For Scandinavian style on a budget, IKEA can't be beat. It became one of the world's largest retailers by providing affordable furniture that looks good, and its iconic brand is both praised and critiqued in a way that few furniture stores ever experience. Maybe it's because of its omnipresence that we haven't added it to our store guide until now.
Almost everyone who has visited IKEA remembers their first trip to the Swedish megastore. As a resource for affordable home basics, it’s the place many people go when they leave home for college, move into their first apartment, or buy their first home. For renters, it’s got a huge selection of inexpensive furnishings, lighting, textiles, and cookware. For homeowners, it’s a one-stop shop for kitchen and bath remodels.
On the other hand, IKEA has received criticism for its lack of sustainability and the disposable nature of some of its products. We’ve personally found that the quality of products varies. We’ve had good results with many of the solid wood or metal product lines, and we’ve found that the fiberboard pieces generally don’t hold up as well. Certain favorite products that show up again and again on the pages of Apartment Therapy include classics like the PS cabinet, Frosta stool, Expedit shelves, and Grundtal kitchen hardware.
MORE IKEA ON APARTMENT THERAPY
• The New IKEA 2010 Catalog!
• IKEA 2009 Catalog: 10 Best New Items
• Best IKEA Classics
• Best Buys at IKEA
• Is IKEA the Least Sustainable Retailer?
Dirty Little Secrets of Tidy Families
Emi & Nathan's Natural History
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Sprout Side Table
5 Things Paris Taught Me About Travel
Recipe: Ham, Cheddar & Chive Egg Bakes
and this is why I no longer love reading Apartment Therapy
a) I really want that bedroom in the first picture
b) Does Apartment Therapy get a kick back every time Ikea is mentioned? I mean seriously, I'm a little sick of hearing about Ikea every other post. We get it... it's stylish, it's cheap, it's a pain in the ass to assemble. We all have a love-hate relationship with Ikea, and this is part of the hate.
Oh and this was posted by the Chicago Apartment Therapy... do you enjoy getting screwed by the 10% sales tax there? Because I know I do.
(And I apologize for being bitter, this was just a breaking point)
Ikea is not universally hated.
"Ikea is not universally hated."
It's not universally loved either.
Contrary to what some people think, there's much more to life than IKEA...
The post is entitled "Ikea" - why click on the post if you dislike Ikea?
Move on, people. Life is too short to obsess about the merits of Ikea.
Seriously? Someone actually believes there is nothing more to life than the existence of Ikea?
...
I've never understood the hate for Ikea - the furniture is pretty, the fabrics are gorgeous, and the prices are easy on the budget. I only wish we had one near here:(
It reminds me of Conran's - a place I adored in the 80's - but they were far away, as well. I finally ordered a sofa from them and they sent it out from New York - loved it. Why can't Ikea sell their stuff online? Every time I see something I want - it says "not available for sale online"! That's what I hate!
I never said I hated Ikea. I said I have a love-hate relationship with Ikea. Meaning that I have moments that I love Ikea (the good prices and stylish furniture) and I have moments where I hate Ikea (when I'm assembling the furniture or traveled all that way to find out they don't have what I want even though I checked online)
I'm just tired of hearing about it all the time from Apartment Therapy. There's more things out there that they can talk about other than Ikea and I feel like they should branch out. I clicked on the post and submitted a comment in hopes that one of the bloggers would read it and cut back a little on the Ikea posts.
IKEA is I believe now the largest furnishings vendor in the world, and they sell a LOT of modern pieces that are sized for apartment living. If you're visiting a blog regarding apartment living, you're gonna see a lot of posts dealing with IKEA. If you don't want to read them, skip them.
A little IKEA never hurt anybody.
Unless of course, you are assembling something. ;)
I think the point of this post was IKEA's (oddly belated) addition to the AT Marketplace, which seems to be getting a big push of late.
The only beef (meatball?) I have about IKEA is one I share with Milady-- they can't seem to get their online stuff together.
My partner and I made a surprise, spontaneous trip to IKEA on Sunday afternoon. He wanted a simple desk, we didn't find any in local thrift stores or West Elm that passed muster...but IKEA had just the one he wanted. He assembled it in an hour, it's solid wood, and while it's not intended to last into the 22nd century, it will suit his needs and mine perfectly.
AT has a ton of posts about cb2, DWR, West Elm and Urban Outfitters, but only the IKEA posts seem to attract any ire. It seems like some people go out of their way to leave a condescending or angry comment for every IKEA-oriented post. It's getting very tiresome.
I guess Ikea is an easy and obvious solution to the low budget/small space problem.
I look to design blogs to inspire, to tell me that high design IS attainable, that individuality and creativity transcend budget and space.
So what I am saying is yes, Ikea does fill a need, but I will not aspire to it. And I will never settle for it.
Apartment Therapy has become too commercial and too reliant on these endorsements. Truly innovative design (styles you will see copied and mass produced a la West Elm and Pbarn in a few years) are still alive and flourishing among the creative set, they are just less highlighted on this blog than they once were.
When "truly innovative design" is highlighted on this blog, it is usually faced with a slew of objections about price tag.
It seems like a no-win.
Ikea and the 'Keep calm and carry on' poster seems to stir up some strong feelings.
It's easy for people to bitch about Ikea when they have access to one. For the people who don't have access to one, Ikea is aspirational. I live in the Republic of Ireland and we only got an Ikea this year (although there has been one in Northern Ireland for about a year and a half before that).
Until Ikea opened here it was not possible to get anything of similar style at anything like affordable prices. Without Ikea I'd be living in a kitchen-less house with overpriced beige (shudder) furniture because that's all that was available here in my budget range.
Maybe in a few years I'll be bitching about Ikea too, but until then you'll have to prise my Bjursta extendable kitchen table and my Karlstad sofa out of my cold dead hands.
Ikea is far better than some other stores who sell trendy but junky furniture at unfairly higher prices.
I'm truly at a loss. I can't understand why anyone would bitch about IKEA. The reason you see so many posts about it is because IKEA has just about everything and anything a person would need to furnish a home. If you can afford better, then don't go to IKEA--you don't need to. If you can afford a better sofa, or kitchen table, or dining chairs, by all means, go elsewhere. If you want more shelving choices, or throw pillow choices, or frame choices than IKEA can offer, there are plenty of other options. But there's no place on earth, that I can personally think of, where you can walk in on a whim and find exactly what you want. Maybe you just need one little side table and you don't want to spend a lot of money. You can pretty much go to IKEA and walk out with one for the price of a latte! And it'll probably look great. Not forever, but until you're ready to replace it. You can go to IKEA and buy one little thing, or you can decorate an entire house. And by the way, most IKEA items are so generic they take on the personality of the space they're in, so no worries about your home looking like everyone else's (if it's done right). Hey, I'm surprised IKEA isn't mentioned more often.
What I want to know is where people are seeing ALL these posts about Ikea here. Sure, there's an item here or there, but the bulk of AT is about stuff from other vendors.
Get over yourselves.
andrew1978 - Way to open up with the positivity. I think it's time for you to find a new blog. However, good luck finding one that doesn't have posts about Ikea in it.
And is it really so hard to only click on the posts that you care to read about? If you don't like it, don't read it. Then you won't have anything to complain about.
Let's all get real. This is a commercial site, not a salon of friends. The site gets its money from advertising and uses posters as the bait to lure in advertisers. That money allows them to hire bloggers and buy bandwidth to provide us with daily shots of eye candy. That's just the way it is.
Frankly, why would one be surprised that advertisers' products get a lot of push. C'mon people. This is the U.S. of A. It may not be all about the almighty dollar, but you sure can't get much without it. Sure, everyone gets treated equally. It's just that some are a lot more equal than others.
p.s. It's OK to love or hate IKEA or DWR or any other retailer for whom you can marshall such strong emotions. But, there's no need to hate on our neighbors. We're all just pawns in a much bigger game.
Can't we all just get along....
I guess I am ambient about IKEA. But please try not to post about their drinking glassware.
I bought some glasses there and a month later as I am sipping water, the entire glass collapsed mid-sip.
It was horrifying!
Luckily I was fine, but it did make me think more than twice about the rest of their products.
lychee, I think the word you're looking for is ambivalent!
I like IKEA and I'm not ashamed. I don't have money to drive to the next city to buy ~true vintage~ and ~authentic antiques~. I have bills to pay and I'm going to school. IKEA, cb2, and Target is all I can afford. And it's nice that there are things available to me in my price range that don't look like they belong in Country Cottage Weekly.
If you want to complain about my IKEA sofa, you are more than welcome to buy me one that's up to your standards!
Yes! So sorry about that.
A friend recently visited my new condo a few weeks ago. As she walked in, she exclaimed, "This place is so cute!"
A little while later she was sitting on my hendriksdal bar stool, told me she liked it, and asked me where it came from. "Ikea." Her response? "Oh, is this an Ikea place?" Her condescending tone of disapproval duly noted.
She liked my place before she found out where I bought my furniture.
I think quiltmaster is right.
If AT gains from posting IKEA and the other usual suspects from time to time then so be it.
After a year of searching at vintage and thrift stores for the perfect size cabinet for my stereo and TV I built up "effektiv" components to my needs and added some beautiful anthropologie hardware. The cabinet looks beautiful and very I am happy with the results.
Not the best picture, used iphone-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/44713708@N00/3947880773/
I have Ikea bookcases in my office and have a few white duvet covers from Ikea. I recently bought a French oven from the "senior" series. I needed a 3 qt French oven to make no kneed bread and other items. It works almost as good as my Le Creuset and Staub French ovens, and is also made in France.
For basics such as these I have no Ikea complaints.
Where's the Love??
I don't know why people have to bitch about Ikea so much. You don't have to buy their stuff if you don't like it.
When the entire world is going for ugly grandma furniture (or so it seems here in the Carolinas) someone (me) who loves modern lines but has a small budget (also me) sees Ikea as heaven.
The only other places to find modern furniture charge thousands of dollars for it.
And I agree, Ikea items are different in every setting. Very customizeable, and not just by diy renovation.
Stop being such snobs.
P.S. Snobs are my biggest reason for not enjoying AT on a more regular basis.
http://humantrafficking.change.org/blog/view/the_slave_behind_your_bargain
I am not a snob and I am not wealthy. I simply am someone who believes in fair labor but doesn't want to sound preachy. Therefore I buy used and am creative when it comes to decorating, and search for clean lines and high style at the Salvation Army. When I do buy new, I often buy items crafted in the US or by people who are paid fairly. Its more costly but ultimately worth it. And THIS is why I am against IKEA.
Also, I try to avoid personal attacks against individuals when commenting. I suggest some of you do the same.
What i like about IKEA is how organized they make everything look, i do not like clutter, and like i said before, my daughter and i read alot of Books & Magazines and we like to hold on to them for a while in a organized manner,
that is one thing i did like about their rooms, they seemed real with all the Books and Magazines, and i have talked to plenty of people that have over 200 books and growing,
One thing tho about furniture makers, i wish they would make couches and chairs a bit higher, and not so low to the ground, at least with beds you could put another mattress on, but couches and chairs are so low to the floors, ugh back problems and getting up, anyway just a thought!
I like buying new and encourage it through my daughter also, i do not like buying used!!
i am for BackYard Habitats,
washington state.
We just put an Ikea kitchen in my daughter's house. It was affordable and looks fantastic. The assembling was rather time consuming, but that is why you save so much money...you just have to know that going into Ikea.