The Smart Guide to Shopping at IKEA

Recently the new IKEA catalog came out.  I always enjoy looking through the catalog to see what is new, but I'm always disappointed when I go to the store and see the aisles of particle board, plastic and future broken items.  I have developed some "rules" for myself when actually making a purchase and I thought I'd share them with a small series.

First up is furniture.  There are a lot of things to avoid at IKEA, if you look carefully at a lot of their furniture you will see it is made of paper.  I'm not a fan of particleboard of any sort, with it's formaldehyde content and smell, but it is certainly more sturdy than paper. So, if you are looking for something to keep for a while, real wood {at IKEA this generally means pine} or wicker is the way to go.  I actually own the little rocker below and, except for the fact that it has been used as the world's most expensive scratching post, it has held up well.

Natural wood & wicker: STORSELE chair / HEMNES Side Table / GULLHOLMEN Rocking Chair /
STORNÄS Buffet / STOCKHOLM Chair in green

What do you think?  Do you have particleboard furniture from IKEA that you stand by?  I admit to having an ALEX drawer on casters and, it's cute on the outside, but crumbled on the drawer corners as I assembled it.

Bemz & Designer's Guild

I have to admit that I prefer shopping at IKEA for accessories and I don't own any IKEA furniture other than a wicker rocker {that has turned into the world's largest cat scratcher} and a flat file {which crumbled as I attempted to assemble it}.  I'd much rather save and buy something that is made well or buy something used and fix it up so it lasts forever.

Now that that is out of the way, I have to say that I love the Bemz and Designer's Guild slip cover collaboration.  Designer's Guild is one of my favorite fabric destinations and Tricia Guild's books are worth the price - they have some of the most inspiring photos in them. 

Some of the slipcovers come in fairly subdued patterns and colors.

via Bemz

via Bemz

 
But this brightly striped slipcover would certainly make your IKEA sofa stand apart from your friend's IKEA sofa.

via Bemz

IKEA PS 2009 Products

IKEA had a display of their new PS collection, which I believe is due out in the late summer or fall {2009}. They had a fairly large collection of new items some of which were fabulous. I admittedly have a love/hate relationship with IKEA. I like to buy items that will last forever and are well-made or at least look like it. There are so many things I see at IKEA where I love the style of the item but, when I see it close-up, the quality doesn't justify a purchase. That said, I have a number of items from IKEA that I am happy with, I'm just very selective and make sure the item will last {at least in theory, like the world's most expensive scratching post}.


 I love the pendant light in the image above. They are quite simple and made of natural materials.

While I was there I really focused on the lighting but looking at my photographs when I got home I kept seeing these great chairs in the pictures. On the photo above you can see it in gray against the red wall and below it is the red chair to the left. It's a bit hard to see but there is a better image here.



I thought this pendant light was fascinating. It is quite large and I think it would be even better with some sort of screen around the light source. I just wonder, with it being from IKEA, how long it takes to assemble.

{photos: jeanine}