If Ikea was Japanese instead of Swedish, the shit would assemble itself. And transform into a giant robot.
Nothing wrong with browsing at IKEA, it's just another furniture store. That would make for a great subliminal message to scatter through-out IKEAs everywhere!
Ikea filled my college room during school. There stuff isn't as cheap as what you get at Wal-Mart. Also, I've noticed there stuff is really appealing up in the Frozen North of Minnesota. It's not expensive, but it's not low cost. In school, if you had their stuff, you were the shiznit.
Meh, works pretty good for book shelves. For stuff that isn't going to get used and abused much, and is tucked back in the office, I don't see much problem with it.
Ikea was (is?) HUGE when I was in Germany. If your flat was decked out in Ikea you were the freakin bees knees. Plus they'd do weird shit like put a room upside down on the ceiling of train stations...
Well yeah it's pretty good if it's tucked away and rarely used! C'mon man, it weighs a ton, chips easily and crumbles when wet. If particle board actually came from particle board trees it would never be harvested.
You forgot one of the most important attributes.... IT'S CHEAP! And yes I agree with you about it being not so nice as solid wood, but for certain conditions (as I described in my initial post) solid wood would be a waste of money IMO.
The stuff at Ikea is on par with the stuff you'll find at a Walmart. Both are cheap, require assembly, will fall apart if used frequently, and are noticeably less comfortable than real furniture sold at other, better places.
You tell me. Or even better, tell me WHY solid wood would be superior to particle board for bookshelves in an office. Not going to be moved around, not going to get wet, and not going to get banged up. Why pay more for shit you don't need? Paying more to pay more is about as retarded as you can get.
The only bad thing I can say about particle board shelving is that it sags under the weight of books after a while. We've got some shelves that we've had since we got married that are pretty saggy - but even though they're 30 years old, they're still here! The bottoms are a little crumbly after a couple of floods, but they're still standing. A little saggy and a little crumbly, just like me after 30 years of marriage!
There is a difference in the look between the cheap Ikea bookshelves and some real wood bookshelves. For the record the only piece of Ikea furniture in my apartment right now is a bookshelf. It looks fine for now but it will get upgraded when I buy a house.
So you say now.... then you realize that there are a hundred other things that you didn't need for an apartment, but are much more essential. I think Lowe's stands to make more money off my purchase than Citi.
We got some nice wood furniture from Pier One and a natural pine furniture store in Paramus when we first got married. One reason or another, it's all gone now, except for one dinette chair. But the centerpiece of our dining room is my grandmother's dining table. Not even sure what kinda wood it is, but it's dark and hard. We have the receipt - purchased in 1928 with six chairs for $200.
Except you go to IKEA once you've decided that those other stores don't have what you want or are out of your price range. The last time I went to IKEA it was because I wanted a decent computer desk for under $200 and a couple of dirt cheap dressers for my apartment. I needed something functional, and I had a preference for stained wood finishes. I went to IKEA precisely because I knew it had the kind of selection that would make it almost inevitable that I'd find something I'd like well enough that was in my price range. IKEA functions primarily like a supermarket. You go there with a list of things you expect to buy, and you may browse between variations at the store, and something not on your list may catch your eye, but you're gonna buy something, and, of course, there are also the impulse buy temptations for the silly. Can you imagine setting out to a major supermarket to do food shopping and coming back with nothing? I suppose it's possible, but it would almost certainly involve a pretty radical and unexpected change in store policy.
After a few weeks of edging with scissors, a weedeater is inching it's way up the list. However I really do need to get a Spreader for some Weed and Feed.... and a new light for the Mastercloset (hopefully not bad wiring!) and a ceiling fan for the guest room. There's one in the other bedroom, but since that closet has the walk in attic access, we turned that one into the storage/office... and then another desk (CL all the way).... and then...
It's probably cherry wood. It's dark, and even tho it can be "thin" it's still solid, unlike walnut or ... something lighter, where it needs to be a bit thicker. Also, I think it's able to stand up to spills and stains better than other woods.
Here's what I went for, and got: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20116877 My need was for a bigger display cabinet for my model planes than the current hutches they're on, preferably behind glass. Every other thing I could find on the net was over $800, and most hits were for professional store cabinets in the $2k range. I actually need two of these, but I'll have to get a smaller second one (after the CC cycles), since the other space i have is narrower. Interestingly, I'm having extra shelves made by a local glass shop, and they're costing more than I imagined - $65 each for UNtempered glass. I can't imagine the three shelves that come with this thing cost half its value, so I guess the Ikea price is pretty good. Or the glass place is ripping me off.
Um.... If you don't need tempered glass, just get them to cut some at Lowe's for like a buck fifty. That's where we got a replacement shelf for our China Cabinet a few weeks ago.
Tex agrees: exactly why I'm glad to still be in an apartment right now... Yeah, it's a hassle, but you can save ALOT of money by doing it yourself. And with real estate so low, interest rates floored, and the 8K Obama check.... it'd be worth checking into... You get VA Loans right?
Any idea how much it would cost to get wood custom cut? I have a design in mind for my end tables, but don't have any woodworking equipment. It never occurred to me to have Lowes or even Menards cut the wood for me ...
Yeah, particle board shelving is great until the shelves start to sag due to the weight of the books on them. One solution I've found is that I'll periodically (when I notice one is starting to bend) flip the saggy shelf over so the weight of the books straightens it back out.
Sorry, no clue. However you can rent pretty much any equipment you need at Lowe's. Seems pretty reasonably priced (I assume they aim to just break even on the rentals, get their money with the supplies).
that's a good idea, too. But, I haven't done any kind of woodworking since high school. I suppose I could get a book ...
