Don’t get me wrong, I still like IKEA, but I begin to see the cheapness of the products. I always knew they were cheap…er, inexpensively manufactured…but now I actually see it.
I still love my bedroom furniture (MALM), though I wish I had opted for the darker fake wood look rather than the birch fake wood look.
I still love my laptop table (DAVE,) my drop-leaf table (MUDDUS-geez, what a name,) and my cat house (BASTIS BLOND) that I stuck a piece glass on top and call an end table. But I went to IKEA yesterday and came away disappointed. My needs were simple:
- Living room sectional: what does IKEA have and how much does it cost?
- Kitchen cabinets: what do IKEA’s cabinet look and feel like up close?
- Wicker baskets to use as trash receptacles: does no one carry tall, skinny umbrella stands any more, ideal for trash because they hold a lot yet are tall so you do not have to look at the trash unless you stand directly over them and look down?
1 – Sectional styles are limited and the ones I sort of liked are just as expensive as what you can buy at a regular store, where they actually deliver it to your house and set it up for you.
2 – Cabinets look and feel cheap.
3 – No one carries wicker umbrella stands any more. Apparently it no longer rains.
To top off the disappointment, my shopping buddy was not quite sure about an item so we asked about the return policy: 90 days, with receipt, package must be unopened.
Um, what? Package must be unopened? What if you get it home and it is broken? Or you open it up and the color or size or material is not quite what you expected? Or it is just plain ugly now that you see it in context and you don’t like it?
The bloom is off the rose. IKEA, I am so over you.
