Let’s hear it for IKEA. I needed a kitchen table and a couple of chairs and they came through with flying colors. Okay, it may not be fine furniture, but when it comes to inexpensive, utilitarian furnishings, their product fits the bill. For less than $200 I have a sturdy table and two acceptable chairs. Of course, you can spend more than that at IKEA, but when down and dirty does the job, why spend more?
You have to love their assembly instruction sheets. No words at all, just an androgynous character when needed and line drawings. I have to admit that one of the things the chair assembly instruction sheet was trying to say is still a mystery to me, but I got them together without a problem and without having to solve that mystery.
Being a woodworker, or at least being one when I have a shop available, I may be a bit more critical than the average consumer. The finish certainly could be improved and I would like to have a hardwood for the chairs instead of just pine. Cost wise, it would have actually cost me as much, if not more, for the materials to build the table and chairs myself, and without a shop to work in the convenience more than makes up for a product that doesn’t quite meet my personal woodworking standards.
One of the nice things about this furniture is being able to easily dispose of it at the end of its life. All I have to do is take it apart and feed it into the fireplace and recycle the few metal parts. Talk about getting double use out of a product.
Only one thing marred my shopping experience at IKEA. While I was jockeying the table packages around (I had to go down to the third box in the stack before I got a box that looked acceptable to me), a woman came up to me and asked me if I needed any help. Sigh. Yeah, I know I am looking more and more like an old man, but my ego didn’t need to get slapped around. It’s not like I was struggling with the boxes as they only weigh fifty-five pounds – it only looked like I might have been having trouble because the box is awkward and they were stacked up over my head. I do appreciate the kindness of someone offering to help, but I don’t need any more reminders of my slide into oblivion.
While you can find plenty of people willing to slap IKEA around, I think that it is a store that has a definite place in our world. If you are just starting out on your own or have a limited budget, check them out. And no, I have no financial interest in this, other than saving a few bucks where I can.