To think IKEA isn't cheap/good value

[hadenough]

I've just returned from a shop at Ikea. I should start by saying I've never been its biggest fan, but went to buy stuff for my new kitchen.

We went through the whole maze from start to finish, and there was virtually nothing I'd buy if I'd had the money/been furnishing my whole home. Yes you can buy the odd cheap thing, but it's either quite ugly or clearly not built to last. Indeed, when I think of IKEA I think of rogue landlords speeding around the place buying the cheapest tat they can find.

I moved house in the Spring, and have actually found buying online to be far cheaper - it takes a while to find things, but it's on the whole less stressful than trailing around IKEA and I've found expensive looking fashionable furniture for waaaay less.

In the end I spent €300 (live in Europe) and felt a bit cheated when I went to pay.

Did I miss something (it was definitely rammed with people, so perhaps?)

I’d be pretty much screwed without Ikea

Most of our furniture has come from Ikea over the past few years. Everything apart from the coffee table, sofa, and kitchen table. I think the quality is good for the price you pay. It's pretty sturdy and is lasting very well.

I've got bookcase units that are 30 years old and still standing under the weight of hundreds of books, and bedside tables and more.

I do agree with the poster who suggested that taking time to assemble it with care is important.

Honestly I go to Ikea for fun. I love nothing more than walking in needed nothing and leaving with 40 candles, 6 cushions, two throwd and full off a plate of meatballs.

If you don’t enjoy it you’re doing it wrong.

Also, I have a crack on my phone which is why my spelling and grammar isn’t great..the commor button is temperamental and I’m to lazy to spend ages fixing it!

We just bought a large pax wardrobe for our box room to put my overflowing clothes in and it is really good value for money, it is a bit industrial looking but I am really pleased with it and it serves its purpose well, a lot of expensive wardrobes have got such good storage options

creambun2
Shopping at Ikea is vulgar?!!!!!!

Just who the fuck do you think you are?

I’d like to agree, but I’m sat here on my IKEA sofa, with my IKEA cushions, watching The TV on my IKEA TV table... you get the gist. Most of our house is IKEA. We even went today.

Everything we’ve bought from there has lasted and is easy to put together. Hell, we have stuff at work that we bought from IKEA like 20 years ago.

It’s not for everyone, but nobody forces anyone to shop there.

I love ikea, their products last and IMO look great. Taste is taste and we each have our own. In fact my secret wish for my big birthday next month is for Ikea vouchers so I can have a guilt free splurge 😀

You get the odd brilliant thing out of IKEA. The Antilop highchair is the best around at something like £14.

Hmm I know what you mean OP. Some things are very good - billy bookcases, the toy storage stuff. But I don’t find any of the sofas or armchairs comfy and everything is functional rather than attractive. Great for the playroom, not so great in the lounge.

And I HATE the way you have to trail round absolutely everything rather than just go to what you want, it makes it SO long and painful.

Some of the kitchen stuff is pretty good - we have a particularly nice cheese grater for example! - and I do rather like meat balls and chips!

I got some lovely bedroom furniture as a wedding present 15 years ago. Bloody expensive and looks shit now.

The rest of my furniture (pretty much all Ikea) probably cost as much in total to buy and some of it is older. The quality is great for the price imo and mostly lasts really well.

I like that they ring the changes from time to time - some of our bits and bobs are basically "vintage" Ikea now 😉

I don't necessarily agree that IKEA sells poor quality stuff, but it definitely isn't as cheap as people make out it is. We recently bought a sideboard and the IKEA ones were as expensive as the ones from Oak Furniture Land. Not saying the quality was any different, but I always assumed IKEA was on the cheaper side. Can't fault the storage hacks though and love the place!

My dad has a wall of billy bookcases from when I was a kid so they are at least 25years old and several house moves down the road, still very solid.
I have a lovely (surprisingly) solid oak dining table and sideboard from them which is at least 19 years old because I had it when I met DH and it couldn't have been expensive as I was a student when I bought it.
Our IKEA sofa in the playroom takes a real beating from the kids and it's cushions have lasted better than the expensive one we have from John Lewis despite being bought at the same time.

Yes I've bought crap from them but I think they can be fab too. Sometimes they are cheap but more often they are good value. Not the cheapest but a good balance between quality, design and price.

I don’t think the furniture is cheap, probably mid range, similar to how MFI used to be, I used to like MFI, obviously cheap compared to some John Lewis. Argos is cheap for furniture

We’ve just replaced a 20 year old ikea kitchen with anotherikea kitchen. Nothing major wrong with the carcasses of the old one. Their kitchens are about half the price of anywhere else.

Got tons of their billy bookcases and kids storage that’s yonks old but nothing wrong with. Also a kitchen table and chairs that’s 20 years old, veneers knackered but it’s still sound and I love it.

I love Ikea. Some things are cheap, some things aren't. I have a beautiful chest of drawers from there, I changed the handles to glass ones so it looks more expensive. We also have bookshelves, storage, kitchen utensils, bedding, towels, picture frames, towels and candles from there. I also like their food. I wish there was an Ikea in Leicester.

I love it 😍
Husband hates it!

I think a lot of it is a bit of tat for example there white bookcases and tv stands, you can get much nicer ones at second hand furniture markets, but linens, candles/plant pots, cutlery, storage boxes , they are all fab, why go anywhere else?!

Couldn't disagree more with the OP.

We have pieces, including bookcases, tables, desks, drawers wardrobes ... lasted for years without any issues. Yes, there's a lot of miscellaneous tat there, too. But they also make very good furniture that can be transported fairly easily and lasts.

We have Harveys wardrobes as they fitted round the chimney breast but the Ikea wardrobe and small cupboard seem probably better, Harveys is mid range price as well

Shopping at IKEA is vulgar 😂😂😂

Tunnocks yesterday I went to get DH the chocolate biscuits and came out with plates, vase and a huge stuffed shark..

Ikea is fabulous. It has something for everyone- and it’s a day out for the family when we go (about 70miles to our nearest)

We have a lot of antique furniture and rugs, but have found a lot of Ikea pieces to mix in with that- several plain black leather sofas (with a Bauhaus vibe) which we got about 12 or 13 years ago still look great and almost new, despite the efforts of DC and dcats.
Our kitchen is Ikea and looked edgy and fashion forward for many years (its 15 years old now and still looking good. Everything is still solid). Last year we updated it a little with about £300 of Ikea latest kitchen trend stuff (including some additional metal and glass wall units. It is reborn!
For a complete new kitchen, we’d be happy to use Ikea again.

Their kids stuff is great - good enough to last, cheap enough to replace as the child’s tastes change. And they have a couple of very good value metal bed frames that go amazingly well with antique furniture (or modern but we bought them to go with some traditional pieces we already had).

I don’t work for Ikea btw, just a big fan

A friend used Ikea units plus a more expensive, independently sourced worktop for a kitchen in a beautiful and jaw droppingly expensive and beautifully furnished house in London - the kitchen looked amazing, wore very well and was featured in a gushy interior design article.

Another Ikea lover here!!

Yes, some of their very cheap furniture ranges do look cheap. However, some of their better things offer incredible value for money - e.g.their PAX wardrobe systems are amazing - if you put them to together properly they look great and are fab quality. I can’t think of anywhere else you could get similar.

I would say 70% of my furniture is from ikea - but it’s mixed with some vintage pieces and a few bits from other places. I have some great woollen floor rugs from there too.