h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

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Isn’t this the reverend thread?
I wonder how many reverends shop at Ikea?

Rev. Ebert

Six- you went to IKEA!?

I hate Ikea. I grew up in Warrington, which has one, and people come from all over the north west *just* to go to ikea. Why? What is the appeal? My sister drags me there sometimes when I go home and it is just so incredibly annoying a shop.

yeah but they have luvley crispbread!

http://www.ikea.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/IkeaNearYouView?storeId=7&langId=-20&StoreName=warrington#5

I've just found that the IKEA website describes warrington as nr. Manchester- that's unfair- we're just as near to Liverpool.

I said I wasn't proud, Egon!

The thing with IKEA, though, is that although it's always a completely knackering marathon because once you've been worn down by walking around the displays upstairs - even allowing for a pitstop to get your Swedish meatballs down your neck - you've still got to get through the bit downstairs where you happen across lots of things that are useful, in the main good-looking and well-designed, and are too tired not to buy them, and end up spending between fifty and a hundred quid you hadn't planned to. You then get to the warehouse where you find whatever furniture you went to buy is out of stock anyway, so you have to come back again anyway.

So you brave the huge queue, buy a nice cheap hot dog on your way out and your Swedish stuff at the Swedish shop, and somehow that makes it all better. And the stuff you didn't plan to buy, once you get it home, is usually quite useful and makes your life better in a small way.

Also - I grew up with my parents shopping for furniture and household goods at the likes of MFI, Courts and DFS (I'm old enough to remember when there were only two shops - advertised on Central Television, they were at "Darley Dale near Matlock, and Tamworth Road, Measham". always wondered where Measham actually was, they should have explained that too) and it was uniformly either cheap and horrible, or overpriced and horrible. Chintz and mock-antiques featured heavily.

So when IKEA first came to Birmingham, I was quite excited by the whole idea of European-designed modern furniture at a decent price. But then I was a strange teenager

So I wasn't the only one then? Oh joy

There is a great deal of stuff at IKEA which is both well designed and relatively cheap, but little of it is the furniture. If you live in a flat which was converted from a house though, you probably have little choice but flatpack furniture since the people who do the conversions give little thought to getting furniture in and out, as I found many times when I was both a furniture maker and a removal man

Even many purpose built flats - particularly those above shops - are impossible to get large pieces of furniture into.

One word of advice - don't try to move a piece of flatpack furniture in one piece - disassemble it first. Which leads on to another piece of advice - don't throw away those assembly instructions and any tools which came with the furniture!

Here in brand-name label addicted Japan, there is a wonderful chain called MUJI that sell very well designed, plain, simple furniture, clothing, kitchen and household goods, packaged food, cosmetics, stationary - all without labels. We've furnished our whole appartment there!

We have Muji and Ikea in Brussels - I like both...

I think the best value for money Ikea stuff are the bookcases/modular shelving things, which are cheap but don't look it, and the wooden bendy chairs. A bargain.

sprout

In Japan, Muji is very inexpensive. The same toothbrush set I bought in London for about £25 cost about 50yen, (about 50cents US). The Japanese see Muji as being an environmentally friendly dollar store. I wish they would start a Muji in Canada.

Muji are great for anyone setting up housekeeping from scratch. You can plunk down about 5,000 yen ($50)and get all the kitchen essentials for two (2bowls,plates, two sets cutlery, 2 cups,2 drinking glasses kitchen knife,cutting board, pot, fry pan, spatula) and their packaged food is great basic stuff like boil-in-the-foil curries and pilaf mixes

http://www.mujionline.com/uk_shop.html