Hello IKEA
Monday, August 10, 2009 at 1:28PM
On the way to and from Charleston, we decided to stop in Charlotte, NC, to give us all a chance to get out of the car for a little while. On the way down, we stopped at the Apple store so my husband could get a new laptop. On the way home, we stopped at IKEA because I have never been to one. I have heard about IKEA for years and everyone always posts about IKEA finds, but I have never lived near a store so I have not had the chance to see what all of the fuss is about.
Now that I have been I am still not even sure how I feel about the experience. The Charlotte store is fairly new and I don't know if all IKEAs are like this or if it is just because the novelty hasn't worn off yet, but it felt sort of like we were stuck in an amusement park and in a herd of sheep and in a furniture store all at the same time. I think every single person that lives in Charlotte was at IKEA with us. The parking lot is HUGE but people were still parking on the street, across the street, in fields, etc. Once we finally got inside, there were escalators, elevators, food (we are talking a full-on cafeteria!), kiddie play areas, and lines of people as far as the eye could see. I think the only thing that outnumbered the amount of shoppers was the amount of employees - they were everywhere! (Good for you, IKEA - way to provide jobs in a tough economy!) Because of the layout of the store, we were pretty much forced to go through every single department to finally get to the exit. We discovered shortcuts after we had been there a while, but they are definitely hidden. We were pushing Riley in her stroller so that hindered our ability to maneuver around the masses of people standing dumbly in the middle of the walkways staring off into IKEA space. Eventually, Paul took Riley to go eat and I was left to browse on my own with the shopping cart. That presented a whole host of other problems - all four wheels on the carts swivel which I guess is supposed to give you more mobility. I could never seem to master driving the cart and most of the time I would end up pushing the cart sideways through the crowds when I was trying to push it straight ahead of me! I eventually abandoned my cart and went to find Paul. I figured if the cart and my stuff was still there when I got back, then I would buy it. If not, it was a sign that I didn't need it anyway.
This is turning into a long post - are you even still reading???
Well, we found our cart and our stuff was still there so I actually did get some good things. We bought new pillows for our bed. Of course there were hundreds of choices, but we both went with the GOSA RAPS pillow for side sleepers. I have to say, so far we are impressed - they are not too soft, not too firm and they fluff up in a way that fills up the pillowcase so they look good too. I also got some aluminum RIBBA picture frames, some white ceramic flower pots and some other little finds. When it came to the furniture I just couldn't get the idea of "dorm room" out of my head. A lot of the stuff was cute and if I was still in college or right out of college I would have been in heaven! But I am trying to slowly weed out all of the MDF furniture from my college days so I just didn't find anything that I was dying to have except for this little guy:
His name is ALEX. I have been looking for a cabinet or shelving unit to put inside of a closet in our sunroom to hold art supplies, fabric, paper, etc. This cabinet is great because it is pretty deep and wide so it holds large flat objects and it is on castors so I can wheel it out if I need to. It fits perfectly! It took my closet from this:
To this:
It was very easy to put together and came with all of its parts so I am pretty happy with it. Despite the madness of the crowds and the overwhelming size of the store, I am so glad I finally got to check IKEA out and I would definitely go back again. Even though the furniture isn't exactly what I am looking for, I think IKEA would be great for basic staples - white dishes, pillows, frames, fabric, kitchen utensils, etc. However, I think it is the type of place where I need to go in with a list - it is too massive for me to just browse. What do y'all think? Do you love or hate IKEA?
Reader Comments (6)
Nice! I know what you mean about IKEA. I haven't been there since we lived in Virginia (the one in NoVa), but I remember being similarly overwhelmed at the scale of the place and underwhelmed by the quality of the furniture. But we did buy linens and other various stuff there.
I was going to do a post this week on my experience with Ikea! I went to the Ikea in Charlotte on 8/5. I thought I was going to d-i-e. I wanted to get an electric wheel chair or something! I was tired, I didn't even have the energy to buy anything and I hated all of the foreign language. There were certainly some good deals, but nothing knocked me over! I felt like I needed a passport to get out of there. In fact, I couldn't get out. I was on the phone with Claire and she had to help me out. It was so weird!
UGHHH- IKEA!! I've been once-- and felt the same way you did. I couldn't stand it! I got so overwhelmed, I ended up buying one little dinky thing and getting the hell out of there. IKEA is huge over here in Europe-- everyone shops there. The problem is that the stores are always way out of town, so one usually ends up having to take a train and a bus and then walk on foot a bit to get there. Our entire apartment is compliments of IKEA (we rent furnished). Thank God I've never had to make the trip out there, but my friend who lives in London has been to her's several times and has nothing but horror stories of the experiences. I know that cheap staples are always a draw, but I honestly don't know how people can be so productive while there. Way to go on finding the cabinet-- you did much better than I ever could!
Hi, I was at the Ikea in Charlotte in the afternoon on 8/6 and it was not crowded, but I'd never go on the weekend because I hear it is crazy! I think it is great for organization items like what you bought, cheap accessories, and inexpensive furniture for a room such as a playroom that could possibly be ruined by your children. The organization stuff was much cheaper than Walmart or Taret and looked better too! I almost think it would be better to just shop in that area where you pick up the items at the exit! It seemed almost everything was there and you don't have to walk 3 miles with your children as I did! Just found your blog and it's great!
I have never been because I too, have never lived near one. I agree about the furniture and the dorm-ness of it but I have been eyeing their "Ektrop" (sp?) couch and ottoman via their website as an idea for our sunroom. Still, I think it would be more fun to just have my older stuff recovered though!
Shopping at IKEA always reminds me of those first scenes in Fight Club--remember where Edward Norton's place is completely decked out? Anyway, IKEA definitely serves a few purposes-- inexpensive furniture and unique accessories, mostly--but the quality isn't there and it's also too modern for me. Also, putting IKEA furniture together is a nightmare--there are always a million little screws and the instructions are only pictures. Drawers never seem to fit right and hardware tends to fall off. It's still worth a trip once a year, just to see. You never know what you'll find there and it's fun to see everything displayed in the showroom.