We prefer going to the IKEA that we're familiar with (although generally they have the same lay out) as we often get lost, which in turn means buying unplanned stuffs

I am still in love with Ikea

The beauty of Ikea stuff is that it is not hard wood - an expat can't afford to trawl hardwood furniture around the world! No wonder most of us have ditched armoires, and have Pax instead.

Secret with ikea is to buy their higher range - OH had his dining chairs from IKEA, and 10 years on, they show no sign of old age. A shame, as I really want to change them!

But I have fallen out of love of their meatballs ...

I never fell in love with them in the first place so that wouldn't entice me to go there.

I do occasionally enjoy a potter around but I go on a weekday morning when it's quiet. A couple of times a year when the serviette stock is running low is usually enough.

Agree, the best time to go is early in the morning. Since my little one goes to a Spielgruppe, I have 2 hours to kill!

Luckily we are in Holland this weekend, so I am stocking up at Hema. I'll have to wait for a while before going to ikea

Let me know the next time you run out of napkins and we can go together!

How funny! However, I feel to be at ALL stages, at once!

I'd rather gouge my eyes out with a spoon than go to Ikea.

Just the thought of tackling that cruel labyrinth sets every nerve jangling.

Unfortunately their crib mattresses are still the best, least expensive, and consistently available source for dog beds. And so I occasionally must screw my courage to the sticking place and venture once more unto the breach.

Although Aldi occasionally offers some decent alternatives. Given the haphazard nature of Aldi stocking, though, I find myself buying their foam 'stuff' whenever it appears, whether I need it now or not. Because when I need it, it will have disappeared.

So Ikea-phobia has turned me into an Aldi hoarder. I don't think that's an improvement.

great idea

Oh DARN, does that mean I'll go back???

We have the ortho dog mattresses and the Ikea fitted crib sheets fit perfectly.

Good old Ikea celebrated its birthday a while ago

Funny - I, on the other hand, rarely buy anything from Aldi (it's my least loved shop in CH)! Different strokes for different folks.

Ikea - best place on the planet to observe wannabe middle class young people living in their natural surroundings. Scurrying around hoarding bits of Chinese crap crafted by tiny hands destined never to get much further than the inside of the big yellow bag with blue handles that causes sea life to die a horrible death when you forget them on the beach and they wash out with the tide.

The fake green Photoshopped plant section which only ever looks good in the store, but looks like a remnant of Hiroshima fallout by the time you've placed it in the corner next to that godawful bunch of tied up twigs that look like failed props from an audition for an ogre's brush competition.

And Ingvar Kamprad laughing himself all the way to the bank, enjoying long life and still pondering selling abridged copies of Mein Kampf as cute coloring books for the white kids in the play areas with the brightly colored plastic balls. Swap your children, just don't forget the receipt if they don't match the curtains when you get them home.

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Just about to question if you're having a slow morning in the office, Mr Assassin.

But then I realised it's a holiday, so now I am wondering if you have been dragged down to Ikea this morning into the pit of middle class hell.. and are suffering?

You poor thing!

You should potentially not have mentioned that Ikea is open today

Another Aldi / Lidl hoarder here, and have been since the early 1990's. Half my tool kit in the UK is from Aldi, and I've filled 3 different gardens with plants from Aldi.

Joining their mailing lists was an occupational hazard of being with the OH and needing to stalk 'Greek Week'. This consists of running down the freezer stock beforehand so that it can be filled with Eridanous tiropita and gyros from Lidl. Finally, Aldi has made the gorgeous Lyttos tzatziki a regular fixture, and though I enjoy making my own, it's good to have a few tubs in the fridge as back up.

Hmm, I started to believe Mr Assassin and DB are actually the same person..

Nope, Ikea is for the many and poor.

Ha, well, whatever it means of us, BakerGrl and I love Ikea. For me it's mainly because it's the only way to get things with an ounce of European sensibility here in the states! Can't get enough walking around there. Fortunately we don't have the money to get ourseles in too much trouble but honestly we're looking forward to ditching our stuff and buying a new home's worth at the Ikea when we move.

Don't know what we'd do without all our Billy bookcases! Some are on their 4th house and still going strong. Their Gorm shelving system is also still working perfectly.

Our Aldi bed mattresses were grabbed in the crush at their store in Zollikofen, Bern years and years ago when everyone in the store was fighting to get their hands on one. I couldn't get near to the box the mattresses were in, but spotted that one of the assistants was just about to bring another box out of the store room so positioned myself to grab two as she went by. Guaranteed for 10 years, well past that now and still comfortable. Not bad for CHF99 each.

Agree that the furniture is often a great solution - when we first came here over 20 years ago no Swiss person would ever have admitted to buying any piece of furniture that wasn't built to last less than a lifetime (it had a price tag as well, which often severely restricted the choice on the market to the "ugly" range).

Thank goodness that has all changed and the options are far greater than before.

The problem is not with Ikea design itself, more with visiting and navigating the stores.

I agree. And btw, all big stores sell cheap "Chinese" stuff too, so if you buy it 3 times more expensive in Micasa you will not save the planet...