In praise of an Ikea item

[FrankCrank]

Much maligned for their flimsy flat-pack offerings, I came across one of their display cabinets, and thought it worth a punt

Made from glass and steel in a sturdy industrial style, looks to be very well designed and up to task.

Some additional acrylic shelves added - very pleased with this purchase I must say.

Are there any more Ikea products that you've found to have been surprisingly good?

I'm also fond of Ikea chocolate - comes in flat bars rather than flat-packs

 

[Drago]

I've got an IKEA low lever book case in the music room, its sturdy and was inexpensive.

 

[markemark]

Their furniture is often rock solid and outlives far more expensive alternatives.

I find if I need to decide on a product, a quiet think over 17 hotdogs often helps.

 

[Drago]

Its the stores that annoy me more than the products. Walk through the door and you enter this realm of Einsteinian extreme physics, and youll be spaghettified before being ejected from the opposing wormhole into a completely different part of space-time miles from where you parked the car.

 

[biggs682]

I bought a Frosty the snowman Christmas decoration from IKEA for the first Christmas after moving out of home in around 1993/4 and it's still going strong, just a few replacement bulbs.

 

[Tenkaykev]

KALLAX units are modular and have a variety of accessories including drawers and door fronts/ mirror etc. If you omit the frame's internal dividers they are the ideal size for storing a folded Brompton.

 

[briantrumpet]

Am currently leaning on their solid wood kitchen workstation, looking at their solid wood extendable kitchen table and benches . All looking good after 13 years of sporadic use, solid as ever, and were good value. The laminate-covered MDF stuff they sell I'd not bother with though.

 

[geocycle]

Some ikea stuff is quite good, we had a lot at one time when we were moving around. It is now whittled down to a big desk and a bed in service at the son’s. The main reason I don’t have more recent things is the shear horror of shopping. Ikea is, or was one of the worst as it involved walking around the entire store, often to find they didn’t have what you want in stock. The result was buying lots of things you didn't go for with a poor consolation of insipid meat balls. You then had the pleasure of trying to fit whatever you had bought into a vw polo or similar.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Its the stores that annoy me more than the products. Walk through the door and you enter this realm of Einsteinian extreme physics, and youll be spaghettified before being ejected from the opposing wormhole into a completely different part of space-time miles from where you parked the car.

I found that if you look carefully there are doors between the sections that allow you do get from one point to another far quicker than teh authorised path
They are there for staff to use - who clearly can;t go round the sinuous loops marketing have designed to make you see everything properly
but they are jut doors - you can just wander through

There is one in Manchester - Ashton I think - that is multi-story
so if you keep an eye on where the stairs are you can just go to the right sections directly

AND - if you know what you are looking for you can go "in through the out door" and go directly to the warehouse part


I have spent far too long in Ikea - but not as long as marketing wanted me to!!

 

[MontyVeda]

I've never been to Ikea.

 

[Tenkaykev]

I've never been to Ikea.

This might work as a radio show similar to " I've Never Seen Star Wars " 🤔

 

[FrankCrank]

The store in Reading opened a few years ago, and on a visit back to the UK around that time, a friend was keen for me to go there with him as he was a real fan. One thing in particular he pointed out was the best selling 'Billy' book case, which he had recently purchased. He said he had a bit left over at the end, and wasn't sure why. I said it's quite common to have the odd screw or whatnot leftover from these flat-pack projects, but he went on to say there was a 'plank' leftover. Methinks he did something wrong

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

The store in Reading opened a few years ago, and on a visit back to the UK around that time, a friend was keen for me to go there with him as he was a real fan. One thing in particular he pointed out was the best selling 'Billy' book case, which he had recently purchased. He said he had a bit left over at the end, and wasn't sure why. I said it's quite common to have the odd screw or whatnot leftover from these flat-pack projects, but he went on to say there was a 'plank' leftover. Methinks he did something wrong

I have had this in the past - the packing and checking system they have concentrate on making sure you have enough - if you have more then that is better than having to return it

WHen it first opened I got a few things from there and one of two had something missing

Since then, they I found that they have gone overboard in making sure you do not have to return things - and if that menas a few extra screws and bolts then so be it

 

[Dag Hammar]

I've never been to Ikea.

Doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as when Charlene sang her hit single.

 

[annedonnelly]

I liked their office furniture - desks, bookcases, etc. I hate the shopping experience though and they joined my black list after they mucked my about with a click & collect order during Covid restrictions.

@FrankCrank that display unit looks good. What's the relevance of the various different models?