Baly

megyay

magdelane

wiretapstudios

reg

legotech

I worked in the beds dept., however that was a few years ago, and upon glancing at the website, they have a ton of new bedframes that I am not familiar with. A word to the wise...stay away from the super cheap frames (DALSELV comes to mind). Those things will fall apart in no time. MALM is OK, just don't buy it in white. The white frame has a different coating than the wood veneers, and it chips VERY easily. An IKEA mattress should treat you quite well, just make sure to flip it regularly to avoid sagging. We were trained to tell people that when testing a mattress, you should lay down and allow your back muscles to completely relax on the bed (this could take several minutes of laying on a bed). Give yourself plenty of time to pick out the right mattress, because when I worked there, IKEA would rarely accept returns on an opened mattress, regardless of the circumstances.

I would suggest going there on a weekday afternoon/evening, and befriending one of the coworkers. If you are really friendly, they will probably love you, considering how many jerks we dealt with on a constant basis.

I hope that helps.

On another matter: Earlier I mentioned that I didn't remember any item from IKEA that was made from 100% real wood. As Ribex pointed out, I stand corrected.

DoctorVenkman

I'm going up there next weekend, but I can't fit a kitchen in my Mazda3. Sorry.

Sachin Agarwal

cooper

Greasy Thumb Guzik

Also, does anybody have thoughts on what's the best desk to get there? In theory, I'm ok with plywood, but would like to avoid particle board if at all possible. Solid wood would be best.

telepanda

lizzybee

Thrust

At least my name isn't Jerker.

ribex

Rectilinear Propagation

And "chooki"! That sounds like a product, too!

Love,
ElizabethD (very unlike a product)

ElizabethD

Thrust, Landru, Latrevo, Ribex...

chooki

Thrust

I don't buy there much any more. Anything from Ikea stands out against anything else, screaming "Ikea". I think you have to do your whole house in it for it to look right.

Landru

rmontcal

tozmervo

Me.

Zgeg

latrevo

Is it me, or do the just not make solid shelf backs anymore? everything from TV stands to bookshelves, to bloody desks are all cardboard backed. Not even cheap particleboard.

Thrust

On the flip side, I have a $800 desk from Plummers I bought 4 years ago that cracked in half on the first LA move, less than a year after I bought it.

ceejceej

philipbarrett

magdelane

heronswift

ceejceej

I don't know what you're talking about. I have IVAR shelving, as well as a kitchen table. They are ONLY wood (and a few metal bits, of course). I also have a coffee table and a corner shelf. Nope, no particleboard OR veneer there either. ...your other comments are fine, but the last one didn't make sense to me :)
---
I looooove IKEA. Sure, there are some items that might have long-term reliability issues, but just about everything I've ever seen there is ridiculously more durable than the typical walmart/kmart furniture. I really like that so many items are modular, and sizing is somewhat standardized among product families.

If I could have a good-paying job assembling other people's newly bought IKEA furniture, I would take it in a heartbeat; I honestly don't understand the negativity I've run across towards the home assembly process. Perhaps I've been lucky to have always gotten all the included hardware. The only minor trouble I ever had was a nightstand that didn't have holes drilled for casters - that was the day I bought a drill, when I was not long out of college.

The one improvement I'd like to see from IKEA is their online presence. The company seems quite resistant to online sales. Too many of their products are unable to be purchased online, and the shipping charges are exorbitant, and I'm not even referring to anything heavy or bulky. I don't understand the current philosophy in that regard.

ribex

I'm looking into an ikea Kitchen, specifically the Hallarum Eucalyptus series. The cabinets are going to run about $2200 and appliances another $2500. It is a decent kitchen, and not overlarge.
Everything will fit, it has been measured, remeasured, and measured again, with reasonable tolerances, and all planning tools used. I'm ready to put down the cash, but I have a few rather pressing concerns:
I live in Saint Louis, which has no Ikea of its own (alas!) And would be getting everything from one of the two Chicago stores--and that complicates things. For a purchase of this magnitude (price and size) I can't just borrow a friend's truck 5 times over the course of a weekend and drive up to Chicago and pay for gas on each round trip... I'm sure that would cost way more than any delivery charge...
But what, really, would be my best option? Renting a U-haul/Budget truck from STL is silly, I'd be charged on mileage on a round trip. Would a one-way from Chicago be any cheaper than Ikea's delivery charges? Would I be better off using a freight shipper such as Roadway? And when I would make the trip up, how would I know that what I need will be in stock, and not disappear in the course fo the 4.5 hours it takes to get there? Or do they just assume that Kitchens will be delivered by them, and don't keep much in stock anyway? I've attempted to have these conversations with folks at the Chicago stores, but haven't gotten any real answers because the reps want my items numbers, and want to create a quote... essentially sell it to me before I could find out if I could even feasably get it to my home, one way or another. They won't tell me if it is per piece/flat rate outside the Chicago area, nevermind an example of what that charge might be, so until I go into the store, place my order, they won't tell me how it will happen. I hate how cryptic it all is. I just want a kitchen that I can finally cook in.

Any advice, insights?

magdelane

Thrust

9. Bring a tape measure. Some items list their dimensions in Metric, others in Imperial. Unless you wanna do on-the-fly math to make sure things fit, just bring a Imperial/Metric measure. A sheet of paper and a pencil help too.

Every Ikea I've ever been to has this stuff available as soon as you walk in the door.

mopar_man

15. YELLOW TAGS: The stuff that is *actually* on sale or clearance has a fully yellow banner / sign on it, not just a yellow rectangle on a white backdrop. These items can go down in price if there are a lot of them, but if there aren't, they may never return. If you like the item, grab a few.

16. DELIVERY / ASSEMBLY. Some stores WILL both deliver AND hire an assembly service for you. It's not cheap, but if grandma's the one who wants it and you can't spare the time to assemble it, it can be well worth it. However, some stores now also have a policy that they won't deliver as-is items.

17. WACKY WEDNESDAYS: Every Wednesday, each store puts an item on a *really* good discount price (who knew you could get a queen sized mattress for $100?). These update every week, are listed on the websites, and tend to rotate through an area (in Toronto, a chair will be on sale week 1 in Burlington, week 2 in Vaughan, week 3 in Etobicoke, and week 4 in north York (though not always in that order) - so if you live near several, you don't just have a single chance to get it.

18. BREAKFAST. Breakfast at ikea is 99cents. It includes scrambled eggs, sausage, a croissant, and potatoes. This can be a LIFESAVER if you're in university. They also usually have a dinner at the same pricepoint. Some american stores (pittsburgh) also have an "all you can eat meatballs" night.

19. EARLY OPENINGS. The stores open for breakfast a half hour earlier than the store proper. If it's the beginning of a sale, get there, have a cheap breakfast, and then wait in line. Sometimes they may have as few as 20 of an especially good deal.

20. TRUCK RENTAL. Some ikeas (in canada - not sure about the states) have a large van that you can rent - $20 for 2 hours. If you decide you want something big, it may be far more worthwhile to rent that than trying to put a wood-base mattress on top of your '91 accord.

21. AS IS, AGAIN: HANDYMAN SPECIAL: Some ikeas, some of the time, will bundle up an entire cart of wood, and charge a stupidly cheap price for it. If you're good at building things, this can be a great deal. Also, they sell legs cheaply, and table tops can be picked up for next to nothing in as-is.

22. AS IS A THIRD TIME: As well, there's usually a rack filled with cupboard doors, shelves, even bits of flooring. If you've managed to scratch or ding something that you have, like a cupboard door, you might be able to pick up a single replacement for under $5.

23. ADDENDUM to 7c - If you live near one, and go in, they will quite regularly give you any replacement parts you need, and print up the directions on demand. They'll charge you if you ask for more than about 8 of any particular part, but if it's something little that gets lost, having a few spare in a toolbox is a GOOD THING (ikea billy shelf supports, i'm lookin' your way)

Eilonwynn

Also, keep in mind that IKEA workers are trained to make customers do most of the hard work. Which is why they hate when shoppers A) refuse to write down the name of the item they are asking questions about, and B) force the coworker to walk across the store with them so they can point at an item they wish to purchase. Trust me, the workers are less likely to be genuinely helpful if you make either of these fatal flaws. Just be polite and write down the name, and the workers will bend over backward for you.

The store supplies pencils, paper & tape measures, so don't worry too much about bringing your own.

And for the record, as far as I remember, I NEVER saw an item made entirely from real wood. There is always particle board in there somewhere, trust me.

DoctorVenkman

Gonna go with the CD tower in the center, then from each side it would go
40cm width full height with glass door
80cm width full height, no doors
80cm width half-height with wood doors
80cm width full height, no doors
40cm width full height with glass door

Gives me four large shelves, two enclosed cabinets with space on top of them, and four narrow tall cabinets which I'd replace the shelves with glass ones to store my collections.

Just didn't wanna sink a fortune into them if they were cheap.

Thrust

And let me say that when it comes to assemble-it-yourself furniture, few things suck worse than the (you guessed it: made in China) "wood" crap that comes from the JC Penney web site. ... including missing-part snafus.

ElizabethD

Greeper

I did have an experience where I bought a lamp with them that didn't come with a vital piece used to plug it up. That was annoying, but they let me take it back without any problems. Nothing but good experiences at that store.

Meiran

....Other Thoughts: We need more things from Europe!

dextrone

Edge101

I've been pretty happy with mine. They are cheaper and more configurable then a lot of the CD/DVD/Tape/Bookshelves that I've seen. One caveat: I couldn't get them to sit together all that well. The little hook things that you use to keep the cd shelf solidly next to the bigger deeper bookshelf didn't work that well and was loose. I ended up buying some woodworking bolts that were flat on both ends to hold everything together; came together real nice.

afrasso

joopiter

On the one hand I can appreciate that they have to design a manual that has no text so it doesn't have to be translated into a thousand languages.

On the other hand there's usually one page that's trying to describe the orientation of some component or illustrate that one hole is larger than another and I almost never understand what they're trying to communicate.

SuperJdynamite

swalve

I don't agree that everything that's cheap is "crap" though. Every single thing I've ever bought at IKEA has always been in good condition and useful YEARS later! I bought a little $5 desk lamp 5 years ago and it still works. I've never even had to replace the bulb!

ancientsociety

Thrust

But I bought a nicer entertainment center when I got out of college for about $200, and four years later it's still going strong despite going through three moves.

The key is to look for the stuff that's made entirely of real wood, not pressboard. That's where you get your money's worth.

loudguitars

9. Bring a tape measure. Some items list their dimensions in Metric, others in Imperial. Unless you wanna do on-the-fly math to make sure things fit, just bring a Imperial/Metric measure. A sheet of paper and a pencil help too.

10. If you buy a lamp, stock up on spare bulbs. Many of Ikeas light fixtures and lamps take custom or hard-to-find bulbs, and if it gets discontinued before the first bulb goes out, you'd wish you spent just a couple more bucks for the spare bulbs.

11. Always field-test the floor model. Look for what parts are breaking/broken or worn out. Floor models tend to see LESS use and abuse than what you'll put yours through, so if the couch sags or the desk drawer's finish is peeling, it might not be a good buy.

12. For the love of whatever god(s) you believe in, keep your kids out of the childrens' section. You will not get them back, at least, not without buying a whole bunch of junk they won't let go of.

13. Shop on an empty stomach. The Ikea restaurant actually has really good stuff, and a full meal is likely to run you $4 or less (canadian). $0.50 hotdogs! I'd move into one of the showrooms if I could, just to be able to get cheap hotdogs all day.

Thrust

lorddave

Dead Wrestlers Society

Fuzz

sleze69

adrock75