to ask if there is anyone out there with a totally IKEA free house?

[beluga425]

The other day DD asked me if the Queen shops at IKEA.
I'm sitting at and IKEA desk drinking from IKEA glasses. everything's bloody IKEA.
Is there anyone who has NO IKEA at all?
No I don't work for them!

Nope I love Ikea my flat is ab Ikea flat. Bar a couple of nicer pieces. I think Ikea furniture is really good value and it looks amazing when your on a budget.

We are Ikea free - but then I don't beleive in travelling more than 2 miles to shop, and the nearest one is Bristol, 40 miles away.

If we had one in town, I expect my whole house would be.

Meeeeee 😁😁😁 apart from 2 Ikea glasses (that i bought from home bargains)
I have only been to the magical land of Ikea once. 😞

I have a couple of sets of Ikea drawers until we move (I don’t think they’ll withstand the move and won’t fit anyway) but our new house will be Ikea free until I feel the need to go and get kitchen stuff and random jars

We have a mix I always start by avoiding Ikea and then having trawled several stores realise it’s better built and significantly cheaper than lots of other places. It’s also often a better use of space as is taller or can be stacked

I was going to say yes! But then I remembered the cheese grater. I hate ikea.

Tbf, the cheese grater us good, ice had it years.

Best bibs and storage bags haha

Dh hates Ikea with a passion and we have no furniture of theirs except a kids table and chair we bought second hand and my dad customised it a Lego table with Ikea storage boxes.

My house has slowly upgraded from Freecycle through to ikea and is gradually departing ikea. Not for the kids though, where would I put Lego without trofast or other toys without kallax? Their kids furniture is just great too, dd's new bedroom is small and awkward and after much measuring and researching ikea saved the day with a desk, wardrobe and drawers that fit.

I bet the Queen has some Ikea glasses knocking about somewhere OP

I’ve just realised I need to go to IKEA for Kallax units and boxes for the new house that and all their lovely random bits and bobs which I’ll inevitably pick up on the way!

I don't even think I've got a Billy-free room let alone an IKEA one. 😱🤣

Nope!
Once stayed in a holiday flat in Portugal, where literally everything was from Ikea! Not only furniture, but flooring, kitchen, cutlery, bedding....

I’ve got loads of Ikea stuff - I don’t think there is anywhere else that rivals on the holy trinity of price, style and quality.

Billy bookcases. Malm drawers. Pax wardrobes. The amazing cube stoorag (oh how my life was complete when I moved into a place that had room for a while back wall of cubes). The entrorp sofa. Duvet sets. Toilet brushes. Mirror.

I’ve got a mall bedside table I’ve had for 13 years and 5 house moved and it’s still going strong. Bought another one for the other side of the bed a few years ago to match.

Me , I’ve never been and probably never will

I just think it's a shame that solid, well made furniture isn't seen as worth spending any money on

It is but you are coming across a bit patronising. I had 6 quotes for a solid wood book storage system. Literally 8 shelves on the length of a wall and the cheapest was £3,500. I needed 4 of those units made meaning a total of £14,000. My Billy bookcases cover the same footprint for about £40 each, costing me £1040. I've moved twice, had them 15 years and they are still in excellent condition. Individual bookcases were coming back with a £300 each quote.

I have nothing from IKEA!

Me- I have been to Ikea but just don’t like their stuff

The other issue is that if you 'invest' in 'solid, well made furniture', then to get the benefit from the money spent, you are pretty much stuck with it for life.

If your needs change or you move house and it doesn't fit, most of the money spent will be wasted as, as been pointed out several times on this thread, good quality second hand furniture has little resale value, and it could take forever for a seller to find a buyer for a particular piece. or for a buyer to find something suitable.

At least if your £40 Billy bookcase isn't right when you move house, it's not the end of the world if you have to give it away.

For those with saggy drawer bottoms (Ooh Matron!) there are loads of Youtube videos on how to strengthen them.
I glued on scraps of wood underneath and screwed an L-shaped metal bracket to the back panel and down to my bits of wood. It was a non-IKEA piece, by the way.
30 minute job.

I have one dessert spoon from ikea and that’s it. It is my favourite spoon though as it’s just the right shape. No idea how I got it though as I’ve not bought spoons in ikea!

I live near enough to one that we can pop there for tea.

We try looking elsewhere for furniture, but Ikea usually wins for function and value. Other bookshelves, wardrobes etc seem so inefficient in comparison! Things like drawers seem to be too shallow to fold clothes up and get more than six items in (certainly true of the fitted furniture already in our bedroom anyway)

We've never had quality issues and again, quite a lot of it has moved house. I think we have enough non-IKEA to stop us looking like a show home...

I thought in had an Ikea free living room but I remembered the curtains are ikea.

Rest of the house is Ikea central. We need to go for rugs soon.

I thought in had an Ikea free living room but I remembered the curtains are ikea.

Rest of the house is Ikea central. We need to go for rugs soon.

Never set foot in Ikea - but this thread is making me want to now !