IKEA Family Live is not a US-based website.

Mr. Modtomic - you took the words out of my mouth. Ikea is largely crap. Sorry to be so blunt. It has no lasting value. Check out this post on LASTING furniture and the subject of what Ikea can turn into: http://slowfurniturestudio.com/list/blog
these guys are hilarious - and right.

Maybe some is crap, but my mother still has the desk she bought from IKEA when we lived in DC when I was 2. I'm almost 28 now. She also has some little drawer units and probably would still have the little light blue sleeper sofa I used to fold into a box and hide if one of our dogs had not had accidents on it.

My home is mostly vintage/thrift/antique store purchase and hand me downs that have been customized to be "me," but I have some IKEA stuff, too. My kitchen cabinets have been holding up quite well the past few years. If not for IKEA, I'd probably still have the gross (and I really mean gross, not just ugly) knotty pine cabinets that were here when I moved in. I also have one of those $40 8x10 rugs (ERSLEV, I think)...it will probably end up in a bedroom someday when I can afford my $850 dream rug, but it's holding up well. Also, those wine glasses they had on sale a few weeks ago (12 for like $5) are awesome...especially for around 43 cents a piece.

Just like any inexpensive store...buy certain things and avoid others.

Some crap....some gems.

Choose wisely.

I love everything in that first picture.

I've never had a problem assembling anything from Ikea. It's not my favorite thing in the world. And why is it a revelation that Ikea, just like anywhere, requires some wise choices.

I have the same Ikea bedside tables and the same Ikea bookshelves I bought used, and have had both for 5 years.

When you have great style, it doesn't matter where you buy your furniture. Ikea can be fabulous.

I bought one thing from IKEA and never again.. It was a toddler table and 2 chair set and yes.. it was in a million pieces. I wanted to rip my hair out. If that wasn't bad enough, I just don't "get" the layout of the store..

I think you have to be very patient to "get" ikea. And very choosy. It's easy to go for the $40 laminate bookcase. I have a lot of Ikea stuff, and I've always selected pieces made out of real wood. I know there are higher quality furnishings, but I'm a girl on a budget. I have a table and chair set that I bought right out of college. "Jokkmokk" is what it's called. The chairs drove me nuts, so I filled in the screws with wood filler, sanded, primed and painted. I took the seats off and used the foam from the seat pads and upholstered them. Sounds like a lot of work I know, but I'm pleased with the finished result. See link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8644829@N02/5076924003/

I have to agree with creative license but it will be interesting when many of use are very old and we will see vintage IKEA for sale on websites.

I love IKEA, honestly.

But of course, you have to think for yourself - a table for 5$ or an armchair for 20$ isnt going to last as long as something that you pay four times the price for. That said - high price is not always a sign of quality and the size of IKEA put some preassure on them to act green.

We bought our sofa at IKEA ten years ago. It's been moved alot since then, but it still looks and feel great. It was a less than a quarter of what a sofa in "the nice store" would cost, and because the covers are washable, it lasts a really long time.

I've never quite understood the trouble about putting the furniture together, most of the time it is kind of self explainatory and again, that's the price you pay for beeing able to take it with you straight away.

What extra screw? I just put together a Hyllis shelf, and nary an extra screw was to be found. That said, shelf is just what I was looking for, works and looks great!

@RobinRD I would love to see your chair but flickr says the page you linked to is private. Can you put up a non-private version?

I would get less angry about the unabashedly pro-IKEA posts on AT if there were more balance... Can you not take a more nuanced approach AT?

IKEA is the biggest tax dodger in the world, and has been slammed by the Bern Convention.

(Good ole' Ingvar doesn't live in Sweden, he lives down the road from me, here in Switzerland, along with all the other super-wealthy tax dodgers)

I'm willing to bet that few AT readers know that IKEA is actually a DUTCH company -- that's so that it does not have to meet Swedish law, and is not as scrutinized... (something smell a little fishy yet?)

Oh, and that most of IKEA (they've broken it up into several "chunks") is a non-profit corporation? That's right... the world's largest furniture company is... a non-profit.

Where do all those profits go? Good question. No one really knows, because they don't have to report on them... So far, only $2 million or so have gone to a Swedish design academy, but no news on the rest of the billions...

It would be nice if AT mentioned how IKEA treats suppliers -- just like WalMart, squeezing workers into lower and lower pay.

And then there is its much-trumpeted forestry policy (it's the world's largest user of trees)... sounds good, but is utterly toothless and thus, a joke. With 10 inspectors, and most of their trees coming from a part of the world renowned for illegal logging, it is in reality, little more than window-dressing to make consumers feel good about their purchases.

And then you get into the issues that Mr. Modtimic raises -- the environmental cost of buying cheap. Obsolescence is built into their products -- they want you coming back for more. "Quality" is just an advertising lure (the Mad Men watchers should know this...).

I wish AT had some balance on IKEA, instead of another ra-ra-IKEA post...

What a shock: a store with an enormous inventory requires a little bit of research to find the pieces that fit your life.

I will tell you why I but IKEA: because I want stuff that I can afford and use now, and continue to use for years and years, and that looks like it was designed this decade. I really am not interested in "vintage" "craftsman" pieces that are more often than not behemoths of stupid outdated decorations, even if they are "made to last" which is code for "too heavy to move from house to house" and "requires constant spot cleaning / magic incantations / rubbing with yak oil to maintain luster and keep out worms" and "when a little part breaks you have to get that crafts person who never shows up, only works when you are at work, and will charge you three times a new couch at IKEA would cost anyway".

Thrift stores? Good god, does being on a budget now mean I am supposed to do glorified dumpster diving for someone else's cast-offs? Which I will then have to spend hours to refinish so that I don't look like a poor sod living in garbage, with refinishing skills I do not have so it ends up looking like crap anyway? What kind of elitism is this that lower-income people should live in outdated crap to satisfy someone else's needs for authenticity?

Oh, am I painting with a broad brush here? Why yes I am, very purposefully so: to show you how easy it is to do so. But let me then say something perfectly seriously: if you have the drive and smarts to successfully not get crap when shopping tag sales, thrift stores, and Craigslist, you have more than what it takes to make a smart selection at IKEA, and put it together.

-Ikea is not cheap; it's affordable.
-Ikea is not necessarily heirloom quality furniture, but it is the gateway for many to develop their "furniture taste palate".
-Ikea fills the style void created by the numerous overpriced, style-less, furniture shops littered throughout the USA.
-I'd venture to guess that probably 98% of the readers of this site alone have at some point fallen in love with, acquired, thoroughly enjoyed owning, and probably still own a choice piece from Ikea. And 99% of that 98% will do it again.
-Unfortunately, thrift shops that carry those "GREAT finds" are akin to an urban myth....we all read about them all over the web and see them on TV sometimes...but really...honestly...when was the last time you walked into a thrift shop and saw something that was absolutely stunning AND being sold for a fair and reasonable price??
-Personally, I don't care if Ikea is a non-profit or not, or who they do or don't pay taxes to. IMO, they have provided the service of making furniture...decent & often GREAT furniture... attainable to millions of people that otherwise would be stuck with buying or RENTING very POOR (and ugly) furniture from vendors with likely much lower ethical and business standards and practices.
-In the grand scheme of things, all the Ikea detractors are either a)elitist snobs that simply feel that modern design furniture should only be attainable by the wealthy few from "premium" vendors. b) band-wagoners that simply haven't bothered to research and see for themselves exactly what Ikea has to offer.

*steps off soapbox*

@jmilb:

"all the Ikea detractors are either a)elitist snobs that simply feel that modern design furniture should only be attainable by the wealthy few from "premium" vendors. b) band-wagoners that simply haven't bothered to research and see for themselves exactly what Ikea has to offer."

Sounds like you are the one who hasn't done your research.

The reason we should all care is that the IKEAs and WalMarts of the world are making us all poor. They drive down wages, contribute to degradation of the environment, drive out the competition through predatory pricing, and contribute nothing to the community. They make billions, but don't even contribute to the upkeep of the roads that lead to their stores -- local taxpayers are on the hook for that, as they are for everything else.

Maybe you don't have a problem with those things, but I do. As a consumer, I expect corporations to have the same ethics I do. Espousing good design does not get you a free pass for bad behaviour.

These issues need to be aired, debated and discussed; but hurling personal insults at those with whom you disagree is no way to have a civilized discussion.

Affordable furniture from other sources, like Walmart, Target, etc., is not made as well, and often the design values are horrid. And it may cost more, as well. You get a lot of bang for the buck at Ikea. I wish I could have had kitchen cabinets made by local artisans, but the cost would have been vastly higher. So I have utilitarian cupboards which look good, came in a great variety of sizes, and will last at least as long as the poorly made ones we ripped out that were literally falling apart.

I'd love to hear more about the sustainability issues.

Meanwhile, these photoes are lovely, and not as Ikea-centric as I would have expected; some of them show a more realistic mix of Ikea and vintage home furnishings. I love that pallet on industrial casters.

@mschatelaine: Until I see more Ikea's out there than say World Market, Room Store, Mattress Discounter, Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, etc...then I simply don't believe that the impact is as great as you've stated.

Where is backup/proof of this data you've presented?

In most jurisdictions, a major retailer is required to foot the bill for development of infrastructure that impacts the roadways, services, and utilities in the immediate area. What I've witnessed time and again is that when a new Ikea is constructed, modifications to highway on ramps, etc. is also completed simultaneously.

Local taxpayers do often support this infrastructure development via taxes, however, it's often these same taxpayers that plead with their local officials to bring stores like Ikea to the locale.

As with everything in modern society and economy, there's always a give and take. As a consumer, and contributer to US and world economy, I understand this and accept it as general course of business and accept the fact that modern civilization is perhaps the biggest irony in the universe.

I don't feel my comments were personal insults, if they touched a nerve, perhaps ones' nerves needed to be touched.

I LOVE IKEA and have NEVER had a problem with ANYTHING I've purchased from them. Their showrooms are BEAUTIFUL and their prices are the best, BECAUSE they ARE DIY construction.

Best thing about Ikea is that I can find things there that fit in my house. Their sizing is great for relatively small spaces. And their bookshelf systems fill a niche for those of us who want clean lines but can't afford built-in prices.

One of their shoe cabinets fits perfectly in my entry way. It looks like it was made to go there. I never would have found anything so fitting on either Craigslist or Ebay.

That said, assembly is a major drag sometimes. Other times, I'm amazed at how easy the assembly is. It really does depend on what you buy.

Those of you who dismiss the whole store as all crap that's going into a landfill are missing out. I have solid wood nightstands and a full length mirror from there that are fabulous. I also have the expedit, but that was purchased second hand.

you can buy stuff from IKEA that's not particle board----like the Helmer referenced last week on AT. Buy metal, real wood or decorations-----

The McCain campaign was largely moronic ("the fundamentals of our economy are strong") but one gem was that America is:

...a nation of whiners.

Maybe the same could be said for AT commenters?

Good lord. This post wasn't about Ikea's ethics or business practices. It's merely highlighting a design site that many people would find useful, given how popular Ikea furniture is. Whether you like it or not, it's oftentimes the only affordable option for people who can't invest in better-quality furniture or who only have unstylish, middle-brow stuff from Levitz available to them. Finally, not everyone has the time and wherewithal to troll vintage stores and eBay for furniture. And not everyone wants to furnish their homes with bricks and boards and milk crates until a good, attractive, used and bedbug-free piece of furniture is available.

Also, I'll never understand the complaints about assembly. I've found it to be very easy as long as you follow the instructions (which can take a minute to puzzle out, but are not impossible) and are systematic (e.g. sort all the hardware and organize the various pieces according to type).

@Evergirl, which ikea sofa do you own?

I'm about to make my first furniture purchase from Ikea in 20 years--a wall of Billy shelves. I have a 4-unit effektiv combo that I bought used for $90, which is pretty nice. I'll say that I really do think Ikea's "affordable" items are lesser quality than years ago, and it has discontinued a number of higher-end solid wood offerings. I really wish Ikea would scale back and narrow its lines a bit. Then again, it's hard to argue that other big box retailers aren't also part of the problem.

Consider the other reason: The woods used in mass quantity years ago simply aren't available to us today. My Bassett highboy chest is 50 years old, cost less than a dresser from Target, and I've never had to tighten anything, but while it's a well-crafted piece, it's also a product made during a time of excessive overuse of woods that are still desirable, but much scarcer. Rubberwood, anyone?

I get the impression that most AT readers are pragmatic and responsible, and are likely to strike a balance between responsible purchases (used, repurposed) and those from affordable big-box companies.

When your only options are uber designer, made to order in China, IKEA or ready made ugly crap from China what are you gonna choose? ...no thrift stores, garage sales, vintage furniture shops etc. Out here in Hong Kong, it's IKEA or on Craigslist it's second hand IKEA.

My Lack bookcase is over 15 years old and withstood 2 international moves. My bed is 10 years old and done 4 house moves and I just got rid of a 10 yr old Klippan sofa that was still in great shape and replaced it with an Ektorp. ..I can only think that the quality we get out here is better.

The trick is to buy a classic style there and not abuse it too hard. We have 2 LACK bedframes and shelves and many Ribba frames and they are doing just great as are the mattresses.
Some blame has to go to the overwhelming home decor/home renovation trend where people think they will be happier with a new home and not content with what they already have. They stir the pot of desire, and people need products to buy what they can afford. But people need to be educated on quality and purchase accordingly. I think there are alot of people with little creativity/vision/confidence to pull off redecorating so IKEA is a convenient way to get a look together. Personally I think it looks best used sparingly and with items of age as they show in the photos above. But if given the choice between no dresser and Ikea dresser I'd choose the latter. But they could at least make an effort to put a back on their furniture so it looks good on all sides-(byebye particle board backside!) or make it adaptable with other items ala our wood block kitchen carts & bookshelves, which we adapted with baskets, they could do a better job of engineering accessories that fit their products. They should also be mindful that studs in america's walls are not the same world wide, and their shelf supports should accommodate that fact. But those are comments i guess for another discussion.

I've been looking at Ikea closet organisation systems.... they're not THAT cheap!!!

I remember the time I found a beat-up white IKEA LACK side table for $25 at the local thrift store. I laughed and died deep down inside.

But going on topic, I like IKEA. Pretty much everything I'd say about them has been said. There's good stuff and bad stuff, all with good prices. As someone with very little funds and the itch for design, I like IKEA for those pieces I need but can't afford elsewhere and don't feel like thrift-diving for.

I agree with almost all that FJ!! and jmilb have said. I never can understand the attack on anything IKEA around here. The call that there is only pro-IKEA??? geez, whenever someone has IKEA there are voices right away pointing it out on house calls. all said with patronizing comments. Almost always I sense elitists undertones in it.

I LOVE IKEA. I started my apt with a suitcase. Nothing else. Without IKEA I would have slept on the floor. I have a modest teacher's salary and no family who could pass to me some unneeded pieces of furniture (and I dont' even talk about antiques!).
I have no car, so craigslist was out. I have TWO thrift stores, I found once something I could use. I don't like mid-century, I like simple, clean lines. Ikea is perfect for that. I do mix it with other things, but I don't mind that it's obvious some pieces are from them... I am happy to pay and reward their ideas. They do high-quality things and they do affordable cheaper stuff. They use reusable materials, recycling a lot. They are creative and are not afraid of new ideas and of color.

I am often inspired just going through their catalog. The things are made for apartments, and for many styles.
I hack many of the things I have from them, but not to hide it's ikea, but simply to add my own style.

I am an oxymoronic buyer. I will ALWAYS try to buy vintage first.

I develop a scheme first then I research the best resource for that scheme. It's pretty hard to maintain a strictly vintage kitchen in a contemporary home.....same thing with the bathroom.

I am realistic in knowing that not all of my design issues can be solved with estate sales and antique stores. IKEA is my source for the "fillers" that have a lot of impact but don't DEFINE the space.

I recently installed an IKEA kitchen. My friend's jaws drop when I tell them the cabinets are from IKEA......everything else is custom. The money I save on basics like cabinets helps me to afford the "jewellery" that truly makes a home.

Oh.....and I have some IKEA "jewellery" as well.

What a great discussion and debate, w/ a broad range of viewpoints...it's been thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying. <3

Considering I have tried to shop (or not shop) using what I know of different companies' business practices and (US) political contributions, mschatelaine's post was an eye-opener, and I'll be doing more research and adjusting my IKEA support accordingly. Like others, I have tried to shop secondhand, Craigslist, thrift stores... but it's ridiculous how even "thrift" and secondhand stores charge high prices for furniture just because they came from "brand" hotels or are still in one piece (for now). Thrifting isn't cheap, and it definitely takes time--something of short supply for some people, especially those with kids--let's not even talk about having time to refurbish a less-than-perfect vintage piece. It makes assembling a HEMNES from a flat-pack relatively easy! Or, I've paid for a furniture assembly service (something offered with Singapore's IKEA), or, even more often, I've found already assembled pieces in the AS-IS section that worked (and had further price savings). I only go for the solid wood stuff--no MDF ever, thanks! (As for supporting local businesses--the minute they stop only stocking hard-to-match stinky MDF pieces in UGLY 80s colours and designs, well...)

Realistically, I think being able to furnish entirely without IKEA takes more time, money and UGLEH-tolerance than most people have. And IKEA's look is usually so clean as to allow more creativity and multiple uses.

yeah... what FJ said! No seriously though, I'm a fan of IKEA. I've been shopping there for years and every purchase I've made is still holding up to this day. I don't mind having to assemble things, it's kinda fun for me.

From Europe, it makes me laught when i see someone from USA talking about the price we all pay when someone buys in IKEA... what about the price the planet pays for all your petrol hunger?? I´ve been lucky to share flat with american US People and it is amazing how careless are they with the water and power waste. Maybe at the end it is a matter of price, because here it is so expensive we care a lot, it is the same with petrol and cars...
About IKEA..i´ve worked for them , it is not nice, we all know, but we have to be realistic, i would buy lees in IKea if I could afford it. That's it. At the moment it is the best i can pay .I buy vintage when i can, too, but little pieces , not a kitchen or a sofa...

I've never bought anything from Ikea. I shop second hand, ebay and etsy. It can take years to decorate this way -depending on how much money you are trying to save. But, I like the method. When the room starts coming together, it looks so *me*.... and because it's not very trendy, the look *lasts*.

However, I do window shop Ikea all the time for inspiration and to see how I can build my own pieces. So, I don't hate it. I just hate to spend the money.

paperkite.. ~I am in awe of your self-control.. to be able to walk thru that gigantic store and not buy anything?? wow.

I think we're all glossing over the most important flaw in Catrin's post:

It's not an allen wrench. It's a hex key!

With you there, AvaAdore. It's not too fair to generalise about an entire nation, and we all have our unfair/excessive practices. But having lived abroad with USians, water and power consumptions issues - - I had them.
I guess the overall point is, if we're going to talk about ethical consumption practices, we can't look selectively at retail, but at a number of social and cultural practices within and outside our own contexts. I for one am pro-Ikea. I appreciate education about their ethics and footprint, and think that's a discussion we should all have. But I'm also of a class and location wherein the 'green' alternatives posited by commenters above aren't really feasible. Hence, anything non-Ikea I coud buy would be no more ethical or green, in fact probably less so, while being uglier and not as affordable. So Ikea wins, and is good design for its price point.
While I think the discussion is valuable, it can also be very classed and classist. We need to consider accessibility as an important criteria, not just how green or ethical things are, when those features come with premiums.

Nice looking affordable light fixtures are hard to come by in Brisbane QLD. As a consequence, my old, fixer-upper house is lighted with IKEA finds throughout. And their coffee cups and plates and linens are mixed in with my lovingly collected vintage finds. That said, I handed down my billie bookcases to a friend with a deep sigh of relief when I could finally afford built-in shelving. And I waited til I could have a carpenter build my new kitchen cabinets rather than using the stuff from IKEA . . . . Certainly I would have everything custom/locally made or vintage if I could afford it, but sometimes it's just not in the cards (or the wallet).

t3d is correct: IKEA Family Live is not a US-based website.

Please get your facts straight before letting an article go live. :/

Wow, a post about design inspiration somehow transformed into what I could nigh call a flame war, criticisms abounding. How...lovely. I don't exactly see how this debate is appropriate here at all.

I am a student and, for the price, IKEA is more often than not MUCH better quality (having observed both firsthand) than something I could buy from Target or Wal*Mart, so forgive my shallow pocketbook for buying from them. :/ I, for one, am happy to see a collection of photos showcasing what can be done with IKEA products. It means a student like me doesn't have to live surrounded by milk crates and cinder blocks.

Hi all, Catrin here. Apologies for saying IKEA Family Live is US-based. My bad. But i stand by my use of allen wrench, which is, as far as i know, synonymous with a hex key....

Ikea stuff painted and upholstered. Call it an ikea hack if you want. It wasn't a hack so much as it was finishing what they started. :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8644829@N02/5078581262/

I'm all for being aware of what sort of business practices you're supporting when you shop, but how do you know that that vintage piece that you found in a secondhand shop or on CL or ebay is free didn't originate from a company that may have followed the same practices or worse than those that you accuse Ikea of following? Just because it's not directly from a big box business anymore doesn't necessarily mean that it was responsibly produced and sold in the first place.

Oops, didn't know how the "is free" part got in there. I should've proofread more carefully!

When I lived in Colorado (one of the landlocked states nowhere near an IKEA) I would have killed for an IKEA within 500 miles of Denver. There is nothing like it for affordable and stylish furniture and home furnishings. I also buy things on Craigslist and from second hand stores -- the bottom line is that you can't always find what you need that way (or from Target). I have learned to put furniture together (with help from friends when two pairs of hands are necessary) and managed fine when furniture and hardware wasn't just perfect -- most of the time it was -- and was grateful that there was a mone- saving option for those of us who need to save money but don't want ugly stuff. IKEA gets tax breaks (as I understand it) for hiring the handicapped and whatever else, but so what? They are not making Americans poor -- that's a far more complex problem that would take more time and space than this blog would allow to explain. Go to Huffington Post, The New York Times, Washington Post, (tip of the iceberg) to get into that. IKEA rocks. My furniture doesn't have to last 100 years. Or 50 for that matter. And, I have bought used IKEA and sold my used IKEA to people happy to have it. The rest of you need to lighten up.

Ansela: it is 100% correct and allowable to say you are writing from Europe, it is a continent after all. There is really no need to be so antagonistic - this is a decor site - if you want a site which only supports green products go somewhere else. If AT were only to mention products of companies who don't avoid tax, don't use cheap labour and are 100% green there would be very little left to write about.

Also - I am Irish (and therefore a European) living in America. Yes, Europeans use oil. but the US uses 25% of the worlds oil - it's population percentage is nothing near that. As for pampering from our governments, I would happily pay more tax for the pampering that is healthcare.

I agree that to get into the debate about who pollutes more is just ridiculous - most countries on the planet are guilty so it shouldn't be a 'what country can we blame' row we are all to blame. and it shouldn't be any kind of row on an AT site where the purpose of the post is just to show how affordable ikea furniture can be used alongside industrial and vintage furniture.

On a relevant note - I am a massive Ikea fan, especially a fan of the subject of this piece. You can pick up great finds at thrift stores and compliment them with Ikea items to complete the look. I do however, absolutely dread the assembly!

As someone who lives in NYC, and relies on bicycle and public transportation (and walking!) I am always amazed when I travel and see just how dependent we are on automobiles. We can defend this in relation to the sheer size and scale of the country, but the truth is that we haven't done a good job of modernizing transportation to reduce this reliance. Heavily taxing gasoline, which other countries do, might change this, but this is not something the U.S. will consider.

To the previous commenter: don't forget that this is dependence on FOREIGN OIL. It's got us by the short and curlies, my friend. Nothing will dent U.S. arrogance so much as sticker shock at the pump. It's going to happen eventually, and we might wish to learn from Europe before it does.

hey friends a superb design cool to eyes this kitchen design rank first of all
Kitchen Cabinets