General Cycling Discussion - Deliver me from Swedish furniture!

I'm in love. If you have an IKEA in your area and have yet to visit it, I'd suggest staying away as far as possible. They've got so much good stuff, and it's all so bloody inexpensive... it's amazing. I can't go there without finding someing new and insanely useful.

Including massive picture frames for the prints from my cycling-photography project. The really sad thing is that it's cheaper for me to drive 250 miles to Emeryville to buy large picture frames than it is to purchase them here in Sacramento.

Is anyone else as addicted to this place as I am?

I used to ride by an IKEA every day on my commute to work when I was up in Chicago. Never got addicted to it 'cuz I already had too much junk in my apartment. Plus all my money was being funneled into my recording studio and my bike at the time.

Originally posted by Matadon
I can't go there without finding someing new and insanely useful. Is it really useful or is it that you only persuade yourself that it's useful?
;P

I love Ikea. I love it so much I am not allowed to go there unsupervised :D

Originally posted by MeHT
Is it really useful or is it that you only persuade yourself that it's useful?
;P

I'm not a big consumer (well, unless you talk to the guys at the LBS, but that's another story). There's a ton of things there that I've found, and once purchased, seem to make life easier and/or more comfortable. Doesn't help that I'm pretty anal-retentive, so stuff to help organize other stuff fits into that category.

:D

The oddest thing, and I feel bad for feeling excited about this, is a new thermos. A stainless-steel one, with no logos, markings, or identifying marks of any kind (I poignantly refuse to offer free advertising to Starbucks, Nike, etc.). It's large enough to hold an entire pot of coffee, and pours properly...e.g, doesn't dribble coffee down the side, and it doesn't leak like many cheaper thermi (thermoses?) do. Ten dollars.

Why am I happy about this? Because I'm a coffee nut, and I have a press and a grinder at home. Buying coffee every day at work gets expensive; now, I can have gourmet coffee all day long, at my desk, for about $5 a week.

Mmmm...bliss.

I want one of those little coffee tables with the yin and the yang. You know the ones I'm talking about. :D


Disclaimer: 80% of my furniture is from Ikea.

Ikea is the biggest scam since Salad bars. You pay more, build it yourself, and most people still think they got a deal ;)

You guys better watch your IKEA purchases,.......remember what happened to Edward Norton in the movie "Fight Club".....

Originally posted by Maelstrom
Ikea is the biggest scam since Salad bars. You pay more, build it yourself, and most people still think they got a deal ;)

Pay *more*? I saved over a thousand dollars by grabbing stuff at IKEA, versus buying from any of the furniture stores in Sacramento. Granted, I probably could have built the furnture myself, but I'd have spent two weeks in my parents' garage with a variety of woodworking tools, versus a day assembling furniture.

This is a scary thread... ikea????????????? Some of you need to spend as much on your furniture as you do on you bikes.... :D

Actually, Ikea has very nice stuff. However, one of the few things we got there that I didn't like was a couch and chair that were really cheap but totally uncomfortable. When we moved we sold the couch for next to nothing and just left the chair behind. However, they have great book shelves, kitchen stuff, etc. And we have this really comfortable lumbar-support armchair, which is totally unlike the crummy chair we bought years ago!

Originally posted by wabbit
Actually, Ikea has very nice stuff...<snip>... they have great book shelves, kitchen stuff, etc.

Umm, yes. I went for one of their book shelves several years ago. I needed the space badly, and bought several modules of it, complete with drawers, glass doors etc. The works. By the time I had finished tightening all those Allen screws it was a different time of year, my friends no longer recognized me and I had developed a carpal tunnel syndrome.

:crash:

The shelf ended up straight and looking good, so no complaints there. But still, I'd rather be monkeying around with my bike than spending hours practising book shelf construction. Their smaller stuff that requires little or no assembly is OK though.

--J

We've got an IKEA in Edinburgh, and I think it's got a mix of very good stuff and some not so good. We bought a "Poang" chair and footstool which sits in a corner and is very comfortable when I'm reading or listening to music.

Lights are very good too and bulbs etc are cheap (even energy saving ones)

The picture frames are particularly good value.

But hey, we've had a couple of SAAB turbos, including our present 9-5 estate, so I obviously like Scandinavian stuff.

Originally posted by chewa
We've got an IKEA in Edinburgh, and I think it's got a mix of very good stuff and some not so good. We bought a "Poang" chair and footstool which sits in a corner and is very comfortable when I'm reading or listening to music.

Lights are very good too and bulbs etc are cheap (even energy saving ones)

The picture frames are particularly good value.

But hey, we've had a couple of SAAB turbos, including our present 9-5 estate, so I obviously like Scandinavian stuff.

Off topic Chewa...but, I owned a Saab years ago. I've always thought that Saab was creative and makes a really great product. If they'd only get the engine design and electrical down, and wish they were popular in the US.

Originally posted by Matadon


I'm not a big consumer (well, unless you talk to the guys at the LBS, but that's another story). There's a ton of things there that I've found, and once purchased, seem to make life easier and/or more comfortable. Doesn't help that I'm pretty anal-retentive, so stuff to help organize other stuff fits into that category.

:D

The oddest thing, and I feel bad for feeling excited about this, is a new thermos. A stainless-steel one, with no logos, markings, or identifying marks of any kind (I poignantly refuse to offer free advertising to Starbucks, Nike, etc.). It's large enough to hold an entire pot of coffee, and pours properly...e.g, doesn't dribble coffee down the side, and it doesn't leak like many cheaper thermi (thermoses?) do. Ten dollars.

Why am I happy about this? Because I'm a coffee nut, and I have a press and a grinder at home. Buying coffee every day at work gets expensive; now, I can have gourmet coffee all day long, at my desk, for about $5 a week.

Mmmm...bliss.

I love IKEA almost as much as I love living in Europe. Kind of reminds me of being there as cheesy as that sounds...thier furniture is slick looking, well designed and cheap for the most part.

Originally posted by Juha


Umm, yes. I went for one of their book shelves several years ago. I needed the space badly, and bought several modules of it, complete with drawers, glass doors etc. The works. By the time I had finished tightening all those Allen screws it was a different time of year, my friends no longer recognized me and I had developed a carpal tunnel syndrome.

:crash:

The shelf ended up straight and looking good, so no complaints there. But still, I'd rather be monkeying around with my bike than spending hours practising book shelf construction. Their smaller stuff that requires little or no assembly is OK though.

--J

Two words: POWER DRILL. Thirty bucks (U.S.; that's, what, $24,000 CDN? :D ), and it'll save you a ton of time when putting furniture together, plus you gain the added benefit of getting to shop for power tools. What else could a guy want?

There's no Ikea near me, but there's a stoer called ScanDesign just around the corner from my house.

It's mucho expensive, and tres chic! I really love scandanavian furniture. It's high class in a Warhol sort of way.

Anyway, check their website out:

http://www.inspirationbyscandesign.com

Moo2, thats an awesome site...

IKEA is about style and sweat-equity. They've got great stuff if it suits your personal fashion and you're willing to apply yourself (think cordless drill.) Wouldn't be great to have a bike store like that?

Originally posted by Matadon


...plus you gain the added benefit of getting to shop for power tools...

:beer: That's the best reason yet to buy one! I will have to look into it.

--J

You guys better watch your IKEA purchases,.......remember what happened to Edward Norton in the movie "Fight Club".....

I was just thinking about that! You may return home to find your apartment blown to pieces!

Personally I always figured that the whole build it yourself with allen key thing was just a ruse to encourage would be cycle mechanics. I just wish they'd design something that needs a chain tool to build it. ;)

Originally posted by MikeS
Personally I always figured that the whole build it yourself with allen key thing was just a ruse to encourage would be cycle mechanics. I just wish they'd design something that needs a chain tool to build it. ;) Make window blinds that use bike chains? 9-speed window shutting cassette - how cool is that?
:D

Originally posted by MeHT
Make window blinds that use bike chains? 9-speed window shutting cassette - how cool is that?
:D

That would be extremly cool, now I can open my blinds.... At 9 different speeds! Wow!

Originally posted by Flintlock
You guys better watch your IKEA purchases,.......remember what happened to Edward Norton in the movie "Fight Club".....

Errrrrrrr...... be in a realy, realy bad movie?

Ive seen er sorry heard that Porn has more tangable plots and better acting... ;)

Oh, I have several Ikea "Billy" book shelves, a chair that well, is'nt so comfortable, a cheap kitchen table, but you know what it's like when you're first setting up house, you can get reasonablely stable furniture that functions.

Originally posted by Matadon


Pay *more*? I saved over a thousand dollars by grabbing stuff at IKEA, versus buying from any of the furniture stores in Sacramento. Granted, I probably could have built the furnture myself, but I'd have spent two weeks in my parents' garage with a variety of woodworking tools, versus a day assembling furniture.

Well I don't know about the states. But I can find good deals in most furniture stores where they not only deliver but it is already built. This is generally for cheaper or similar pricing with good quality. If I am willing to skimp on quality then I save a bundle.

IKEA, ...take care! The guy in FIGHT CLUB played by Edward Norton is obsessed with IKEA furniture and lifestyle, and we all know what happened to him .
No, jokes aside, IKEA is a good deal. But we use to joke here in Sweden about the nightmare when you have built the sofa or what ever to almost finish only to discover there is a single piece of screw missing, the almost unavaliable IKEA type .

Keep screwing on both sofas and bicycles

Anders
SWEDEN

I'm writing to you, while seated on a DIREKTOR chair, at an EFFEKTIV desk.

Now I've gotta see Fight Club.

Originally posted by Scooby Snax
Errrrrrrr...... be in a realy, realy bad movie?Are we talking different movies?
:p

Hey, I love that place !!. Now guess what I bought there...
Here is a clue though, I had to assemble it myself!