The £100 shop.....

I have only been to IKEA once many years ago but DD and her H would go on a very regular basis and mostly do the same Katek. DD is going again tomorrow for a desk for GS's bedroom. She will then phone to tell me what else she bought while there.

It is just like that!

We have bought some great pieces of furniture there. The leather bendy chair and footstool ( can't remember the name, but loads of people seem to have one! ) is such a classic, good design.

But, it's all the other things you pick up on the way round! The lights are well designed also, but how many lamps do you need in your life! x

My nearest has a super "bargain basement" which I used to make a bee line for but these days I cannot make my way around the store so I at least have the money in my purse.

More than 20 years ago I bought a lovely baby's quilt which is superb for a cat, all for a fiver in a sale. It is used daily and washes well.

Our Ikea trips are always like that KateK. And the final bill is nearly all made up of 'bits and pieces', things that individually are such good value that it's hard to walk past them. Things that, at the time, you really believe you need, but when you get home you realise they are just more 'stuff' in the kitchen drawers. Or things that are 'so cheap it would be stupid not to buy it'.
Our nearest branch is over 100 miles away, and I think that's part of the psychology with us - you know, 'might as well get it while we're here' and of course, if we spend a sizeable amount, we believe we've justified the cost of the fuel to go there.
A branch is going to open much nearer to us before too long. Will our total at the checkouts be much less? Hmm, not holding my breath...

I think you are right J52, lots of people like to knock IKEA but most of the stuff is well designed and doesn't date.
I would never go there when it's going to be crowded, but MrA and I went there one Monday afternoon recently to get some stainless steel kitchen shelves that I had coveted at my cousin's house. They look fab. We also came away with 3 new lampshades for our sitting room.
I've still got some wall lights that we bought in 1985 and my kitchen curtains date from 1999. They still look good.

I'm quite good with flat-pack furniture. A computer desk was assembled with only one screw left over and my bedside table is a triumph. Billy bookcase is feeling his age, but still holds most of my hard-backs safely after a good twenty or so years.Their lighting products are great value too.

Our nearest is 50 + miles away at Lakeside shopping centre they are on a large retail estate which I hate negotiating. It also means paying the Dartford toll as well as the petrol, hence we haven't been for about 5 yrs.
I do like their stuff though.

Most of their curtain fabric is great quality - I made kitchen curtains many years ago and they washed so well. We had the very tall wardrobes which we fitted to our needs - stored so much. I don't think they move house more than once but if put together correctly you do get great wear from their items.

We have one not far away but we only go there once in a blue moon, usually if one of my daughters wants to go but I do usually manage to pick up a few things I 'need' at the checkout.

I actually feel very claustrophobic in Ikea the layout of the shops makes me feel nervous and uncomfortable because it always seems a long way from the WAY OUT .........

My youngest two DGCs are still using the quilt sets I bought for DSs when they where small they must be about 25 yrs old now and the colours are still good and the cotton excellent.

tanith I agree- I find that the "way out" is not sign posted properly at that particular branch of IKEA and gone are the days when I could wander around at my leisure- the distance is too far from entrance to exit for me.

Charleygirl I do wonder whether all Ikea are the same? That one has been the same since they built it although its been revamped on occasion, I've never been inside another one..

That is the only one that I have been in also and not for many years. I keep forgetting about it.

I am certain that "way out" notices have not been displayed so that people see more of the store than they planned.

I loathe IKEA, not the products, but the stores. You cannot go in, go direct to the relevant area, find what you want and get out. Instead you walk around a long mazy path, which if it was in a bluebell wood would be delightful. But you aren't in a bluebell wood, you are in a store with stuff and clutter and people everywhere, it is hot, claustrophobic and it takes hours to get to the tills.

I ended up dumping what I came in for and walking through displays to get to the exit and out as fast as possible, which means I have only ever been to IKEA twice, once in Switzerland and once in Croydon and I never want to go into another one ever again.

Yep- so well designed to ensure that you go through every bit of the store picking stuff you had no intention to buy as you go. Even worse here- as the IKEA prices are in Swiss francs (but our pension in £)... doh. Fortunately 1 hour away, so not tempted too often.

All the Ikea stores I have been in have a 'map' showing you the pathways and the shortcuts. It is easy to read and cut through departments and so not really any worse than a normal sized department store. It is also possible to get downstairs again to the 'Marketplace' quite easily if you need nothing upstairs.

I've been in IKEA in many countries, and yes, they are all the same. Except for the fact that the UK ones are the most expensive.

I have found that the prices between France and UK tend to vary - sometimes one is cheaper and then the other. I usually have both catalogues or if it is a big article look at both sites to see the prices - when we were buying our kitchen here in France, UK was very much cheaper - the exchange rate affects it too of course.

Try Ikea in Beijing. If you are really savvy then you get a pillow and duvet from downstairs and then go upstairs to the bed department and snuggle down for a good sleep. Or why not bring the kids to one of the 'rooms' and leave them there to play ?
I went with DD when she was very pregnant and she was looking to buy a wardrobe. As you do in the latter stages of pregnancy she went off to the loo leaving me to collar the next available assistant - it was VERY busy ! (They do queue to get into the store and it is one in and one out at busy times). She of course had to join a queue for the loo so by the time she came back I had ordered everything she needed correctly and bearing in mind that my Mandarin is limited to 2 words and the assistants English about the same I put it down to one of life's triumphs.
I do find the design features on Ikea things amazing and so easy to put together as long as the instructions are followed correctly.

DS and wife furnished their Australian home with Ikea.
When the time came to leave they shipped it home as it matched the Ikea stuff that they had in storage here! x

The one we go to has a map and sort of cut throughs! We still spend a fortune. DH always says 'beware of the baskets!' as we enter!

I went to one in Belgium and it was exactly the same as the three I have used in the UK, I felt very odd when we emerged because I was confused as to which country I was in.

We spend about £200 every time we go. I think it's because we have a big car. I blame it on the car. I still have things from 30 years ago and they are in really good condition. We were only saying a couple of weeks ago, when we last went, that it is sad that we don't have a british equivalent. MFI stuff was appalling by comparison, we could never move and take their furniture with us the way we have been able to with the IKEA things.

We bought bedroom furniture there a couple of years ago when we redid the room in white and the original (Ikea) beech stuff didn't work. So we gave the beech drawers to my daughter, who was absolutely thrilled with them - they're like new after several years' use. We got the white stuff - a large, extra height triple wardrobe with loads of internal fittings, shelves etc, two large chests of drawers and bedside cabinets, for under £500 all in, and it is so well made. I know it will last and last. No complaints here.(Except for the other £100 we spent on bits and bobs while we were there )

Shocked SO at Christmas when I was in and out in 15 minutes after buying a black/white easel and wooden train set for DGS.
He had not even made inroads into the very large DIY store next door.
Need to go again at the beginning of June for an easel for DGS best friend for her birthday. Some how I do not think he will complain, oops, next time, I seem to have a list already.