First Ikea visit! What do I need to know?

[clm10308]

I miss living close to IKEA. We are now 4 hrs from the closest one.

Over the years, we have bought many furniture items from IKEA that I really liked and held up very well. My kids' favorite was a kids loft style bed the came with a ladder and a slide. When my DD outgrew the slide we sold it to some friends. We bought a kids dresser that lasted 10 years before we moved. I wished I had kept the dresser.

Try to avoid shopping there on the weekends if at all possible.

 

[christineann]

Get an IKEA rewards card when you enter the store (there are kiosks with computers where you can sign up). You may get a coupon or special deal.

 

[happily single]

How to get out? I can never find my way out of that store. I follow the signs, but the path just twists and turns. It takes forever to make your way out of the store here.

Me Toooo!!! The last time my dd15 and I went we had to have passed through the same bathroom display area 5 times! She was convinced we would never get out

 

[MomofKatie]

Get an IKEA rewards card when you enter the store (there are kiosks with computers where you can sign up). You may get a coupon or special deal.

Do this! You get free coffee/tea at the restaurant every day with the card- usually you will get a special deal the day you sign up, too. I think ours was for free dessert items. There are also a few specials on various items throughout the store- think of the rewards card like you do a grocery store customer savings card.

My favorite area is by the checkouts- lots of really great little impulse buy items here. Also the food marketplace area after the checkouts- you can get your own frozen meatballs and lingonberry sauce to bring home, among lots of other fun Nordic foods.

 

[shortbun]

You guys are scaring me. My teenager wants to go and find shelves for his room. He DOES like to shop. I'm looking for red accents for my living room. I've already eaten all the red meat I'm allotted this week, ha ha, will my Odyssey with a roof top rack and bungee cords be enough space? I want to take a large fan with me to the hotel but I might nix it. I really need the air to move though. I had already thought about comfy shoes and advil. We'll get a map but DH and I are very good at always knowing where we are-DS is, however, directionally challenged so we'll keep him near us. Gosh, I had planned a couple hours...ALL DAY?
Thanks for the great tips!!! Looking forward to cinammon rolls! Will wear blinders at checkout impulse buy areas. Have my own big cloth bags packed.
Going on a Tuesday.

 

[bdoyledimou]

Try the meatballs

An absolute MUST -- with mashed potates gravy and lingon berry sauce -- droooolllll

I am lucjy enough to have 2 Ikeas within 20 minutes of me, and a third one about 40 minutes away

Our family goes there JUST for the food -- but we always end up buying something -- their kitchen gadgets/utensils are amazing!

 

[dakcp2001]

Going on a weekend is like going to Disney in the summer. I can't handle the crowds.

 

[arminnie]

Buy a case of the lingonberry if you like it. We love it and so do all our friends and guest. We are always giving someone a jar.

 

[WalkingintheFog]

IKEA is great!

And if you don't have one near you, then truly, try to go thru the catalogues a few times before you go. (the nearest one(s) to me are in Toronto-area & Montreal.
I find the on-line catalogue frustrating, the paper one not frustrating!

There are so many ideas in the catalogue & in the showrooms.

I'd like to add to the other posters' tips:
Once you've got the map, figure out where the washrooms are, and also the places where you can bypass various sections!
I also brought my camera & took pictures of a few things I was interested in, but could not buy that trip (whether due to space or to cost).

Yes, a whole day! And breakfast there is quite cheap!

 

[Octoberbride03]

I wish i had an Ikea near here. I've been wanting some of the pantry shelves I've seen on Pinterest. The closest 1 to me is in Woodbridge 150 some odd miles away. I think i passed it on the way to Gettysburg a couple of years ago But if I've gotta go north I'm just gonna go all the way to Conshohocken and crash at my uncle's a few miles away in Norristown

 

[ORMom2Four]

Plan on being there all day. It takes a long time to wind through the store. Things aren't arranged in aisles; you're snaking from room to room.

Look at the catalog (if you have one) before you go to see if there's something you really like.

Eat lunch in the cafeteria! I love the meatballs and the lingonberry sauce. There's a berry drink I don't care for, but my son loves it.

Definitely empty out your trunk before you go. You will certainly buy more than you thought you would.

Have fun! I love Ikea. (Even though I really don't buy anything at this point; I just have fun checking out the store.)

Our Ikea (Portland, Oregon) no longer serves the lingonberry sauce with the meatballs--now they give you pickles

If you like chocolate, try their (giant) candy bars. The milk chocolate and the one with nuts are both really good

 

[SandrA9810]

The one in Orlando used to give free breakfast early in the morning. Don't know if they stopped it or not, or if other locations do that.

I found a few pieces online that I want to see in person, but the closest one is like 30 minute drive in the opposite direction of where we normally go.

 

[shortbun]

Free breakfast, huh? Well, we're cleaning out the van right now and we have cargo straps ready.

 

[bdoyledimou]

Free breakfast, huh? Well, we're cleaning out the van right now and we have cargo straps ready.

Even if it's not free, scrambled eggs, home fries and sausage is only $1.00 !!!!!

 

[shortbun]

Even if it's not free, scrambled eggs, home fries and sausage is only $1.00 !!!!!

haha! Seems like it would cost them about a dollar to have someone there to collect the money. We are ready.

Now to check on the cash supply.

 

[bellanotte10]

Dunno if it's like this for all ikeas, but the one near me in Stoughton MA got little to no service. I got separated from my mother and it literally took me 45 minutes to find her again. It was terrible, but I got a giant canvas portrait of Audrey Hepburn and some curtains to make up for it!

 

[shortbun]

Dunno if it's like this for all ikeas, but the one near me in Stoughton MA got little to no service. I got separated from my mother and it literally took me 45 minutes to find her again. It was terrible, but I got a giant canvas portrait of Audrey Hepburn and some curtains to make up for it!

haha! I like your style!

 

[Swan4Me]

My son bought several things there when setting up his apartment far away from us

One item-I think a lounge chair-he had to take out of box in parking lot to somehow get in his car!
When he bought a dining /Island-he paid for delivery-he & fiancee still have these pieces 5 years later

 

[Janepod]

So, how did it go? What did you get?

 

[shortbun]

So, how did it go? What did you get?

Not going until Tuesday. I'll definitely do a trip report! Stay tuned.