Home-Making, DIY, Furniture

[Anita Bensoussane]

My last trip to IKEA was a hassle. I didn't have an internet connection for a few months after moving to my flat so I decided to visit my nearest IKEA in person, pick out the bookcases I wanted and have them delivered. On arrival I found that all customers had to start on the fourth floor and go round the shop by a set route, passing through every section. I only wanted bookcases! I thought I might as well pick up an up-to-date catalogue while I was there so I looked for one at the start of the route but was told that catalogues were only available on the ground floor! When I eventually reached the warehouse where the bookcases were stored, the ones I wanted weren't in stock so I had to go home and wait until I had an internet connection so I could order online!

On the positive side, the furniture I've bought from IKEA over the years has lasted well. Stuff I had at my old house still looked like new after more than twenty years (bookcases, other shelving units, a coffee table and a dining table and chairs), despite being particle board and veneer rather than solid wood. All those items are still in that house now, in daily use, and I expect they'll be around for a long time yet.

[Courtenay]

My last trip to IKEA was a hassle. I didn't have an internet connection for a few months after moving to my flat so I decided to visit my nearest IKEA in person, pick out the bookcases I wanted and have them delivered. On arrival I found that all customers had to start on the fourth floor and go round the shop by a set route, passing through every section. I only wanted bookcases!

The one I visited most recently was like that too (it was Warrington; there's a slightly nearer one to me at Ashton-under-Lyne, but they didn't have all the items I wanted in stock that time). I guess they want us all to see as much of their furniture as possible and all the wonderful things we too could do with it if only we would buy it, but I already knew exactly which pieces I wanted and I found it extremely annoying and tiring to have to walk all that long way to get to the warehouse section!!

They do have a click and collect option, but for my most recent purchases, I'm glad I paid extra for delivery, as they really would have been too long to fit in my quite small car and too heavy for me to move on my own. I will be embarking on my next DIY bookcase adventure in due course...

On the positive side, the furniture I've bought from IKEA over the years has lasted well. Stuff I had at my old house still looked like new after more than twenty years (bookcases, other shelving units, a coffee table and a dining table and chairs), despite being particle board and veneer rather than solid wood. All those items are still in that house now, in daily use, and I expect they'll be around for a long time yet.

I've found that too — I've had several IKEA items over the years, particularly their bookcases, and they really do last well and are very practical, so to me they're worth the money and the effort in putting them together. (You can also pay to have someone assemble them for you, of course, but I'm trying to save money — and besides, I quite enjoy the challenge. )

[Fiona1986]

I even enjoy wandering around Ikea looking at all the 'rooms' set up...

[Katharine]

I think I'd enjoy walking round IKEA if I was going to have a look around, possibly with a view to purchasing something, or maybe just getting some general ideas - especially if there were room set ups for inspiration.

However, I'd find it very frustrating if I'd gone to the shop for a specific purchase and then had to traipse through lots of other areas first without an option of a shortcut.

I'm just thankful supermarkets aren't set out like that - imagine popping into Sainsbury's on your way home from work to pick up a loaf of bread or some frozen peas, and being forced to walk up and down all the other aisles along the way!

[Wolfgang]

My last trip to IKEA was a hassle. I didn't have an internet connection for a few months after moving to my flat so I decided to visit my nearest IKEA in person, pick out the bookcases I wanted and have them delivered. On arrival I found that all customers had to start on the fourth floor and go round the shop by a set route, passing through every section. I only wanted bookcases!

I know the feeling. I'm grateful that I can enter on the first upper floor and then walk swiftly through it to go to the ground floor where the bookcases are located (in our local IKEA market).

[Anita Bensoussane]

Much as I love the products I've bought from IKEA, I can't help chuckling at 'I Fear IKEA' by the Lancashire Hotpots (I'm sure we've had a link to the song before but it deserves to be in this thread!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMhywI7ZznI

[Courtenay]

I was just thinking of posting that... and now I listen to the bit about "hours stuck on t' M62", I have a feeling they must be referring specifically to the store in Warrington, which is the one I've just recently been to. It matches the descriptions exactly!!

[Hannah]

I was in an IKEA store around the age of 25 for the first time as there isn't one near the region I grew up - the closest one is in Switzerland (Zurich) and then near Stuttgart 1,5 hours away.
Students moving to Constance were always shocked there was no IKEA .

I've never bought anything big there even though I've been there two or three times in the last ~10 years. There is now a store in my town but it wasn't there when I moved here and I brought most of my furniture from my old flat in Constance anyway. But I like the Köttbullar in the restaurant .

[Anne Gracie]

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[Anne Gracie]

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[IceMaiden]

I've never been to an IKEA as there are none anywhere near here but I have bought bought the Billy bookcases. Not to store books though but to convert into hamster cages! In past years I used to keep many various hamster breeds for hobby showing and adapted Billy cases made perfect space saving cages. They've now long gone but I still have the last one I made which I've turned back into a bookcase. Very versatile things they are!

[Courtenay]

That's possibly the most creative and "different" use I've ever heard of for a piece of IKEA furniture!!

My own IKEA construction efforts are currently on hold, as I'm going to need some help with a couple of the bigger pieces — especially putting the glass doors on the Billy bookcases in my living room to make display cabinets — and the friend who's offered to help (and who fortunately is a very experienced handyman) has only just got back from a holiday, just as I'm about to go on holiday myself! So it can all wait till I get back from the Lake District!!

[Katharine]

Well I can finally tick a visit to IKEA off my 'places to visit' list.

I have to say I was 'underwhelmed' by the experience, and by the end had pretty much lost interest. On the positive side, I can see the attraction of the Billy bookcases, and think it's a good idea that they are available in several different configurations.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Glad you survived to tell the tale, Katharine!

Not long after moving to my flat, I happened to pick up several pieces of secondhand teak furniture which were by the maker 'Nathan' (it was just a coincidence that I managed to find matching pieces as they all came from different charity shops). My daughter keeps joking that I have two men in my life - Billy and Nathan!

[Katharine]