Nacho4Sara, you’re right about the real wood furniture. I’ve got a 6-drawer dresser, dining room table and hutch, and they still look great. I must say that they are a little wobbly but I’ve had them for about 10 years. They’ve got a simple, timeless look about them.
I’ve been to IKEA a few times in the past coupla weeks, and have now set up four separate sets of the cheap, customizable Sten shelving in my studio apartment. Man I love these things – durable, easy to store when disassembled, and nice-smelling genuine wood. They’ll probably last a lot longer than my space-saving Goliat desk.
One thing confused me though – they had some “think cubic” signs outside the store, and every single item featured on the signs was cylindrical!
I went to our local IKEA yesterday. They had the new displays up. They had copies of the new catalog “for in-store use only” all over the place. But the new catalog has not arrived at Casaflodnak yet! :mad:
If it doesn’t show up by Saturday, I’m going to tackle our mailman and demand an explanation. (I don’t care if it isn’t his fault; he deserves to be tackled for past sins anyway.)
Best bit about getting the Swedish catalogue is the names 
I take for granted that they change the names for the english speaking countries…
We have the “Jerker” chair, and the “Smog” lamp…
I must go through the new catalogue for more inappropriate names!
Well my nearest IKEA is the biggest one in the world and is a simple bus ride away, so there 
I compared the Swedish Catalogue with the UK one over the phone with my mother - the names appear to be the same. Looking at ikea.co.uk I see that the name stil have the å, ö and ä’s in there, so I can’t imagine anything has been changed.
Oh yeah? Well, my nearest IKEA’s roof collapsed because of horrendous rains this week, causing the sprinkler systems main pipe to break and spill an additional 60,000 liters of water all over the sofa department! So THERE!
Woohoo!!! water damage sale!!
Yes! Definitely second the real wood furniture. I love “my BILLY bookcases are slowly dying” - exactly like mine, so they’ve been relegated to the living room where they look nice (if you don’t look at them too long) while my real bookcases are STEN. Yes, the cheap ones that they recommend for basements and garages. I don’t care. They are SO cheap and they look SO cool in my room. They go all the way up to my ceiling and they hold my clothes. And they’re solid pine. I love my IKEA stuff (except the stupid BILLY crap).
Wow I never knew so many people like Ikea? I though some gizillionaire was just maintianing all those stores out of the goodness of his heart.
Personally I hate it because I can’t ever find the exit (for those who don’t know they build their store so you must walk through every asile to get out.
Wow I never knew so many people like Ikea? I though some gizillionaire was just maintianing all those stores out of the goodness of his heart.
Personally I hate it because I can’t ever find the exit (for those who don’t know they build their store so you must walk through every asile to get out.)
I’ve never been inside an IKEA. I only really know of them from Fight Club.
Opal, there is an IKEA in Woodbridge. Have at 'er.
I keep hearing rumors that we’ll be getting an IKEA in Somerville, MA, but it hasn’t happened yet.
No matter how many times I request it online, I never ever get a catalog. I even purchased several pieces for a conference room here at work (over the phone, had them shipped) and have not gotten a catalog.
Today, I got an e-mail with a link to the online catalog. It’s terribly slow, but then I’m used to that. 
I loves me some IKEA. All my storage stuff is from there. And my end tables. And my hutch. And the lamp in my bedroom.
My IKEA story. Three of my high school friends came to visit me in Seattle last winter (for Christmas shopping), and we were sitting around thinking of what to do one day, and I said, “Well, we could go to IKEA.” And one of my friends said, innocently, “What’s IKEA?” The other three of us looked at her with round eyes and gaping jaws – You don’t know IKEA? You have never partaken of the wonder that is IKEA??
So we zoomed out to IKEA and rampaged through it. I mean, we were throwing stuff in the carts so fast and so often I thought we’d buy the store out. Gifts for family and friends . . . and stuff for ourselves, of course. We had a really, really great time, for not a lot of money. And when they all come back again this December, IKEA is definitely on the shopping list.
And someone to go with you.
My big IKEA whine - it is (or at least it is at the Seattle IKEA) nearly prohibitively difficult to shop at IKEA by yourself. I should not have to be part of a couple to buy furniture. It isn’t fair. But you can’t move the carts away from the designated cart area, and I always end up parking a good 10 minute walk from the cart area, and the IKEA employees who swear they’ll keep an eye on your purchases never do. So, there you are leaving whatever you’ve bought alone for twenty minutes while you rescue your car and try and weave it back to the cart area, park and pick up your stuff.
Anyway, in a few weeks, I’ll be getting the cubic stuff for clothing storage - even knowing what I’ll have to go through to get it home.
Hmm…I just bought a bunch of Bonde bookshelves. Hope they last.
The Jerker line appears in the U.S. catalog as well, so I don’t think the names are translated.
One has not lived until one has gone to IKEA in person. In New Jersey. With Nen and Maeglin. On a holiday weekend.
::shudder::
I love those boys, but that was a bit… much. It was a huge Yuppie zoo, complete with baby animals and a snack bar.
Hmm, a couple of compliments for STEN shelving . . . Okay, I guess I know what style of shelving I’ll be buying. The one complaint I have against IKEA is the directions for putting this stuff together. I swear, I think they deliberately show the reverse side of one of the parts so that you have to take the piece apart and do it all over again. I have a question, can anyone tell me if they’ve had a complete IKEA kitchen and how they like it? I really like IKEA and I’d love it if I could get a kitchen from them at a reasonable price and good quality.
Hey, medstar, the IVAR shelving is also very good. It’s solid wood like the STEN kind, and the basic assembly is also the same, but in my opinion it looks much more like something I’d want out where people can see it. We’ve got lots in our basement (w)rec(k) room and in flodjunior’s bedroom. But it’s more expensive than STEN. Either way, you can buy extra X-braces for a pittance, and I’d recommend it. The only real problem with those sets is that they’re sometimes a bit wobbly, and the X-braces fix that problem very effectively.
When we were planning our kitchen remodel, we were warned away from IKEA by a friend who had their cabinets in her (rented) house and was not happy with the quality. We’ve since heard from other people, some of whom have been very satisfied, some not. We do have some kitchen “accessories” from IKEA like those rails for hanging things on, and after a year have absolutely no complaints. And the 365+ range of pans are absolutely lovely - we have an induction cooktop and these were substantially cheaper than any other range that would have worked.