They told me I was getting contemporary furniture. Turns out they had conned me into temporary furniture!"

[kay1864]

29. I've had just the opposite experience

The two beds we've bought for KayTot couldn't be better. Excellent quality wood, and locked together, all edges flush.

Same for the bookcase--wood and looks beautiful (black finish). Looks like it cost twice what I paid for it. Only eight bolts, but rock solid.

[Demoiselle]

42. I like everything but their chests of drawers....

They fall apart with ordinary use. The drawers are kinda flimsy.
But I haven't had a problem with anything else. I love the design standard, aesthetically, I think it's all good. ..And the food, by the
way, is great. I highly recommend the Swedish Meatballs (frozen food section) the gravy meant to go
with them (in packets) all washed down with Lingonberry preserves (jars, grocery shelves) and home made
mashed potatoes.
But then, I'm part Swedish, so maybe that explains it.

[Critters2]

30. Happily, I don't live near one.

I hate big chain stores. Give it time, though. Our mayor is probably cutting a deal with them as we speak. He never saw a big box he didn't love.

[applegrove]

31. I love their curtains. They always have the coolest materials. I also

love their sheepskin rugs. Wish I had a wood floor at home so I could get a few more.

I love IKEA. Always have, always will.

[DS1]

32. their beds which have those wooden slats going across are absolute shit

but otherwise I like their stuff

[Kerrytravelers]

34. Yes! I hate those slabs.

I have some IKEA items, but mostly thsie kitchen items. I love going and looking. And we love the mingonberry drinks!!!

[bicentennial_baby]

39. i love my ikea bed....

But, it cost $1200. Tis not shite. :)

[AlCzervik]

35. Cheap and cheerful.

[BuddhaGirl]

36. I won't shop there on weekends

because the absolute crush of humanity is overwhelming!

I like some of their stuff, though - my computer desk, bookcase, and CD cabinet are from IKEA :-)

[underpants]

37. We just bought a chair and ottoman there

good cheap stuff.

[UncleSepp]

38. Like it a lot

It can be hard to find the way around by using the paths as intended, but once you know where you're going, it's great. I like how family friendly the stores seem to be. I have a lot of respect for the engineering that goes into the flat pack furniture, too. Comparing their flat pack stuff to the flat pack stuff sold in Target and Fred Meyer and such, theirs is longer lasting and seems to be better designed.

Currently, I'm renting a 400 sq ft studio apartment while waiting to move back into my 711 sq ft condo. If it weren't for IKEA design - specifically, that bookshelf with the cube shaped shelves mentioned earlier, and the fold up, metal cornered, labeled boxes with lids that fit two to a shelf in this bookcase - this place would be a disaster area. All the stuff that was once in 711 sq ft fully furnished home plus half an 8x5x10 storage unit and an extra monitor and desktop computer is now in 400 square feet, in a way that's decorated on purpose (don't know if it's stylish, but it's a style ;-) ), and I can find anything from elf ears to that install CD for Windows Server 2000 to powdered fenugreek in a minute. Looking at their tiny but livable display apartments really helped me figure out how to make the space work, look like a grownup lives in it, and not look like a warehouse.

[RetroLounge]

40. Never stepped foot in one...

Not going to drive 100 miles for cheap shit I need to assemble...

RL

[tigereye]

41. I really like it

I don't go all the time - it's kind of a treat.

What I like is that it has a totally different feel than most American stores - the furniture, the styles, the names, the food, the cafeteria, the designs - things there aren't the hulking, ugly, typical, boring and bland designs that I despise.

Yeah, a few things have fallen apart - but most stuff I bought there has lasted like bookcases and coffee table and some cool bedroom stuff for kids, and is quite unique.

I got a great metal candleabra/fruit bowl there that I absolutely love.

[stuntcat]

43. Yes to Ikea!

We have a Ikea weekend every couple of years and get fun stuff to bring home and assemble. Our desks and bookshelves and two futons and at least 5 chairs are all from there.

[NV Whino]

44. I like Ikea

They have a lot of reasonably priced, decent quality stuff, and good storage solutions. And the meatballs are great!

[Zoigal]

45. Fun store

Great prices on lots of things, too.

[Fox Mulder]

46. If you want to know how I feel about IKEA, watch Fight Club.

[JVS]

53. Furni!

[Godhumor]

47. Used to go there as often as possible when I lived in MD

We were baout 20 minutes from a store--the majority of our non-installed lighting comes from there (my favorite section of the store is the lamps, for some reason.). We also got a few small coffee table like things and some ottomans.

This past summer I hit up one of the Canadaian branches and bought myself a Poang chair that has been completely taken over by my cats.

For those of you who have never seen the Ikea signature chair it looks like this (this is also the color of my seat cushion):

[KitchenWitch]

49. I have two of the Poang chair and one Poang footstool

Love them a lot.

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

50. I lurvs me the Poang chair

except that my cat has overtaken it as his own.

I love IKEA... when I lived in NYC, I took the free shuttle from the Port Authority Bus Terminal to the IKEA in Elizabeth every weekend. It was like going to an amusement park.

Now that I live in Wilmington, NC, there isn't any IKEA close by. Atlanta is 8 hours away and the one in Virginia is about 4-5 hours away. Supposedly, there is an IKEA being built in Charlotte. I wish they had built one in the Raleigh/Durham area; somehow that makes more sense.

[snooper2]

51. 1001 ways to use pressed board

nt

[IntravenousDemilo]

52. Here's the latest IKEA wallpaper pattern:

It's a little busier pattern than usual.