IKEA...it's a bit pants

[CantUnderstand1t]

Dh and I went yesterday. We went to get hinges for our kitchen cupboard Dh had fitted this years ago. Anyway he's had to get them from amazon IKEA didn't have them.

I used to think it was great. I always found something to inspire me. Yesterday there was one room they'd done that was quite gothic that we liked. Nothing else. I looked at a few dining tables they were so cheap looking and feeling but not always cheap prices. I know everything has gone up though.

I'll never set foot in one again. Dh said the same.

It was very busy even though it was a Monday. So they won't miss us 🤣 plus been at least 10 years since we've been.

Do you love it there? Or like us not for you?

Maybe it’s always been that way but your tastes have changed? I used to love it in my student days, then when we got our first home, but now I can take it or leave it with most of their stuff, but can’t bear the kallax anymore 😊

I’ve never liked Ikea, it’s just cheap crap. I don’t mind a walk round it once a year but that’s enough for me. I do occasionally find a few nice things in there.
My DH likes it but he used to work there when he was a student.

I first went in about 2006, and I thought it was crap. The stuff is bland tat, no real quality and pretty cheap. Always said I’d never go back 🤣 so long and boring and all the stuff just so dull and uninspiring.

Shortly later the Lancashire hotpots released their song “I Fear IKEA” and honestly, I could relate!!

Maybe you're no longer their target audience? When I first furnished my own place about 25 years ago I got loads from IKEA - affordable, nice plain items that went with anything. Now I go once or twice a year for bits and pieces but I stopped buying most things there once I had more money and had grown up! It's bright, cheerful and basic. If that's not what you're looking for it's not for you.

My teens and friends love it and plan their whole future homes around the room set ups in there.

Never liked them, I don’t want to build my furniture!

You aren't wrong but i wouldn't go to Ikea for inspiration. I go there for simple, functional items.

I am still ok with them.
I don't have kallax anymote but they were bloody indestructible. Credit where it's due.
Had gorgeous wardrobes from them and kitchen which was absolutely fine and easy to plan and sort.
For the price they were always good value imho.
Would I buy kallax and such now? No, it doesn't fit into my rooms style now, but that's me, not them

Furniture I prefer to buy second hand/vintage/antique where possible, as it is so much better value and much better made than the Ikea equivalent. It is crazy sometimes - you can buy a hand-made, solid mahogany or oak table, chest of drawers or desk for £50 or £100, which has lasted a century or two already and will still be functional and attractive long after the Ikea equivalent has fallen apart and gone to landfill.

But I do go to Ikea for simple kitchen things (their saucepans are good for the money), storage and bedding.

I still love it, the first ones were opening when I had my first house in the 90s and it was a revelation, then I cycled away from it again for a few years and we moved house, but we have gone back to it again now (there is a new-ish one near us now which helps). We have small rooms and it is very hard to find furniture with the right proportions and we have had some great finds from there, there is a lot of basic low quality stuff but there's really good things too if you look carefully, our table and chairs, newest sofa, coffee table and kitchen stools have all come from there in the last few years and been perfect for our house. I'm not keen on antique and vintage. Still get kitchen bits and bobs and storage things too. Never had Kallax though, our rooms aren't big enough.

I think they haven't changed their offering much at all, it's the same design as all those years ago and it looks a bit plain and tired now, plus everyone else does equivalents, so why pay their prices for their plain desk or sofa? It was novel, now it is not.

I have happy memories about Ikea, the only place we could get real chips as a kid when living in Norway for a while in the late 70's. Mum and dad would plonk all us kids with lunch and go shopping, a deal that was good for both parties! I do remember the stuff my parents bought back then was good quality, my parents still had picture frames 40 years later.

But.. every time I go in one I always came out a bit.. frazzled and pretty much only ever clutching a couple of candles and a packet of ginger thins knowing it was just not a good way to spend an afternoon. I don't go anymore as they shut the Tottenham one a few years back.

Still love them! And there's a brilliant aftermarket now for Ikea hacks, Plykea kitchen cabinets and so on. I have a sofa from there that I bought in 2013 which is still incredibly comfortable, and a Poang feeding chair that has survived three kids.

i've not been for years but have lots of their stuff.
My thoughts is that if you avoid the cheap tat it's good.

I've found that going in the evenings is the way to do it, when it's nice and quiet. Also, because I go more often now I know my way around, shortcuts etc so if I am passing and just want some bag clips and meatballs I will pop in and not spend hours there like I used to when it took an entire afternoon to get there and back and all the way round.

I love my IKEA kitchen (though their delivery systems were beyond appalling - no oven was delivered because somehow the design people's computer doesn't talk to the computer which says what items are in stock and which are discontinued.)

I agree with @EnchantingDecoration . I have a good look round, go for a coffee, then go and get the things I went there for.

I love it. I'm quite poor and can't run to expensive furniture - IKEA Billy bookcases have stood me in good stead for many years, and I've got a great Kallax doing duty and also one of their benches. Also love lots of the little bits, cushion covers, bedding, picture frames etc.

Yes, it's nice if you can afford upmarket or you have access to nice vintage, but if you don't IKEA fills a gap.

I've really noticed that the quality on some old faithful Ikea items isn't what it used to be. Even the cheese graters have been cut back on - I'm still using one bought 20 years ago for my first flat but the current items are bendy and nowhere near as good.

I agree for dining tables, I was looking at these last week in store. Second hand solid wood dining tables are now very cheap as many people downsize and I think they are much nicer.

That's what I'm going to look for. I've bought second hand solid furniture before. Dh doesn't like buying second hand but tough.

I used to be a fan, but last couple of times I've not been impressed. I liked the Gustavian range of furniture they had years ago and we still have a cheese grater that's ancient ikea. We did get (Besta) storage with doors for our previous house back in 2021/2 because it was the most cost effective way of filling a 2.4m wide, floor-to-ceiling space, but if we went at all now it would be for a hot dog (and possibly sweets for DH 😉). Adult DS/his partner went recently for furniture etc and they only bought wine glasses as they weren't impressed either.

I’ve only ever bought book cases and tea lights, but yes, I agree Ikea is generally a bit crap.

I love Ikea. It hasn’t been a conscious decision or anything but for some reason we don’t seem to do mid range so everything in the house is either expensive designer stuff or ikea and nothing in between.

I used to love ikea - I loved the inspiration for how to furnish and decorate a home on a budget. However, we went a couple of weeks ago and the prices seem to have rocketed and I wasn’t that inspired. We walked out with nothing.

We bought loads of stuff from ikea when dc were young and money was very tight. The best buy was overhead one level cupboards that didn’t take any floor space. We got loads of storage space with those. When we sold the house the buyers mentioned that they are going to be very happy with storage space.