IKEA - and others ?

[rhiannon]

Love or hate it. I personally don't mind it because it definitely gave me a functional yet good-looking bedroom.










A plague or poor man's designer ? Should a better, less cluttered and more liveable living space also be available to the common man ?

We have an IKEA close to us Gotten many a cool item from them, too up

I tend to prefer Scandinavian design because of its cleaner lines.

[Albion]

I like the idea of Ikea in theory but looking through their catalogues none of it appeals to me.
It's all modern rubbish which will be out of fashion in 5 years, I like simple, functional but sturdy and well-built furniture to classic, timeless designs which won't go out of fashion.
There's nothing I hate more than some shitty chipboard or mdf, that stuff has its uses but not as long-term furniture.

When it comes to buying furniture you can pick up some much better stuff if you shop around. Of all the real woods, pine is probably the cheapest and you can paint it or stain it so that it stays that tacky yellow colour. If I had the money all of my furniture would be solid oak, but unfortunately I'm not loaded so I can;t waste £250 on a set of draws.
A good place to buy furniture are auctions, there's often new or newish stuff in them together with the old tat.

Pine furniture:






Avoid chipboard like the plague, it doesn't last and never looks like the real thing. Pine isn't expensive, chipboard has no place in long-term furniture.
Classic designs which are still relevant today should be used, if we look back at the design trends which were modern in the 60s then you can see just how these fad designs become so despised and ugly over time.