I am going to confess straight up. I am not a fan of IKEA. Oh, yes, I have walked thru the store my fair share of times. I have profound respect for the way they set things up, so you see a lifestyle, not just furniture. In fact, they do it better than anyone else.
I will also confess that I have bought things from IKEA that I really like, but other than a bathroom storage unit, I haven’t bought any furniture. They have some nice-looking things, but I don’t find their furniture particularly comfortable or durable.
HGTV magazine along with other design and home improvement magazines feature their products quite a bit, something I really don’t understand. If you are looking for reasonably priced couches and beds, there are plenty of other stores that do it better. And the “IKEA HACKS” trend? (Articles and blogs where people take something they bought at IKEA and make it into something much nicer.) Why is everyone having to “hack” IKEA stuff if IKEA stuff is so great?
But yes, during the reno from hell, I went to IKEA. Numerous times as it turned out. Here are three truths I learned:
DELIVERY WAS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE
I ordered five different cabinets for the laundry room, and due to design changes, I only ended up using one. (See below for returning to IKEA). They were delivered together in several boxes. Unfortunately, the one I decided to use, was missing the shelves. Unbeknownst to me, the shelves should have been a separate box. Since I wasn’t aware everything has a a different part number, it was hard to determine what went with what and I didn’t notice the shelves were missing until I was having the cabinet put up, months after it had been delivered.
“Just call IKEA, and they should be able to send you the missing shelves,” the cabinet person said.
In theory, that was true. The reality was that due to the supply change mess, I ended up waiting six weeks for the shelves to turn up and because it had been so long since everything had been delivered, I had to pay $20.00.
If I ever do IKEA cabinet delivery again, I will pay more attention to the shipping list and actually check off everything as it is being dropped off. Don’t trust that everything is there, because it probably isn’t.
THEIR CABINETS ARE A REAL VALUE
For the price, IKEA cabinets are a good value. I have had two IKEA cabinets in my bathroom for over 15 years and they have held up very well. The one I now have in the laundry room looks good, wasn’t super expensive and seems sturdy.
NOBODY TAKES RETURNS BETTER
Dragging back multiple cabinets to IKEA after numerous design changes was not fun. That being said, they have an organized system for returning merchandise that has you check in via a kiosk when you get there. Your name goes up on a screen and you see where you are in the queue and how many minutes the people in front of you have been waiting.
The timeframe to return is super generous. If you have a receipt (the email they send you when you buy online counts) you have 180 days for opened merchandise and 365 days for unopened merchandise. You do have to produce the credit card you bought with. One of my returns was bought with a credit card that was later compromised, so they gave me store credit.
Overall, yes, despite not being enamored with IKEA, I can say I am incredibly happy with how everything turned out in the end.
I will also confess that I have bought things from IKEA that I really like, but other than a bathroom storage unit, I haven’t bought any furniture. They have some nice-looking things, but I don’t find their furniture particularly comfortable or durable.
HGTV magazine along with other design and home improvement magazines feature their products quite a bit, something I really don’t understand. If you are looking for reasonably priced couches and beds, there are plenty of other stores that do it better. And the “IKEA HACKS” trend? (Articles and blogs where people take something they bought at IKEA and make it into something much nicer.) Why is everyone having to “hack” IKEA stuff if IKEA stuff is so great?
But yes, during the reno from hell, I went to IKEA. Numerous times as it turned out. Here are three truths I learned:
DELIVERY WAS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE
I ordered five different cabinets for the laundry room, and due to design changes, I only ended up using one. (See below for returning to IKEA). They were delivered together in several boxes. Unfortunately, the one I decided to use, was missing the shelves. Unbeknownst to me, the shelves should have been a separate box. Since I wasn’t aware everything has a a different part number, it was hard to determine what went with what and I didn’t notice the shelves were missing until I was having the cabinet put up, months after it had been delivered.
“Just call IKEA, and they should be able to send you the missing shelves,” the cabinet person said.
In theory, that was true. The reality was that due to the supply change mess, I ended up waiting six weeks for the shelves to turn up and because it had been so long since everything had been delivered, I had to pay $20.00.
If I ever do IKEA cabinet delivery again, I will pay more attention to the shipping list and actually check off everything as it is being dropped off. Don’t trust that everything is there, because it probably isn’t.
THEIR CABINETS ARE A REAL VALUE
For the price, IKEA cabinets are a good value. I have had two IKEA cabinets in my bathroom for over 15 years and they have held up very well. The one I now have in the laundry room looks good, wasn’t super expensive and seems sturdy.
NOBODY TAKES RETURNS BETTER
Dragging back multiple cabinets to IKEA after numerous design changes was not fun. That being said, they have an organized system for returning merchandise that has you check in via a kiosk when you get there. Your name goes up on a screen and you see where you are in the queue and how many minutes the people in front of you have been waiting.
The timeframe to return is super generous. If you have a receipt (the email they send you when you buy online counts) you have 180 days for opened merchandise and 365 days for unopened merchandise. You do have to produce the credit card you bought with. One of my returns was bought with a credit card that was later compromised, so they gave me store credit.
Overall, yes, despite not being enamored with IKEA, I can say I am incredibly happy with how everything turned out in the end.
RSS Feed