This weekend, September 18-20, participating IKEA stores are offering up a Swedish Meatball Meal for only $1! This meal not only includes 10 meatballs, but also mashed potatoes and cream sauce! Sounds like a huge portion for just $1!We don't have an IKEA store nearby, but I've heard fantastic things about IKEA. My sister absolutely loves all there furniture, especially the prices! From seeing some of the pieces in her house...well, I'm guessing I would like their furniture too! I've also heard IKEA has a nice kids play area! If only all furniture stores did this!
Anyway, if you have an IKEA store in your area I'd love to hear your thoughts. Do you like the products they carry? Do you feel the prices are reasonable? Is is easy to shop there with kids?
(Thanks, The Bargain Jargon!)
26 comments:
Love Ikea.. I used to work at the one in Seattle. Their swedish meatballs are yummy.. and try their loganberry juice! YUM! We live in Colorado now so we don't have one.. yet. As far as shopping with kiddos there.. unless you use the childcare service I wouldn't. It is set up like a huge maze and takes a while to get through. There is a reason that there is a restraunt in the middle of their store.. you need nourishment halfway through!
Their food is almost always a great deal IMO, I wish I had one closer to me!!! On occasion, we take a trip to Ikea when we visit my inlaws (3 hours away).
We love their furniture! We redid our entire kitchen with their cabinets, and only spent a litle over $1000 (about 14 cabinets+hardware)!! It's super easy to clean and switch out the doors if we wanted to. Every room in our house has Ikea furniture, except the baby's room. But we've already got his Ikea bed picked out for when we transition into a twin!
One of the reasons their prices are so low is because you have to pick up the boxes yourself for most of the furniture, and then assemble it yourself. Everything comes in flat boxes and is usually really easy to transport. Directions can be frustrating; but not terrible.
ok done rambling now :)
The prices are pretty reasonable. IF your decorating a kids room, going away to college, furnishing a first home/apartment, I would say great. However, some of the quality is questionable, so you need to look at the construction & manufacturing of the items at hand. I love their kitchen department & have used many items in their kids/baby area. Their food items are priced great & taste great too. I'm very picky about foods (being in the food industry)& the meatballs are great. So, is the lingonberry jam.
My friend and I drove (yes drove) to Chicago (the closest Ikea to us in KC) and we had a blast! The hotel we stayed at had a view of the Ikea. It totally lived up to the hype! My friend wanted to get some furniture but the shipping cost more than an entire weekend trip cost us. If you get the opportunity I would recommend it maybe it should be on your "bucket list".
Our whole family loves Ikea! When we used to live in the Chicago area we would go to it all the time. They have 2 in the area. We live in southern Indiana now, and just made the trip to the Ohio Ikea. I was soo happy to get my meatballs! I purchased a few bags of meatballs for us. One tip..they have the gravy that come in dry packs. I was a bit concerned about the taste, but the packs are wonderful!
My kids love IKEA, I grew up in Denmark and went there as a child my self. The Day care is great the only problem is that they limit you to an hour and it can be hard to make it back in time because the store is so big and it is layed out like a giant maze -with lots of short cuts and fire escapes so don't panic- but if you want to see everything it takes a long time. They have several "apartments" that you can walk around in through out the store besides full set up rooms to show you how to use the furniture to maximize your living space. It's alot of fun and my 4 year old daughter actually like the rooms better than the play area. in the middle of the store is the cafeteria where you get the hot meals and at the checkouts they have my favorite part of the store. the swedish market where you can get cheese, sparkeling pear juice and various different grocery items and lots of delicious candys and baked goods, along with a cafe' for hotdogs cinamonrolls and other great stuff.
Yu can get everything you need for the house applaiances, furniture electrnics linins nicknacks decorative items kitchen cabinets, basicly everything you need in every room except for your clothes. Check it out sometime but be prepared to spend at least 1 hour 2 is better.
I think one of the best things about Ikea is the way the showroom is set up. They have everything arranged into actual rooms, so you can really see how the furniture can work together. It also gives you some great ideas. My favorite is the kitchen area...open a drawer, there are eating utensils inside. Open a cabinet, glasses and bowls. Just like a real kitchen! It almost feels like you could just move right into the store :)
IKEA is wonderul.The store is usually two levels, the top floor which is the showroom, houses all the furniture which are displayed like a specific room/use i.e. office, dining room, kitchen, even a small loft, dorm room, etc. giving you an idea how a room can be put together and how nice and functional they can be. Most of their furniture and items are geared to using the most out of a small space. The main level is where you do the actual shopping. While you are walking through the showroom there are pedestals all over to provide you with paper, pencil and even a tape measure, so you can list the item no.,name and which aisle and shelf to get it from when you go downstairs in main floor. The prices are VERY reasonable because the pieces come in flat boxes, meaning all assembly will be done by you. Even small kitchen items, ceramic ware, glass ware, home accessories are priced signifantly lower than any other home stores. They sell a few food items in the grocery section located near the exit of the store and most if not all are of the Swedish cuisine. The meatballs are fantastic! Try them out in their food court and you will find yourself buying a bag before you leave the store. Also, when you do get a chance to visit an IKEA store, clear out your trunk because you will need all the space you have with the stuff you will be bringing home with you...
-MIA (clearly an IKEA fan, :)
I guess I am pretty lucky having an IKEA just 5 minutes down the road in Conshohocken (outside of Philly). Occasionally I will stop by after work just to get a cheap dinner. I always end up walking out with a bag of stuff though -- lamps, frames, plants, rugs, kitchen stuff, whatever. It's definitely not heirloom furniture, but good for the price.
Has anyone bought an appliance there (stove, specifically)? THey have good prices, I'm just wondering about quality compared to a GE or Maytag.
Best swedish meatballs ever, I will go and have some ,they are delicious
I really like IKEA. Their furniture tends on the modern side, which isn't usually my favorite, so I find that I'm picky about what I get there. However, our couches and our coffee table are both from IKEA and honestly I think they are some of the best items in our house!
If their store were closer to us I would take the family down for the meatball meal. $1 for that is amazing - it is a large meal (I usually take about half of it home!) So if you have an IKEA next to you, I'd say it's time for a trip!
For anyone that is interested, there is a fairly new IKEA in Charlotte, NC. Haven't been yet, but can't wait to go after reading all these comments!! :)
I guess I am weird, but I am not a fan of IKEA. We went there and all the stuff was very cheaply made and not very good quality. The price might be better than other places, but I like my things to last, so I won't shop there. Plus, it is always super crowded and hard to move around in the store. I almost bought a step stool once until I got to the cash registers and their lines were about 15 people long each. I didn't even go during a big holiday buying season or anything. I don't know, but that is my opinion.
Heather, I believe their appliances are made by Whirlpool, check out their web site and it should tell you.
Ikea is a lot of fun. They have great ideas, specially if you have storage issues. No, not everything is made great, but you can say that about every other store you shop in. What I do like about Ikea: they are a socially responsible company, they use a lot of recycled items, renewable forestry and they have a good benefits package for their employees (not that important if you live in a country with socialized medicine, but it is if you live in the US!).
My son likes to play in the kiddie room, and I like it because I can shop in piece for an hour :D
Heather, I redid my whole kitechn in IKEA, but I did not buy the appliances there. Yes, they are Whirlpool, but the low end. I ended up getting better appliances at Lowe's with a coupon (for new home buyers) for cheaper than IKEA.
Maybe I'm weird too but I don't really like ikea that much either. I like their food and I sometimes go there for things like light bulbs and shower curtains and other small things, but I have purchased furniture that hasn't held up very well. I usually prefer to just save up and buy furniture that lasts a bit longer for a little more money.
I haven't bought any furniture from there but I love their kids plastic size. I think they are comparable to tupperware but for much less. Just went the other day to get some. The others had gotten lost. Their meatballs are great my 3 year old loved them.
I'm not the biggest Ikea fan. Yeah, it's nice to see the showrooms, but it can be a real pain to round up all the stuff you see there. You have to go downstairs and look for the aisle and shelf slot. But it's not always properly marked. I got my nephew a table/chair set that took me half an hour to find. (after the 45 min it took me to get out of the maze and start looking for the table)
My sister's coffee table fell apart after about 8 months, and when she got it, it was missing several pieces of hardware. Apparently that's a common occurance because next to their service desk they had big bins of screws, nuts, bolts, hinges, etc. And even more small parts behind the counter.
The food is good though. There have been times when my wife and I have stopped in just for lunch. My wife liked that they sold jars of baby food, and have disposable bibs and baby spoons.
We live close to the Ohio Ikea, and having moved here from Chicago we love it! You get what you pay for, and in my house with 4 kids, we can't pay alot. Their furniture is great for our family. I don't want to freak out if my kids takes a sharpie to a table or desk and worry about it!
As for the meatballs, awesome! I usually make my own and then buy their powdered seasoning...very very tasty!
I love the showroom...gives me ideas even if I don't want to purchase their stuff.
I love Ikea. They have a baby care for parents! It's fantastic. They're prices are very reasonable. I have a few pieces and they are surprisingly great quality for the price I paid. I don't care for the food though. It's loaded with sodium and preservatives!
I thought I was going to love IKEA as well, but I bought a kitchen table from them about three years ago and found that the table easily chipped along the edges as well as on the top. I did contact them to purchase some paint to match the color, but they said they don't do that.
My opinion is that if you want long-lasting furniture try a better quality store. However, if you like to change your interior decor once in awhile and don't care about the quality as much...IKEA has some cute things.
We just redid my daughter's room, in mostly Ikea: Malm full bed and matching Expedit 4x2 bookcase. These are VERY heavy pieces in "brown black." I like the flexibility of their storage units. You can turn the Expedit either way, add wheels or legs of various heights and styles, add doors or bins, etc. Yes, we've had our "oh, goody, we get to take this back for the SECOND time since the screw doesn't work again" moments, but it's 5 minutes away, I would NEVER go there on a weekend (=zoo), and the stuff is inexpensive and fun.
I just got a West Elm catalog in the mail and laughed through several pages when I see stuff that is almost IDENTICAL to Ikea, but people would be willing (?!) to spend 10 times as much for it.
Just go for the Lack floating shelves, if nothing else!
Ok, I'm torn. I love dropping the kid off in their cool play area. Alot of their stuff seems cheap, but then you realized that everything is sold seperately and it all starts adding up. I feel like most of the time I end up spending way too much for not the greatest quality. Some items they specially advertise are pretty good deals, but not the best quality again and sometime tiny furniture like for college or something. Their food is ok, I like to get there early and eat the $.99 breakfast before the store opens. If they are running a special on the food it is reasonable, if not it is like everytihing else in the store and all adds up when you buy everything seperate. In the end, I like to go and let the kids play, get a break, and pick up little things.
I love going to Ikea, however the furniture is JUNK! I love the meatballs, I love their little homes they set up in the store. But I won't buy any furniture there. If you want good furniture that will last go to an estate sale or the thrift store or consignment store and find something that was made in the 60's before all the furniture makers turned to particle board and staples. JUST MY OPINION. Everything from Ikea will end up in the trash. It isn't very green!
The IKEA down the road from me in Tempe AZ is supposedly the busiest store in the country. It IS fun to walk around and see all the little rooms set up with furniture and knickknacks. The problem is: all the products are on the SMALL side and are suitable for small apartments or kids' rooms. Sit on a couch...the leg room is limited for sure. on the positive side, the storage containers and kitchen stuff is unlimited and there's lots of frames and vases. Bottom line: you get what you pay for, nothing more, nothing less.
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