Ikea represents a fantasy. For some folks, it is the fantasy of what life will be like when they move out of their parents' house. For some, it is the fantasy of what life will be like when they own their own home. It's a fantasy world! Everything is brightly colored and inexpensive!
But the fantasy is then busted when you get down to the facts: IKEA furniture and home stuff is cheap because it is, well, cheap. There are a few awesome finds and then a bunch of cheap stuff you don't really need. Everything is slightly too small to be actually useful. And, perhaps more importantly, moving out of your parents' house / into your own home, is actually scary and difficult, and not the blissful freedom that you imagined it would be.
So some folks get very bitter about this, and I think they dislike IKEA as a result.
Personally, I shop at IKEA :) I've found some great things there! But I don't buy into the dream of the IKEA lifestyle :)
I've no idea. I mean, IKEA furniture can be kind of hit and miss, but their showrooms let you fondle things and make sure they're of a quality worth investing in. I dunno.
I think maybe part of the divide are people who can only buy online, and people who have the luxury of a physical location. Our new house is about 10 minutes from IKEA, so...
I tend to associate Ikea furniture with being a student, which was stressful and terrible for me. But I actually think Ikea stores are wondrous places with cheap tasty food and model rooms nicer than anything I'll live in. They're like giant doll houses, it's amazing and I love it.
Todd Sprang So, the suggestion is Ikea furniture is ugly and made from mdf rather than wood. And that causes hate because people don't like cheap products? Is that it?
Vivian Spartacus Sure, the fight club notion of ikea. Though, i think I disagree with some of the facts: our ikea stuff exactly fits the space. We measured. And we even have a 2-person outside sofa that is to the inch the size of the balcony. Its perfect.
But, yes, living alone alone is hard and terrible. and I'm not a fan.
Abstract Machine I have never felt this. Can you expand?
Kelley Vanda This is relevant! We've got a friend who loathed ikea, because he bought two chairs online. He didn't like them, and assembled them wrong (too tight, so the screws shredded and they wouldn't hold weight). We took him and his girl to the store, and now the only issue is them figuring out if they want to live like college or like adults. The store can't help with that....
Kevin Farnworth This was admittedly started due to your thread, and you weren't the one giving the hate. Its been so long since I've been there that I'm not sure i get it anymore.
Cameron Mount Technically, I suppose our new mattress wasn't ikea. But, the frame certainly is. As for cookie cutter -- I (now) feel like there's a lot of creativity that can happen within the constraints of what is available. And hacking, of course.
Their history of using Political Prisoners in eastern Germany to produce their furniture in the 70s and 80s did not endear them to me and I do not trust them to produce in a way I would support. On the other hand I own a few items of their furniture and they have been working pretty well for me.
personally, i bought some ikea furniture in the past and liked it fine. however, last time i went, i couldn't really find anything i liked. i mean, how much brushed metal and pine furniture can a person want?
Philipp Neitzel This is not something I knew about. And now I have skimmed an article about it. Rule #1: Don't do business with people who won't let you see how the product is made.
Violating that means you're either stupid, don't care, or know and consider profits to be a higher concern. I'll have to think about this.
Todd Sprang I mean, this is why we go online first, and then know what we want to try out.
I personally think Ikea is great for disposable furniture. Half my apartment is furnished in Ikea, and most of that stuff won't be following me when I move (assuming I will move sometime before I die)
I'm just not a big fan of the designs. It's simply not to my taste. I prefer the stained and polished look of cherry, mahogany and ebony. I have some 'okay' bookcases from there, each shelf has bowed under the weight of my library. It took less than a year for all three sets of cases to end up in that condition. Since then I've developed the skills to build my own.
As far as the 'the hate' goes, I've never really experienced it. I've heard people joke about Ikea, but that happens with almost any mass market trend.
David Hawkins wow, my experienced with the expedite book shelves couldn't be different. We're in the 3rd place in 7 years, and the expedite has stood up. I'd suggest you're screwing things on too tightly, but if you can make your own furniture, that is unlikely.
I have a friend who's shelves have held up. Though, my sister in law has had the same issue as me with the shelves (I didn't assemble those). Considering the shelves them selves aren't screwed into the frames but sit on the provided pegs that allows to one to adjust height, there is some inconsistency in quality there, I am sure.
I think the design is decent if you don't mind utilitarian, but any of the MDF is super fragile and tends to break easily. It seems cheap but is actually kind of expensive if you need to move because it has to be replaced well before better made stuff does.
On the other hand we have a metal bed frame from them and it's well constructed and can be moved by one person and assembled without tools. I'd only recommend them for non-MDF, though.
I think part of becoming a more successful grown up is moving beyond basic IKEA stuff...and buying "real" furniture. That said, our bedroom set is one of their all wood lines so that fit the bill as well. But when I look at lack tables and billy bookshelves I think of a time right out of college when they were the best we could afford.
We had a couple of the $10 lack tables for a while. Talk about Vimes's boot: You should replace them every month, and you'll still have crappy furniture.
Our current ikea coffee table is are glass. They don't feel cheap, and exhibit modern design. While being a heck of a lot cheaper than the modern design shops.
William Nichols Just that.... We repositioned something a few feet and it fell apart and it was very Vimes' boots. MDF just isn't structural, not the way they use it.
I think it's a combination of classism and hipsterism. Ikea is cheap and popular. It's kinda rare to walk into a 20-30 something's apartment and not see something from ikea. It flies in the face of our ideas about american individualism. We are supposed to have our own unique sense of style, not be mass market sheeple or whatever. But this entire idea is pretty classist. The poor just don't have the time or resources to care about that shit. Sometimes things are popular for good reasons. We don't shop at ikea because it's trendy and everyone else is doing it. We shop there because it is simple, attractive, and cheap. Haters just can't even stand that this market category needs to exist. They either think people should buy "real" furniture, which is expensive, or spend lots of time trawling flea markets and thrift stores for unique and interesting pieces, which is both time consuming and still usually more expensive than ikea.
So fuck those haters. Ikea is the bomb for people like me.
William Nichols The weakest piece for us was a dresser.... The boards started actively disintegrating. Maybe they have good years and bad years? We had a computer desk that was made from a tougher form of MDF that was much much sturdier, too, but it was too big for our small new place so we didn't keep it in the last move. Billy and Lack seem really flimsy to me. We used a Lack table as a monitor stand and had to toss it when moving it. I never got Billy bookcases because I've seen the bowed shelves at friends' houses.
The billy bookcases I'm not as familiar with. Its the expedite that we have -- and that is, apparently, now the most common piece of furniture in the world.
apart from the lack of style and industrial materials? no reason. pretty sure it's the most hackable furniture on the planet.
ReplyDeleteIkea represents a fantasy. For some folks, it is the fantasy of what life will be like when they move out of their parents' house. For some, it is the fantasy of what life will be like when they own their own home. It's a fantasy world! Everything is brightly colored and inexpensive!
ReplyDeleteBut the fantasy is then busted when you get down to the facts: IKEA furniture and home stuff is cheap because it is, well, cheap. There are a few awesome finds and then a bunch of cheap stuff you don't really need. Everything is slightly too small to be actually useful. And, perhaps more importantly, moving out of your parents' house / into your own home, is actually scary and difficult, and not the blissful freedom that you imagined it would be.
So some folks get very bitter about this, and I think they dislike IKEA as a result.
Personally, I shop at IKEA :) I've found some great things there! But I don't buy into the dream of the IKEA lifestyle :)
if you want to live the ikea dream, you should probably move to sweden and buy at the other furniture stores. =)
ReplyDeleteI've no idea. I mean, IKEA furniture can be kind of hit and miss, but their showrooms let you fondle things and make sure they're of a quality worth investing in. I dunno.
ReplyDeleteI think maybe part of the divide are people who can only buy online, and people who have the luxury of a physical location. Our new house is about 10 minutes from IKEA, so...
I tend to associate Ikea furniture with being a student, which was stressful and terrible for me. But I actually think Ikea stores are wondrous places with cheap tasty food and model rooms nicer than anything I'll live in. They're like giant doll houses, it's amazing and I love it.
ReplyDeleteTodd Sprang So, the suggestion is Ikea furniture is ugly and made from mdf rather than wood. And that causes hate because people don't like cheap products? Is that it?
ReplyDeleteVivian Spartacus Sure, the fight club notion of ikea. Though, i think I disagree with some of the facts: our ikea stuff exactly fits the space. We measured. And we even have a 2-person outside sofa that is to the inch the size of the balcony. Its perfect.
But, yes, living alone alone is hard and terrible. and I'm not a fan.
Abstract Machine I have never felt this. Can you expand?
Kelley Vanda This is relevant! We've got a friend who loathed ikea, because he bought two chairs online. He didn't like them, and assembled them wrong (too tight, so the screws shredded and they wouldn't hold weight). We took him and his girl to the store, and now the only issue is them figuring out if they want to live like college or like adults. The store can't help with that....
Kevin Farnworth This was admittedly started due to your thread, and you weren't the one giving the hate. Its been so long since I've been there that I'm not sure i get it anymore.
Cameron Mount Technically, I suppose our new mattress wasn't ikea. But, the frame certainly is. As for cookie cutter -- I (now) feel like there's a lot of creativity that can happen within the constraints of what is available. And hacking, of course.
ReplyDeleteTheir history of using Political Prisoners in eastern Germany to produce their furniture in the 70s and 80s did not endear them to me and I do not trust them to produce in a way I would support.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand I own a few items of their furniture and they have been working pretty well for me.
i think that's why some haters are gonna hate.
ReplyDeletepersonally, i bought some ikea furniture in the past and liked it fine. however, last time i went, i couldn't really find anything i liked. i mean, how much brushed metal and pine furniture can a person want?
Philipp Neitzel This is not something I knew about. And now I have skimmed an article about it. Rule #1: Don't do business with people who won't let you see how the product is made.
ReplyDeleteViolating that means you're either stupid, don't care, or know and consider profits to be a higher concern. I'll have to think about this.
Todd Sprang I mean, this is why we go online first, and then know what we want to try out.
I personally think Ikea is great for disposable furniture. Half my apartment is furnished in Ikea, and most of that stuff won't be following me when I move (assuming I will move sometime before I die)
ReplyDeleteI'm just not a big fan of the designs. It's simply not to my taste. I prefer the stained and polished look of cherry, mahogany and ebony. I have some 'okay' bookcases from there, each shelf has bowed under the weight of my library. It took less than a year for all three sets of cases to end up in that condition. Since then I've developed the skills to build my own.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the 'the hate' goes, I've never really experienced it. I've heard people joke about Ikea, but that happens with almost any mass market trend.
David Hawkins wow, my experienced with the expedite book shelves couldn't be different. We're in the 3rd place in 7 years, and the expedite has stood up. I'd suggest you're screwing things on too tightly, but if you can make your own furniture, that is unlikely.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend who's shelves have held up. Though, my sister in law has had the same issue as me with the shelves (I didn't assemble those). Considering the shelves them selves aren't screwed into the frames but sit on the provided pegs that allows to one to adjust height, there is some inconsistency in quality there, I am sure.
ReplyDeleteI think the design is decent if you don't mind utilitarian, but any of the MDF is super fragile and tends to break easily. It seems cheap but is actually kind of expensive if you need to move because it has to be replaced well before better made stuff does.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand we have a metal bed frame from them and it's well constructed and can be moved by one person and assembled without tools. I'd only recommend them for non-MDF, though.
I think part of becoming a more successful grown up is moving beyond basic IKEA stuff...and buying "real" furniture. That said, our bedroom set is one of their all wood lines so that fit the bill as well. But when I look at lack tables and billy bookshelves I think of a time right out of college when they were the best we could afford.
ReplyDeleteWe had a couple of the $10 lack tables for a while. Talk about Vimes's
ReplyDeleteboot: You should replace them every month, and you'll still have crappy
furniture.
Our current ikea coffee table is are glass. They don't feel cheap, and
exhibit modern design. While being a heck of a lot cheaper than the modern
design shops.
William Nichols Just that.... We repositioned something a few feet and it fell apart and it was very Vimes' boots. MDF just isn't structural, not the way they use it.
ReplyDeleteThe odd thing: Our night stands / clothes draws are MDF. We've had them 4 years, and they were fine in the move.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a combination of classism and hipsterism. Ikea is cheap and popular. It's kinda rare to walk into a 20-30 something's apartment and not see something from ikea. It flies in the face of our ideas about american individualism. We are supposed to have our own unique sense of style, not be mass market sheeple or whatever. But this entire idea is pretty classist. The poor just don't have the time or resources to care about that shit. Sometimes things are popular for good reasons. We don't shop at ikea because it's trendy and everyone else is doing it. We shop there because it is simple, attractive, and cheap. Haters just can't even stand that this market category needs to exist. They either think people should buy "real" furniture, which is expensive, or spend lots of time trawling flea markets and thrift stores for unique and interesting pieces, which is both time consuming and still usually more expensive than ikea.
ReplyDeleteSo fuck those haters. Ikea is the bomb for people like me.
William Nichols The weakest piece for us was a dresser.... The boards started actively disintegrating. Maybe they have good years and bad years? We had a computer desk that was made from a tougher form of MDF that was much much sturdier, too, but it was too big for our small new place so we didn't keep it in the last move. Billy and Lack seem really flimsy to me. We used a Lack table as a monitor stand and had to toss it when moving it. I never got Billy bookcases because I've seen the bowed shelves at friends' houses.
ReplyDeleteThe billy bookcases I'm not as familiar with. Its the expedite that we have -- and that is, apparently, now the most common piece of furniture in the world.
ReplyDelete