Ikea Furniture Prices

[TuesdaySue]

Please not another anti-Ikea campainer! I LIKE Ikea, that's why. And it's MY house!

Yes, supporting local shops is great, but I'm unconvinced that "there's much nicer stuff at good prices". Furniture stores here are hideously expensive, probably import from China anyhow, and the furniture looks like it belongs in the 80s! (What is this obsession with fake gold frilly bits anyhow?) Supporting a business that doesn't meet my needs seems a bit silly.

[Angie and Robert]

I think Sue is right, there isnt anything stylish at a price we could afford around here, where did you go JC for your furniture?, we are very close to you and thought we had exhausted all the local outlets (and ourselves) in the search for stuff for our apartment. Its by no means all Ikea, but the lighting, even if you dont like the furniture is very good value, the local glitzy stuff was awful and would have required a bank loan to buy.
I am in agreement with supporting local tradespeople which we do when we can but not at any price.
A

[livarandsofie]

I think that I know why. One is used to shop at IKEA back home. And the products are familiar. One can browse the catalogue back home (and the internet) and see the products, try the beds, sit at the tables in the shop at home and find exactly the same products in Italy. And the shop has a lot of products to tempt us. No hassle with foreign language, what you shop you can bring with you...........
Oh I sound like an employee! But I am not and I would like to shop locally. But I don't know what quality that is sold and if it is at the right price. And some of the prices locally is very high. And the style is not always (seldom) to our liking.

[Gala Placidia]

To furnish and decorate a house takes a long time and there could be a conflict between the furniture you need immediately to make the house habitable and finding the special pieces you want to have. For this reason, IKEA is a practical solution to find those basic elements you need immediately. You simply combine a few with some decorative objects or paintings you may already have, wipe in this way the total IKEA "look" and then the house works without having to sit on packaging crates. Slowly, you replace those pieces you do not really like that much by the ones you find, particularly if you are into antique or vintage styles. And you (or your pocket) do not suffer much when disposing of the IKEA pieces you do not longer need because you have used them and they are not expensive.This is what I generally do, and it works for us.

[elliven]

Yes Ikea are a very good act and so far have not found an alternative and the Italians are voting with their feet. I do find some of the very cheapest ranges a bit flimsy but there are alternatives altho' post assembly exhaustion can be very debilitating!

[Sally Donaldson]

But rewarding.

[sueflauto]

I think Gala P makes some good points. Another is that some of us are only renting, will only be here a number of years for this spell for family reasons, and that impacts on what we buy.

Here in the Valle d'Aosta there is some solid wood furniture which I'd love to have. The walnut table and chairs in a local window are gorgeous and solidly tactile, but the price..! I wouldn't argue that it isn't good value but some of us have limited income and I'd agree with the poster above who expressed scepticism about 'good stuff at good prices'.

I make do with local handicrafts: wooden bowls, chopping boards, small carvings... as my nod to the local economy (apart from the wine, that is!).