IKEA: classic or dud?

Dennis Björnberg wrote:

Ikeas founder, Ingvar Kamprad, was a member of a nazi-party in his teens. He has since totally rejected nazism, and said that he was just a stupid teenager without a clue about what nazism really was.

I'm sure that's true. But Ingvar Kamprad (the I and K in Ikea, now 75) is an odd cove.

Ikea's product catalogue is well read. Media reports suggest that with 65 million copies published in 20 languages it is the worlds second most widely read publication after the bible.

Appropriately enough, then, a book Kamprad published in 1976 was called 'Testament of a Furniture Maker'. It stressed qualities like humbleness, simplicity and self-reliance, and spoke about Ikea's 'Nordic values'.

Kamprad has kept total control of Ikea, it's not answerable to any shareholders or finance capitalists. Its head office is a 'charity' in Copenhagen. An article in the Indian Express reports: 'If Kamprad had not turned over the company to a foundation but listed it on the bourse and kept 40-50 percent of shares he would be worth some 40-45 billion.'

The article continues:

Despite Ikeas success and his wealth, Kamprad tries to stayout of the public spotlight, always travelling economy class from his home in Lausanne, Switzerland.

He made headlines in Sweden in 1992 when it was revealed that his travel expenses to attend an interview at a Swedish television station showed he had taken a bus to the studio.

Kamprad's reputation was called into question in 1994 when a Stockholm newspaper found his name in the archives of pro-Nazi activist Per Engdahl with whom he was friendly in the 1950s.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.

There are some people (for instance an activist group in Bristol, UK) who boycott Ikea, claiming they use child labour and discriminate against black employees, but I think such witch-hunting is fairly silly. The big picture is that Ikea provides good design at reasonable prices. And if you look at Ikea-owned Habitat (unfortunately not available in the US), under new design director Tom Dixon I'd call their new stuff 'good design at reasonable prices'.

Hmmm.. don't know that this is strictly true. I've bought similar style furniture that wasn't do-it-yourself, and I've found that my IKEA stuff is way, way sturdier and harder wearing. Some of the materials admittedly aren't brilliant, but they do seem to be improving all the time.

Don't forget the cheap gravadlax, crayfish, pickled herrings, Diam bar related products, 9 metre packs of strawberyy laces, arctic flat bread, lingon berry jam, cloudberry jam etc. that can be got there.

I do not think I could put the stuff together by myself though so beware when I DO get to IKEA I will be calling on all you strong tough meng rowr oh yes.

my Ikea inventory: three shelves, two PS armchairs (red), one coffee table, four Herman kitchen table chairs, two rugs, two sets of curtains, three lamps, knives and block, dish rack, cutlery holders, and more cutlery, dishes, bowls, pans, knives, wine glasses than i could possibly count.

Things I would not buy from Ikea: bed linen (nice, but I HATE patterns on sheets etc - COMMON), sofas, the actual bed.

In reality this meant seven beds, seven wardrobes ten chest of drawers and sundries - chairs, pointless shelves and five bookcases despite the fools they got in never reading any of the crap free books we got off of the remaindered bookshop. Bathroom cabinets a gog go not to mention the entire kitchen cabinets (I did get half a day off to lump a fifteen foot roll of Lino from Borough to Nitting Hill by tube but that was barely a break really.)

This is why I like my furniture to come pre-made by people whose job it is.

In reality this meant seven beds, seven wardrobes ten chest of drawers and sundries - chairs, pointless shelves and five bookcases despite the fools they got in never reading any of the crap free books we got off of the remaindered bookshop. Bathroom cabinets a gog go not to mention the entire kitchen cabinets (I did get half a day off to lump a fifteen foot roll of Lino from Borough to Notting Hill by tube but that was barely a break really.)

This is why I like my furniture to come pre-made by people whose job it is.

I once had to spend a whole Saturday in my old job assembling 10 new Ikea desks. On a Saturday! How unfair. I agree, furniture should come ready assembled. DIY sucks. I have better things to do with my time.

I like IKEA because I can buy fairly large (ultimately) items and still get them home in my car. And they finally carry good CD cabinets - three shelves, walnut veneer, sliding glass fronts, wall hangable - for $20. They never seemed to get the size right before, like they weren't really made for CDs, or they were those slotted types where if you wanted to insert a new CD while maintaining the order you had to take every other disk out and move it one slot.

In the future, all materials will be like this.

I hate Ikea because I haven't got a car and nor have any of my friends. It's as simple as that.

It's just not NOT worth it, but what choice do I have????

Sorry, there. It just gets very, very tiring living in a location where all the big chain stores are from local or regional chains(hello, H-E-B!) and so many stores I keep on hearing about are nowhere near me. What I wouldn't give to have a large music store somewhere close by, for example. But I digress. Heh.

(but what of Todd Oldham at Target?)

2 different ballgames. Are you looking for craftsmanship, and the price that comes with it, or functionality, pure and simple? At this stage in my life, decent design, affordability, and DIY assembly outstrip brilliant design, excellent materials, craftsmanship and the attendant premium. Someone said they had "better things to do with [their] time" than put furniture together. Alright, I hope those better things include work...so you can pay for my Eames lounge!

That said, I have a collander that is the shit and ez to clean, and one of those 4x5 bookshelves full of books and trophies and such.

Tres chic.

I own: 3 bookshelves, 4 cd shelves, 1 sofa, 1 coffeetable from IKEA.

Now THAT is brilliant. :-)

I am fearful of building such a thing, because we "built" the dresser in our room rather hurriedly and now it is splintering and buckling and falling apart.

...Is it?

That seems a little bit too spartan for me. And it would probably be a nightmare to put together.

Ned - I am planning to live forever. Aren't you?

This thread isn't just about me, btw. Other people, post your interior design dilemmas now!

obv. ikea stuff is really hit and miss and most of it looks better at IKEA than it does in your house. I have a chair from there that I hate more and more with every passing day.

Ned - I am planning to live forever. Aren't you?

Maybe you're the same as me.

I read an interview with Jake Gyllenhaal which he inisted take place in the Ikea cafe in Burbank because of his Swedish ancestry.

b-but $135 Eames hang-it-alls!

Ikea makes some stuff that you buy for short-term functionality and discard, but it also makes other stuff that's worth keeping. Am I ready to graduate to DWR? Tempting.

Also: where are all the small sofas? I have a 27" doorway into my living room which prevents me from putting any real furniture inside. We've tried two sofas now and they won't fit. I need something that isn't very high that I can turn on it's side when I move it in. And don't say "get a futon". And don't say "move!" If someone can point out some modular furniture that doesn't look uncomfortable and like shit (ie: not West Elm) please do!!!

No furniture is worth that! I keep thinking about Fight Club...

revive!

how did people in the Edmonton chaos get heat exhaustion? was it because IKEA's never seem to have air-con?

(xpost)

Anyway, it turns out the stabbing was incidental and not connected to Scandinavian cheapness at all, but that didn't stop the newsreader on the radio this morning sounding gleefully shocked by it.

the route through ikea always reminded me of the Peano Space Filling Curves that were used on the front of the maths textbook we used in university:

http://www.seanet.com/~garyteachout/fill.html

(ha, search for exact book turns up this: http://www.bookhead.co.uk/books-by/Bez.aspx)

That is all.

(annoyingly, they have a big distribution depot which is much nearer)

Ikea store shut after bargain-hunters cause chaos
By Jenny Booth, Times Online

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1478154_3,00.html

At least 22 would-be bargain-hunters suffered crush injuries and heat exhaustion as a 6,000-strong crowd forced a new Ikea superstore to close on its opening night.

Cars were abandoned on London's busy North Circular road and customers were crushed in the chaos which ensued after the furniture store opened its doors at midnight.

The new outlet in Edmonton, the biggest Ikea in England, was due to trade for a full 24 hours, with a programme of special offers and entertainment. But the store was forced to shut up shop within 45 minutes due to an "unforeseen volume of customers".

Emergency services were called and six people were taken to hospital, including in the vicinity of the store and a man suffering chest pains.

An Ikea spokeswoman said that it was decided to close for the safety of customers and staff, and the store would remain shut until further notice. She denied that the stabbing victim had been injured in the store, and said it was a separate incident.

She added: "Ikea are deeply shocked, upset and concerned at what occurred. Ikea take the safety and security of its customers and employees very seriously at all times."

Assistant Divisional Officer William Bird of the London Fire Brigade, who was called to the scene, said that he had never seen anything like the chaos.

"It was extraordinary and to an extent unexpected, I have never attended anything like that before," he said.

"Fire crews arrived at the Ikea store in Meridien Way to find severe traffic congestion and many thousands of people trying to get in to the new store."

Cars had been abandoned on the North Circular road, as people rushed to the shop on foot in order to arrive in time to snap up the bargains - such as a leather sofa for £45 - which had been advertised in strictly defined time slots.

The fire crews were hampered in arriving at the scene of the trouble by the sheer number of cars blocking the road.

"People were really trying to get into the store and surrounding car parks, and that caused an enormous problem with access to the premises," continued ADO Bird.

"People were injured, and we assisted the ambulance service in administering first aid. There were crush injuries and people in shock as a result of the pushing and shoving there.

"The ambulance service were the first on the scene because of the reports of injuries. We went along accompanied by the police about 1am, after the opening, and once the extent of the problems had been realised. There were a fair few emergency services there."

...

Sol Sheikh, who lives in Edmonton, told GMTV that the whole event was unnerving. "At around 10pm the staff disappeared and slowly but steadily madness descended on the crowd," he said.

"A lot of people turned up just before midnight. They pushed their way into the crowd and started queuing at different parts. The staff just could not handle it."

Lisa Keepence, 36, who queued from midday yesterday for a cut-price leather sofa, claimed she was pushed down the stairs by a security guard when the store closed. She said her 60-year-old mother had been pushed to the ground and trodden on by the crowds as they rushed forward.

Nicola Bird, 41, from Enfield, north London, said: "There were no police and hardly any security guards. The security man I was next to looked frightened to death. He was white as a ghost, he didn’t know what to do.

"There was another security man in a fluorescent jacket who was lying on the floor with people trampling on him and there were children there as well."

Miss Bird managed to buy a sofa but has not yet been able to pick it up.

The more I live with IKEA furniture, the more I like it. They are a model of how mass-market design should be done. It's cheap to buy, easy to assemble, relatively long-lasting (not near as long as those bookcases my grandfather built by hand, but what do you want for 60 bucks?), relatively attractive (a master furtinure maker could come up with something better, sure, but you couldn't put it together yourself), readily available, and their business and labor practices are exemplary.

IKEA is a great company that makes great products. That's why the obsession, I'm guessing.

However, Target was having a clearance sale on nifty imported furniture and I ended up spending a fortune. I got an African table, and Indian chest, three pillows and three rugs.

however, i have it on good authority that starbucks is genetically engineering aggressive coffee beans. while docile beans normally live in harmony with the cordillera, angry coffee beans trees make the other plants sad.

Do you have to build your own sofas or do they come pre-assembled?

"Henjoy your affordable Svedish Crap!"

http://www.ikea.com/PIAimages/30353_PE103235_S3.jpg

It is great, and cost £69.

Habitat do a remarkably similar (although solid wood rather than particleboard) thing for £345.

IKEA won this battle.

The only thing I want from IKEA is a bathroom sink/cupboard unit, but I can't face going to the bloody store.

i... don't understand.

i want one

Although we'll probably be buying a bed there.

Is the stuff hard to put together? I've always gotten otherwise cheap stuff that is already put together, but I see they have some nice, clean-lined red shelving.

It can be frustrating sometimes. Try to have a friend on hand who is somewhat mechanically inclined and enjoys those sorts of projects.

I once got trapped inside the Bristol branch of IKEA.
I can buy already assembled furniture from the Furniture Store (it's actually called that) not far from my house. I can get a solid chest of drawers there for £50. Why would I waste my time assembling furniture when I can buy it already made? Screw that. So, dud.

xpost
No, it isn't hard as long as you really look at the instructions properly and don't try to do something clever like I did and build a loft bed with a ladder in a different direction to the one illustrated. It took me 4 hours. But Child 2 loves it now so Daddy getting all stressed out and hitting the floor with the hammer was all in a good cause.

As I'm sure I've posted elsewhere I have a load of their stuff and most of it has lasted well and still goods good.

The thing about it being flatpacked is that I cannot get a six foot bookcase already assembled in my car. Now for that matter, a bed.

??

why bother doing anything?

think i'm going to purchase some expedit shelves for the records. they really are the perfect size.

-- haitch, Sunday, May 13, 2007 3:06 PM

I cannot get a six foot bookcase already assembled in my car

some of us don't have cars.

idiot furniture stores that don't deliver.

some of us don't have books

IKEA deliver - oh boy do they deliver!

The shelves, dining chairs, and tables aren't too difficult to put together. Mr. Jaq just re-assembled 2 of the 16 cube Expedits the other night and we've got 2 more of the 25 cube ones waiting to build up this weekend. I had some small issues with a chest of drawers, and once I bought an extremely complex and fiddly fold-out laptop desk that took AGES to put together and when it was done, it was unpleasant to use. Hint #1: electric screwdriver or drill w/ screwdriver bit U&K. Hint #2: if the screws don't want to start or bind 1/2 way, back them out and rub either soap or pencil lead on them, then try again.

I have a stigmatum on my hand from assembling my new IKEA table from the new IKEA store here. Stupid screwdriver digging into my palm. I do have a power drill though so I was able to finish the thing. And the table is nice and folds up very small so I have a bigger feeling living room now. Rah!

OK, our living room is now like an IKEA showroom. And EVERY instruction booklet thing that came with everything we bought had one completely wrong diagram in it just to confuse the living bejeezus out of us. But it all looks lovely, even if it did take about three hours to put together a stool.

Okay, those giant size Expedits with 25 cubbies are DAMN HEAVY. We got the second one built last night. I'm trying to figure out how to bolt one (narrow side) to the (brick) wall (without a masonry drill) and then somehow tie the second one to the first one, so they don't fall over and crush me in my sleep (hello earthquake-prone lahar zone paranoid living).

oh yeah, ikea deliver. like when they delivered my bookshelf to the wrong fucking house and then said: "the woman won't give it back."

WELL, GIVE ME ANOTHER ONE, THEN, YOU CUNTS.

as for whether it's hard to assemble or not ... i refer you to my own odyssey, above. it's not, really -- the worst thing about it is the lack of any WORDS on the instructions. you do end up wanting to chop up little speech-bubble man with a sharpened allen key, and there's invariably one step that seems to involve adjusting something that, had you not decided to adjust it two steps previously, would have caused the whole thing to collapse and break your hand, but ... look, if i can do it, you bloody can.

Mary, it's not hard. Like someone said above, you should invest in a cordless power drill. You can get a decent one for under 50 bucks, you don't need anything really powerful.

scott, i think i'm going to order some expedit shelves.

and then said: "the woman won't give it back."

!!!!!

The delivery service they contract with here completely mangled one package of the 6, so I refused it. The guy said "It was like that when they put it on the truck this morning." Yeah, right. Finally got the replacement a week later, also in a mangled box - but this time the shelves weren't destroyed. We are going to buy some Omars pretty soon.

My new most fun thing to do: dropping the empty boxes out our (3rd story) window into the alley below for Mr. Jaq to corral.

the big shelf almost did me in last nite, Jaq. but i was drunk and tired. and maria did most of the work. but i was bleeding. and i banged the rest of it together this morning and i wasn't subtle. so it's not perfect. the two little ones were no problem though. again, maria did them by herself mostly. we still have one big one and one smaller one left to do. i'm scared of the remaining monster shelf. we put one little one on top of another little one. they look nice. or will once we get all the moving detritus out of the house. the other shelves will just be for books. and we are still gonna need more shelves! but most of everything will be out of boxes. which is nice.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2177/1564484515_e6d2ffef22.jpg?v=0

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2092/1564484353_04181c21fb.jpg?v=0

it's a relief mostly. i've had stuff in boxes for five years. since we moved to the island. even the boxes themselves are kind of nostalgic for me! they came from last job in philly at the korean deli.

http://wotan.liu.edu/~kimberlytiffany/bowing.jpg xpost

my parents are bringing me an expedeit for my bday :D

and oh yeah the ikea in massachusetts was insane. but insane in a good way. like it's own country. or it's own airport or something. we were in a hurry, otherwise we probably would have dropped a lot more dough there.

maria found these nice shelves at an estate sale. same place we got our almost new couch. they are in my upstairs "office".

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2300/1564574285_a061378559.jpg?v=0

and she just got me a nice recliner at another estate sale for ten bucks. every office needs a good recliner.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2281/1564574193_5c736701e5.jpg?v=0

there are still records in the closet, but at least they are out of the boxes.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2134/1565456024_cb4b0ec065.jpg?v=0

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2121/1564574483_aa6c63f7d7.jpg?v=0

IKEA is useful. Especially with those of use with micro apartments. Rundown of what is in my apartment currently:

Folding leaf table and pantry:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/119/306888020_9f5c3786e5.jpg

Table close-up:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/118/306890751_b1da79e002.jpg

The shelf of the left. The cabinets were there when we moved it, but they might be IKEA for all I know:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/99/306883931_e57dd05daa.jpg

Office desk:

Also have the coffee table with storage baskets, and another shelf in the living room.

Office desk:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/114/306891355_d812ff5682.jpg

were the cats from ikea too?

Ikea is pretty classic just for lighting alone. After spending the weekend checking out random fancy-pants furniture and light shops while roaming around Portland I came to realize how great Ikea lights are.

Both the bedside lamps in my bedroom, one living room floor lamp, one table lamp, and four of the ceiling lights in my kitchen, hallway, dining room, and living room are all from Ikea for a total cost of maybe $250 or so. I could easily have spent twice that on one table lamp at a place like Lux in Portland. Even at Home Depot ceiling lights run at least $50. And I actually like the Ikea lights.

I guess I can't comprehend spending $700 on a single lamp, or $3500 on a coffee table (though if I ever win the lottery I'm totally buying two Eames chairs) when I can something that I still think looks pretty good for so much cheaper.

There are a bunch of cut-rate furniture stores full of odd asian stuff in SF that totally rule over IKEA. Hell, even Cost Plus World Market >>> IKEA.

i have some stuff from them, my bed is the biggest thing, which i really like. and it wasn't hard at all to put together wtf!

i'm leery of having too much ikea in my place, tbh

scott may i ask how you file your records? chron? bpm? alphabet? genre? random?

It was classic the othe evening for about seven minutes, I'd chosen a fairly decent drawing table. Then as we got to the aisles all the bits had sold out, which wasn't stated on the tags. It was dud then until we had lunch there and the fish was amazing.

http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=6919139

I'm about to furnish like half of my tiny new apartment with Ikea - there's just nothing else as cheap and space-efficient that still looks half ok, even if a lot of it is particle board. Most likely will put in a 5x5 Expedit shelf with the desk that attaches (it's big and only $50 extra)

Attaches like so:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/uimages/ny/5-16-expedit-new-3.jpg

but I intend to make a corner piece out of it so that the desk is coming out of the end instead of the center.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ndrobinson/Misc/photo?authkey=jxUJ-wIwE9s#5234926144735517570

^^ A Tullsta ($99 upholstered chair) duct-taped, bungie-corded and tied to my 1993 Saturn after a visit to the Sacramento store (I live in the San Joaquin Valley now, no longer a vermonter).

I still think it's amazing that they come up with names for EVERY product in the store considering how many old ones they retire and new ones they introduce. I mean every fucking flower pot, hook, shelf, dish, trash can etc. has a name.

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t309/ndrobinson/221654758405_0_1.jpg

oops!

That's a great looking chair

http://www.ikea.com/PIAimages/19431_PE104724_S3.jpg

A nice enough chair. They buried the legs underneath the cushion, and it took me a day to find them. When I first sat on the tiny, legless chair (it came up to my knees), I sat uncomfortably and then rationalized it by thinking Swedes are just shorter and anyway maybe this is the style now. Eventually I found the legs and felt a wave of relief.

i have that chair. even with the legs on it is tiny. i disapprove.

I'm also thinking of that Expedit desk, Hurting. We have 2 of the 4x4 and 2 of the 5x5 Expedits that will make up the walls of the office area/guest room. I can't tell if it takes up space at the bottom of the 2 cubes it attaches to, in the pictures - that would be okay on the ones we use for books but not for the LP ones. Also considering the flexibility of a separate movable desk, which might win.

This will be the 8th time we will have taken the 4x4 expedits apart and moved them - they are still good after all that abuse. The 5x5s go together differently, and this will be the first time we'll deconstruct and move them - wondering how they will fare.

Okay, so maybe this is discussed somewhere on the thread, but I didn't see it: Is there any IKEA shelving that works well for records? I had built-ins at my old house but since I moved all my vinyl is still in crates in the attic because I haven't found anywhere to put them.

Search for Expedit on this thread, after you have displayed all the answers. They are perfect for LPs.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/images/uploads/11-15-storage-bed-1.jpg

This is the Sultan Alsarp (not listed on the US website, for some reason, but available in stores) and it has the capacity (pun intended) to change lives. My queen sized version has space equivalent to a good-sized wardrobe. And it's easy to life/lower.

oh, want that bed! We shove boxes under ours, but a bed like that would keep the cats out. (see: cat vomit thread)

Yeh, it's great. I got it with 7-7/8" high legs, so I can store stuff in those wheeled under-box beds.

that looks nice! what's the best ikea shelving/unit i can get for use in a v. limited space room? need moar storage!

Wow, Jesse, that is OUT OF CONTROL storage capacitude!

My best bud, her family was poor and they had to move every six months or so. Evictions, something, I don't know. But her dad had BOXES and BOXES of Playboys/Hustlers/etc., which she was pretty bitter about having to help carry around from house to house. (This gave her brothers a lot of leeway for favors: trading weed for some Playboys, etc.) ANYWAY, I was thinking: 1. That bed is kind of the ultimate solution to hiding porn under your bed and 2. It would have been nice for her so she could carry the bed and not a bunch of McDonald's fry boxes marked "PLAYBOYS." (NB: the boxes McDonalds gets their fries in are perfect for moving records: just the right dimensions and double corrugated.)

*whew*

I want that bed.

I also want to get one of those fold-out indoor clothes drying racks, but I don't know about Ikea's...they look kind of dangerous (ie flimsy).

Can you put your own mattress on that bed, Jesse? Or is its matteress attached to the..top? The lid?

I don't know why I'm even asking, I couldn't afford the thing. But still: covet covet covet.

I bought the bed base and mattress separately. Queen size base was $300, and the legs were like $10. It takes a standard queen sized mattress. Also available in other std. sizes. If sold by the pound, this bed would still cost $300, and that is not an exaggeration.

Abbott, I have one of the wire foldout clothes drying racks - has been the best $8 (or whatev, was cheap) I've spent at Ikea. Holds lots of stuff, doesn't have to be completely unfurled so saves space, has been very durable. I've even worked out how to dry king-size flat sheets on it.

Oh hells yeah! I just have to see, now, if they are available via the international network.

Oh wait, do you have to attach it to a wall, tho? Our wall is adobe and it barely likes having to hold up a small, lightweight frame.

Nope, this one I've got stands on its own - initial unfold and it is an A-frame, then there are two wings that can be opened up too.

We move so much I don't own anything that requires permanent attachment.

This rack. Its name is FROST.

I don't remember it being $20, but I have had it for over 8 years now. Inflation!

need to get me one of them; dryer broke.

Jesse: You put your weed in there.

I can't decide if I want one.

It got too hot to run the dryer in our flat about 2 months ago, so that rack's seen a lot of use. The electricity bill dropped almost $20/month too as a nice side benefit.

It takes about 8 minutes for clothes to dry outside here, and ~20 for towels. Less time than it takes to wash a batch anyway. We have no dryer, which is fine, but no clothesline either. Towels/pants are okay to dry on the deck chairs, but I am feeling kind of silly drying all my underwear on top of the guinea pig cages, and all my shirts on hangers on every doorknob. Not enough room in the casa for all the clothes. A rack wld be nice, too, so I could dry things during the winter (if I did this outdoors, it would yield frozen clothes).

But that one isn't available online. :(

Hutring's desk looks pretty damned BOSS as well. Jealous jealous.

I never covet furniture! What's happening to me???

nesting!

I have all the furniture I need. Somehow everything I got was a hand-me-down. Did you know very many people have at least one TV they want to get rid of? Not to mention comfy chairs.

man i know, there is no room for more furniture here, but i would love a nice chair in my room!

ditto! with an ottoman!

Our ottoman serves as a stepstool for the short, long dog to jump on the couch.

We had to get someone to put together our PAX/KOMPLEMENT wardrobe because the thing is freakin huge with giant doors. We got halfway done with expedit but we had to hammer in those little pegs and we were afraid the noise was bad for the neighbors so we'll finish tomorrow.

Be warned when you go to lift up that 5x5 Expedit - thing is heavy.

I really hate those little peg dowels. They work out in the end but they're a real bitch to line up and drive in.

Yeah, does seem heavy. We have it set up so we can just stand it straight up almost directly into the spot where it's going to go.

I remember the oh-so-funny moments when Mr. Jaq would hammer on one side piece, and the other side would fly off the pegs. We are disassembling our two on Wednesday, then reassembling sometime the next week. Not looking forward to it.

I did manage to hang a heavy duty pots and pans rail w/drywall anchors today, which is way more handy than I usually am. And it's actually level! Of course Mrs. Hurting was the one who secured the wardrobe to the wall while I was out, which is probably a tougher job.

Expedit makes horrendous sounds when you hammer it

I bought a MALM bed frame recently,

http://mocoloco.com/archives/ikea_malm_headboard_2007.jpg

and it looks great, but by god does it have sharp corners :( As my shins are attesting to with the puncture wounds and bruises all over them owwie.

Also I love their kids toys. I bought one of the crabs. Here is a strange man I do not know wearing one on his head. God bless Flickr.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2288/2247094557_a30a6e597a.jpg?v=0

i don't even know what an expedit is.
some sort of small mammal, i assume?

joke slaughtering xpost

i like that bed!

me too! thats pretty much what we need.

My boyfriend and I had the similar MALM bed for about two years and the last six months was nothing but painful, incessant squeaking. UGH!! I bought a mismatched mattress & boxed spring set to replace it.

One thing from IKEA that I own and love is this little jewelry tree which fits perfectly on the window ledge in our bathroom. The window is painted shut/opens into an alley so this is the perfect place for it.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3091/2774263521_b001cecbe1.jpg?v=0

Beside it is Olivia Newton John's "Physical" melted and molded into a bowl to hold my head bands :D

Nice tree; nice hair clips. :D

hahaha those are a leftover from when I actually had hair long enough to pin! :P

this shit does NOT FUCKING WORK

i have an expedit i have taken apart and put back together four times now (for each house move). still going strong.

I think I got one with a few defective holes or pegs -- I got all the way to putting the other side and base on and nothing holds. I'm on hold with Ikea now trying to get them to get this shit out of my apartment and give me another one.

Beside it is Olivia Newton John's "Physical" melted and molded into a bowl to hold my head bands :D

hahaha awesome!!! did you make it yourself?

hurting, that expedit is the most stressful shit to put together. i did it by myself and it took me about 2 1/2 hours for everything to get together in the right way and tbh i'm not sure how i did it.

I started a "case" with Ikea - I'm going to try to get them to deliver a replacement and just have their goons put it together b/c I have no time with the beginning of law school right now.

to be honest, I think that H may have destroyed some of the peg holes by hammering too hard (she tried to do some of it by herself earlier). But this is inconsequential. Cardinal rule: it is not your wife's fault, it is Ikea's fault.

Oh man, there isn't an Ikea anywhere near us, but already I have this sweet scapegiat! Thx Hurtnig.

i *love* putting together ikea and ikea-like stuff.
LOVE. IT.

I've put together lots of Ikea stuff in the past and I usually like it. This was by far the worst I've ever dealt with. The thing just needs a couple more screws or braces or something to keep the shelves even and keep the pegs from popping out while you're assembling it.

I have to admit my MALM bed squeaks a bit. But the boys might not have screwed it all together properly, dunno. It sits solidly enough. I should point out the shelves to the side of it are a new addition to the MALM set: theyre seperate, and a bitch to assemble. They slide in behind the headboard under a shelf: handy!

The Malm bed was tempting, with its handy headboard, but it wouldn't accept the Sultan Alsarp storage base that I love so much. I really want to stop using Ikea words now. Can you imagine working there??

Hurting, iirc the 5x5 Expedit required both of us toward the end of assembly - one to hammer and one to hold everything together. With the 4x4, it's a one-person job, but the larger one is a different beast.

Can you imagine working there??

You mean it wouldn't be all meatballs and swedish fishes while we shelved Billy bits and Omar legs and Malm parts?

Beside it is Olivia Newton John's "Physical" melted and molded into a bowl to hold my head bands :D

hahaha awesome!!! did you make it yourself?

-- tehresa, Tuesday, August 19, 2008 12:23 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

Yeah it's really easy! Stick your oven on 200 degrees or so, place a record on a coffee can, and it gets hot enough in 30-45 seconds that you can take it out and mold it. If you don't like the shape, you can stick it back into the oven and try again! I have a few in my bathroom actually, I made one into a sort of triangle shape that holds all the hairbrushes in one neat, tidy place by their bristles. (xpost)

I really, really want an expedit. I have a bunch of Billy bookcases, some of which I painted, but the Expedit just appeals to my shelf-crazy psychosis.

Hurting, iirc the 5x5 Expedit required both of us toward the end of assembly - one to hammer and one to hold everything together. With the 4x4, it's a one-person job, but the larger one is a different beast.

Yes, we did that part with two people, but it wouldn't hold. Some of the peg holes just wouldn't take and pegs kept sliding out, while others seemed too tight and the pegs just wouldn't go in no matter how hard we hammered (and of course continuing to hammer the tight ones seemed to make the loose ones worse)

yeah, an expedit really seems dreamy right now. i wonder if i got rid of one of my desks if there would be room? the 2nd desk is really used as shelfy space anyway, since i don't have enough shelving.

I probably posted this picture already but I want to show off my IKEA painting skillz!

http://photos-e.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-snc1/v274/224/57/516053577/n516053577_632252_6566.jpg

I still haven't painted the extra shelves that slip in, or stuck wallpaper on the other shelf's backing... booo. Maybe I should try to do that this weekend while I can still work outside :(

kind of a silly execution but lol idea - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8ygeihSPlk

Classic in the main but mail order's dud. £50 to ship a Billy bookcase, that's taking the Michael.

http://carpetblog.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/ikea_1.jpg

Ikea Brooklyn has the most appalling customer service I have ever dealt with in my life. I would like to see some of the people I have dealt with over the last week and a half (to resolve a simple $400 refund) fucked in the ass with grundtaal rails, and I'm generally neither vindictive nor particularly picky about customer service.

Never again.

I wish my life was perfect like in the IKEA catalogue.

We got all 4 Expedits apart with only one smashed finger, one chipped shelf, and two missing pegs. Re-assembly starts tomorrow night, oh joy.

I dig the malm bed but sadly it wouldn't fit in our bedroom. Good thing we decided to measure before we bought it.

Ended up with the HEIMDAL bedframe with two HELMER office file cabinets for bedside tables:

http://www.ikea.com/PIAimages/63448_PE171057_S3.jpg

Expedit reassembly is not going too badly at all:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3196/2809850452_46b1112de8.jpg
I have to glue the chipped shelf before the 2nd brown shelf gets put back together, but otherwise it's looking good.

looks like you live in a *loft*

We do, at that - converted 1904 rope factory/warehouse.

moving 7 or 8 blocks in my neighborhood, and decided the 5x5 expedit didnt have a chance of making it through the foyer/staircase at the new place unless i took it apart. things were going okay, but then a few pegs broke off in the peg-holes. i know i can get new pegs, but has anyone here had luck with extracting the broken pegs? some are sticking out, so i can grab em with pliers, but some are not. my idea is to screw a small screw partway into the peg, then pull out the peg/screw combo.

any advice? i really had to write carefully to avoid some HILARIOUS pun about pegging/screwing

my idea is to screw a small screw partway into the peg, then pull out the peg/screw combo.

Sounds like a good plan to me!

(xp) Your idea sounds pretty good. Those pegs are made of fairly soft wood, so you may be able to drive a small diameter screw into them without them splitting, but you may want to pre-drill just to make sure. If that doesn't work I'd suggest just drilling a hole the same diameter as the peg to pretty much erase it. If you do that you'll probably need to use some epoxy or wood glue w/ the new pegs when you reassemble.

If the peg splits, that may just make it easier to extract with pliers.

69, do you have a set of needlenose pliers? Could be useful.

i do have needlenose pliers, but no drill. as an unfortunate aside, the drill i borrowed from my new neighbor last night (he's a landscaper) had something on it that im allergic to, so my hand and wrist are red and swollen today wtf

I started trying to put together our Ikea crib last night. For the mattress support section, you have to attach each slat individually to the frame using these wooden "nails" that you're supposed to hammer into holes in the frame. Of course, this being an Ikea product, many of the holes don't actually seem to be big enough for the nails, so I'm sitting there pounding and pounding, worried I'm going to break something, and the slats are still loose and rattly. There's nothing to boost the tension of an Ikea construction project like the knowledge that if you screw it up, it could potentially maim your newborn child.

Having re-assembled an Expedit before I recommend making some sort of note of which part is which, and which way around they go. It obviously flexes a bit with the weight of the contents, and putting it back together the same way is probably* easier than trying to bend it all in new ways.

*I say probably because I haven't tried it, it just can't be more difficult than not doing it.

in the next two weeks we have to move our L-shaped IKEA couch from the basement to the third floor, where we're moving. not looking forward to the unavoidable weaknening of the couch's structure as a result. :(

PIVAT

ha ha "shut uuuupppp"

http://ewpopwatch.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/blerg_l.jpg

Back from IKEA Zaventem (near Brussels)! It was mid-afternoon, so I didn't get the chance to go and eat Köttbular or Gravad Lax. :-(

But I did get me 2 red PANNÅ, 1 beige SAXÅN RUND, a MOLGER with wheels, a blue SOLSTA PÄLLBO, a TRÄBY, a BEKVÄM with wheels as well and a NJUTA brush, y'all. All for less than €200. Yäy! However, now the procrastinating starts (I'm going to put everything together, like, tomorrow or Saturday when I feel like it!)

thinking about getting some expedit shelves off craigslist.

Second hand? :-/

Yeah, plenty of 2X4 units for $40-$75.

Is the stuff they sell in Belgium the same as the stuff they sell in the US?

Surely it's the same everywhere? I got the Edland chest of drawers <3
More expensive than what I'd usually pay ($199 - I did check craigslist for a long time but nothing doing) but really needed something like that and I'd been admiring it for some time beforehand... annoyingly the paint on the front was scratched when we unpacked it. I might colour it in with a pencil...

http://gizmodo.com/5634257/ikea-let-loose-a-herd-of-100-cats-into-store-to-see-what-happens

After three years, IKEA and its subsidiary have finally agreed to meet with their workers about forming a union so they can put a stop to racial discrimination, pay cuts, and dangerous conditions on the job. The stakes are high, and these workers need your support. Help us keep the pressure up by calling your local IKEA store.

http://act.americanrightsatwork.org/p/salsa/web/common/public/content?content_item_KEY=8769#TN

please do this, btw

this does not apply if you live in the EU of course, where IKEA workers are unionized

Holy fucking shit putting together my Effectiv cabinet today was like giving birth -- three basic units plus base plus cabinet doors plus drawers. My hands actually started bleeding spontaneously at one point.

I didn't know giving birth made your hands bleed :-(

The main problem is the 'self-drilling screws' that you sometimes have to put in actually don't drill themselves into the boards very well. Eventually I figured out to just make a small starting hole with a nail first. I also managed to do a couple of things upside down and had to switch them.

never buying shit from here again, mark my words. finally have a house, did get a small loveseat, all you really had to do was screw the legs on and it still took three hours and I wasn't completely successful.

I don't know what you people are like at following instructions, but it's never taken me more than a half a day to put together even the most complicated IKEA furniture. Maybe I should start offering my services as an IKEA assembler. £30/hour sound good to you?

IKEA is amazing bcz it's like Legos for grown ups and when yr done you have new furniture!

Going to IKEA on Wednesday! Though we don't actually need anything at this point...I'm told our main objective is new Christmas decorations; I'll be stocking up on pickled herring.

1) I was strangely elated the morning I discovered Ikea's coffee is bad. Maybe it was the proof that there was SOMETHING Ikea couldn't do right, and this will delay its takeover of the world?

2) I like my Ikea mattress.

i went to ikea for the first time ever yesterday. it was like a lazyriver of 10000 people, i was hardly ever able to find an eddy out of the way of 5 other people. i really hated the shopping experience. a lot of the furniture seemed very low to the ground, but the floor was too busy for me to really check anything out.

i suspect i'll buy something there at some point, but i won't go there on a weekend ever again.

I made the observation on our last trip that Ikea, strangely, seems to have a highly successful business model based on a shopping experience that is almost universally hated. I mean maybe that's just my slanted, anecdotal version of things, but I heard so many couples having similar conversations about how much they hated the rat maze, how tiring it was, how they felt all this pressure to buy extra crap they didn't need, etc. Whenever I go to an Ikea I think that I never want to go again, and I usually don't for at least a couple more years. OTOH I tend to load up on stuff every time I go.

http://semihandmadedoors.com/

really smart new business that makes custom doors to be installed on IKEA kitchen cabinets. You can get better kitchen cabinets than IKEA but you have to spend like 5x as much to do so.

Wow that's an awesome idea, but I wish their cabinet doors were more interesting - many of them don't look all that different than the ones Ikea offers. Except for the Premium --> Reclaimed which are pretty amazing.

I've renovated several kitchens w/Ikea cabinets. Besides being well made, inexpensive, and fooling most people into thinking it's high-end cabinetry, they're also far easier to install than traditional cabinets. Hang a metal rail high on the wall, put hooks on it, and hang your cabinets - much easier than the usual two-person job that requires temporarily nailing a wood support to the wall to aid placement and having to be careful not to let the cabinet slip off it and crash to the floor. The base cabinets, instead of requiring shims to level it, just have adjustable legs. Why aren't all cabinets like this?

a friend of mine has these amazing glossy red IKEA cabinets in his kitchen and it's the coolest, most distinctive thing ever

Whoa, pics plz!

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b7df02b3127ccec07b4b962adc00000010O08Ebs3LZu2bA9vPh4/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b7df02b3127ccec07bdd82abb300000010O08Ebs3LZu2bA9vPh4/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

I have some much better ones but this is what I could find now. A $1500 kitchen remodel - what looks and feels like a tile backsplash is a sheet of tileboard I cut to fit, the "stone" flooring is $1 vinyl stick-on tiles, and what looks like a granite countertop (thanks to the rolled edges) is laminated particle board stocked at the hardware store. Ikea Adel Brown cabinets.

Oh, ya wanna see amazing *glossy red* IKEA cabinets.....

http://kitchenideas.com.au/ikea_abstrakt_kitchen.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/154/428694108_98333e046b.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/177/478689606_97a065d41c_o.jpg

http://www.istils.lv/upload/pagegal/661281_abstrakt_red2.jpg

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/26958_377011379292_327673079292_3523374_1576036_n.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/68/223297027_59ef18b0c9.jpg

ya those are the ones he has, with tile and stainless steel appliances, it's the most gorgeous kitchen

http://us.cdn4.123rf.com/168nwm/snake3d/snake3d1101/snake3d110100037/8669898-two-heart-shapes-i-love-you-concept-sexy-couple-abstract-beautiful-saint-valentines-day-card-templat.jpg

one more:

http://www.womenseverything.com/images/ikea_abstrakt_high_gloss_kitchen_avail_red_black_grey.jpg

I actually like the metal-flake grey under glossy clear vinyl cabs even better.

....like these:

http://www.graceinottawa.com/images/Stylish-Grey-Kitchen-Inspiration-By-Ernestomeda-1.jpg

blue looks cool too

http://www.neffweb.com/images/cont/eurolite-1.jpg

good handles + good lighting to create shadows = awesome looking kitchen or wet bar

http://www.neffweb.com/images/cont/millennia-1.jpg

I enjoy that blue kitchen shot taken when sky outside matched cabinets 0_0
I would happily exist in any of these kitchens

Lee626 could we maybe get one of those for $1500?

Depends how close you are to DC (or northeast US which gives me a good excuse to visit a gf there more often). But they're nothing magic about my renovations - anyone can do it really, I just carefully choose items that look expensive but aren't. Sometimes I do splurge, but carefully. Fancy handles or knobs can make ordinary cabinets look special. A few small colored glass 2" diamond tiles can be set in a piece of tileboard, and everyone will think you spent a fortune on your backsplash. Ikea cabinets of course, but sometimes I throw in one or two matching-look cabinets from a high-end cabinetmaker, like a curved 12" radius cabinet in a corner, and only you will know you have one cabinet that accounted for 40% of your cabinet expenditure - ppl will know you didn't use cheap Ikea cabinets 'cause they don't make round ones. Prefabricated laminate countertops with rolled edges, sold at the big home centers or Ikea. For appliances, instead of buying cheap new ones, spend the same money on high-end used ones, scouring Craigslist and eBay for bargains. You'll find lots of 5- to 10-year-old luxury grade stainless-steel stoves, Sub-Zero built-in refrigerators, or Miele dishwashers for a few hundred each. Likewise for elegant sinks and faucetry.

Oh, I was totally kidding. But I am in Philly and I do plan on buying a house someday, so...

But srsly damn bro, those are some A+ pro-tips!!

LOLling out loud at me being considered "pro"! I occasionally moonlight as a kitchen and bath renovator. I don't really daylight at anything....

I'll post some more pix later that are hiding somewhere on my old computer's hard drive. I have one where I repositioned the existing 40-year-old wood cabinets, added three new glass-and-aluminum Ikea cabinets between them ($295 for all three), and somehow it came out looking like all the cabinets were new.

My latest Ikea purchases.... make of these what you will....
http://www.ikea.com/PIAimages/24037_PE108848_S3.jpg
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/images/products/idgran-cushion__0135632_PE292376_S4.JPG http://www.ikea.com/us/en/images/products/idgran-cushion__0135632_PE292376_S4.JPG
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/images/products/tindra-scented-tealight__0085474_PE213265_S4.JPG
(cinnamon & apple scented)

congratulations on your impending booty-getting

man i really hate going to ikea.

NEVER AGAIN

Thought this thread got bumped because of the monkey (wearing a little coat!) found in a Toronto IKEA today.
http://torontoist.com/2012/12/ikea-monkey-ikea-monkey/

O_O ikea redeemed.

seriously though, i don't understand the love for that place. it's fucking insane in there. the cafeteria is not good either. always makes me gassy.

just full of screaming people and it's a goddamn maze i tell you

how do you not take a video of this monkey?

and yeah the cafeteria is awful. it can be a savior if you're hung over, though.

I <3 the IKEA monkey.

what a stylish fellow

I don't hate IKEA, I like the caf and the walk-through part! I just hate getting your pieces together and standing in line at the end, and then having to get them HOME. It's all a lead-up to the horrible part, which is carrying way too much home on multiple subways and/or buses.

PS the next thing I want from there is a dining table so I guess I should start being nice to someone with a car.

btw i broke at least one wine glass on the way home because it was stupidly packed in the bottom of a huge back.

also i have about a million christmas sausages

http://distilleryimage9.instagram.com/58ccedb6423811e2979622000a1fb04f_6.jpg

i thought i was a basically heartless person but goddamn if this isnt the saddest photo ever taken :(

ikea is just about the lease stressful furniture buying experience out there. unless you're loaded then buying forniture is all pretty stressful and at least in ikea you can have fun if you just decide to go with it.

fun in ikea looks like a photogenic couple spinning their goods trolley around & hugging in front of the wine glasses, a montage set to sugar pie honey bunch, like there's always this homemaking scene going on somewhere around you while you're glibly deciding whether you need a weirdly dimensioned bowl that you don't need but which is basically too cheap to not buy

I don't hate ikea at all but yeah it sucks if you go there w/o a car because it's like idk going to a p good restaurant and being allowed to taste and chew the food presented to you but there is a maitre'd who physically prevents you from swallowing it and makes you spit it out into a bin

and you never ever feel like paying for car service or delivery service because then it doesn't feel cheap anymore and what's the point of going if it's not cheap!

PS the next thing I want from there is a dining table so I guess I should start being nice to someone with a car.

it's just not worth it

man i really hate going to ikea.

― i guess i'd just rather listen to canned heat? (ian), Sunday, 9 December 2012 23:02 (Yesterday) Permalink

NEVER AGAIN

― i guess i'd just rather listen to canned heat? (ian), Sunday, 9 December 2012 23:02 (Yesterday) Permalink

Me too man. And I think it actually has been at least a year and a half since I've gone, because of this hatred. Although we've had our eye on a bed from there for a while, and I guess eventually when we have the extra money we'll go get it.

ikea is awesome for some things (beds and mattresses, lamps, things with shelves) and really awful for other things (housewares, anything that you sit on).

i don't plan to go there again unless i need another thing with shelves, and we already have too many of those.

I got rid of the crappy Ikea bookshelves the last time I moved
felt good

i do maintain that my ikea bed consisting of a $100 foam mattress and $70 frame and $20 slats is the most comfortable bed i've ever had.

more comfortable than the disheveled pile of old winter jackets that you previously slept on?

but I suppose it could be true. I just hated the last ikea bed with slats that I owned

believe me i was as shocked as you that it was any good

That's good to hear. My spring mattress is a pile of crap and I'd wondered if the IKEA foam mattress was any good.

Haha, I just saw someone on facebook call the monkey "Jörj".

Oh no, now CTV is saying the monkey won't be returned to his people because of his prohibited pet status. He's still in Animal Control custody. ;_;

CTV now reporting the monkey is a sex addict ;_;

CTV now reporting the monkey's favorite metallica album is St. Anger ;_;

but seriously that is too bad. I hope the monkey finds a good home. I love the little guy.

Poor little monkey. Am sad that I cannot plan to have a pet monkey in the future as I temporarily dreamed.

ikea is classic. ikea platform beds with slats are even more classic (xpost). i think it's more comfortable than a traditional box spring, but more importantly it looks kewl and sophisticated in my opinion.

http://i.imgur.com/w2g6c.jpg

i have been to ikea twice in the past two weeks. i have assembled five bookshelves, a couch, an ottoman, two metal shelving units, a tv stand, a nightstand, and a dresser. i hate ikea.

I feel your pain, I am old so I dread 'hex wrench finger' and sore back. My mind was utterly blown when I found out their catalog is all CG and not photos

that makes perfect sense as i suspect all their in-store employees are holograms as they are utterly unwilling to lift a finger to assist you.

I feel your pain, I am old so I dread 'hex wrench finger' and sore back.

Use a hex bit in any cheap power screwdriver or cordless drill. Not sure what Ikea was thinking expecting normal people to assemble 4x4 Expedit shelf cubes with a tiny hex wrench that needs to be turned about 400 times.

Today, around 75% of all IKEA’s product images are CG

http://youtu.be/vDNzTasuYEw

three wardrobes to get upstairs and assembled today and thats before however many months it will take the odd weekend here and there for get to some level of instagram level youtube-instruction 'built in' standard

I’m gonna use this thread to see if I’m the asshole.

I take my 4 year old daughter to ikea. She has a blast. She gets on every bed and says “yeah I could get use to this”

As we’re leaving, I put her in her car seat and realize the cart bin is all the way at the back of the parking lot. It’s nearly 100 degrees out and my daughter is already strapped in. So instead of walking the cart to the bin, I put it in front of my car but out of the way of anyone parking.

Guy pulls in next to me and says “oh, you done with that cart?”

I say yeah, you need it?

He says, no but we wouldn’t want to leave it there would we?”

I say, I think they hire ppl to gather them up so it’s not a big deal

He just gives me a look.

I say, ok buddy thanks for guilt tripping me!

He walks in the store feeling satisfied.

I at that point I contemplated putting my cart on the roof of his car but I didn’t.

Who’s the asshole?

you are both assholes but it's really not that big of a deal. i wouldn't dwell on it too much but you do need to be putting your cart back imo. calling a stranger out about it as a dick move though unless you're the guy from youtube lol

afraid budo otm there yes

That’s what I figured…

I mean the kid becomes the center of everything but I get that no one else cares

ah thats a parenting thread question and if that viewpoint was entered there i wouldnt venture my personal opinion on it im sure

weve had disaster #1 with the wardrobes btw but i dont think its visible not catastrophic

I think it’s part of what makes parents obnoxious to non parents but every parent has the long piercing cry of their child at the forefront of their mind at most times.

If you had taken the cart to the end of the parking lot, asshole on the curb would've called the cops on an abandoned baby left in a car when it's 100º.

I love IKEA but last time I drive an hour on a Saturday to get us another black Billy shelf. I cross the shop with baby girl to pick up two tiny things, arrive in the hangar space, they are out of single black Billy shelves. You're kidding me, this is like your most sold item. I'm spending an entire morning to get a lamp shade and a baby stepstool. I was enraged. Got us two 1-frank hotdogs. Saw on the exit they had a "damaged goods" section with reduced prices, entered although it said you can't enter with purchased items. Of course no Billy either, didn't feel like re-queuing, so I exited through the same door ("no-exit"). It beeped, soon enough I hear steps and "mister !" and I'm mentally sighing "again me and my temper getting in trouble over the stupidest things". Turns out he was the nicest security guard ever, he apologized profusely for stopping me, it was only because he had to, brought me back to the standing lady by the electronic cashier. I hadn't taken the receipt of course, was getting ready for ten minutes of explanation. Turns out the cashier is also adorable and she's like "oh yes, with the baby, yes absolutely, I saw them pay, have a great day".
This story is to keep Heez company :D

I support Heez

three wardrobes up but didnt get the drawers or shelves in today

didnt do anything wrong with my non existent children in that time

Congrats that’s quite an accomplishment

Might go to the 7 11 thread to talk about an encounter the other day that turned me into Larry David for a solid 30 seconds