Planning my first trip to IKEA

TippyThomas

Honky McHonkerson says hello!
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Curious what your "don't miss" items might be? I'm going with some friends from the shelter and I don't want to miss out on anything good. It's a bit of a drive so I don't know when or if I'll make it back, so figured I'd ask before I go. Thanks!
 
I completely agree, TvGuy. IKEA is a huge maze. They definitely have some great furniture though. I hope you find what you're looking for at a good price, TippyThomas :)
 
There is a lot. At least at our Ikea, there are separate levels for furniture (showing sample rooms and the tables, chairs, beds, shelves, and so on that would go in them) and household goods.

Think about what household goods you might need or want for each part of the home -- kitchen goods, bathroom goods, bedroom goods, family room goods, decorative goods, garden goods... Just for example, in the past year or so I've purchased glasses, a dish drainer, a phone charger, a magnet board, a large zippered bag useful for transporting clothes, a wastebasket, a halogen lamp, and a picture frame. If you just look around, you will find things you need, but it will overwhelming unless you have goals in mind in each area.
 

The people I'm going with seem to constantly rave about their Swedish Meatballs. I'm not sure whether they're setting me up for a joke or if it's genuine. :)
 
It's genuine -- the restaurant has meatballs, veggie balls, and plant-based balls. You can buy frozen versions of those too.
Thanks for that info. I was pretty sure they weren't joking around but it seemed a bit strange at the same time. I'm sure I'll have to give them a try to see for myself.
 
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OH I LOVE IKEA trips! I follow the path. Ours we enter and directly go up. We follow the layout, zig and zagging, exploring "apartments", bins and every bit of inventory. By time we end the upper floor we are next to the restaurant where we stop for a nice and reasonable lunch, hoping for a table by the window.

Then we go downstairs where we really explore as most the small stuff is there. Then you enter the warehouse area where you pick up any of your big items from the shelves. By checkout we have a clearance room (usually means broken) and lots of bins of sale items. We are sure to grab a box of the cinnamon buns - used to only be at food mart past the cash registers but now ours puts them before register.

Note: Me checking my calendar on when I can go. :drive:
 
Plan on taking a break in the restaurant. Even if it's just for a cup of coffee and a slice of cake. It's good to sit down and regroup because Ikea can be over stimulating with all the stuff and the people.

Also, bring measurements for any space you might want to buy an item to fill just in case.

The mountable plastic bag organizer is amazing. The shoe storage cabinets can help keep tight spaces looking tidy. We're also fans of the sealing clips to keep cereal bags fresh. The iconic blue Ikea tote sold near the checkout is great for carrying a lot of stuff.
 
One time I thought I would save time by going through the shortcuts they point out but I ended up more lost :lmao:

I do wish things were more easy to locate but it's also done that way so you can find stuff you didn't know you needed until Ikea told you you needed.

Don't forget to check out clearance stuff. I got a really nice 5 piece canvas set (plant/floral print) for like $11 on clearance there. A few months ago I almost got a tv tray that would have been perfect but it wasn't tall enough (to be fair having tall tv trays that aren't a fortune in cost is hard to find). I've gotten power strips before there and little tea lights that we used at our wedding.
 
The people I'm going with seem to constantly rave about their Swedish Meatballs. I'm not sure whether they're setting me up for a joke or if it's genuine. :)

They will probably have a little eat in restaurant/cafe there in which you can order their savory Swedish meatball sundae. I love it! 🥰 It's a scoop of mashed potatoes topped with 3 Swedish meatballs, their gravy and ligonberry sauce. (It's similar to chunky cranberry sauce.) I usually order 2 and wolf them down they are so good. :blush:
 
I love the little restaurant, the prices are good and the meatballs are awesome. There’s also a little grocery section with Swedish foods that’s cool and lots of home goods things. I live about 5 minutes from one so I go often, mostly for the home goods and food stuff, not big on their furniture.
 
  • The kitchen area downstairs has so many great deals. So take time going through there if you need to score some inexpensive kitchen odds and ends.
  • Look for yellow signs throughout the store it means it's been marked down.
  • Go through the as-is section usually found by the checkout lanes, many things are brand new.
  • You may want to just skip going through the house setups. Kids stuff is usually upstairs at the end of the home apt setups so if you skip the home setups just go to the end for kids stuff, it's often near the cafeteria.
  • Hot dogs near checkout are insanely cheap if you dont want a full meal at the cafe. Grab a drink there on the way in and refill on the way out.

I have shopped at Ikea a minimum of 2000 times in my life. So I know my stuff.. until Ikea remodels again and switches it up on me! They remodel so often. (I used to run an Ikea resale business)
 
Whatever you do if you buy furniture make sure it is in the U pull it section. If you buy something they have to pull you are liable to be there a week from Tuesday
 
Here are things my single son likes:

Big things (upstairs):
Duvets and covers. They sell European-style white quilted duvets in probably about 10 different weights, so you can get just the right thickness for how cold/warm your house is. They also sell nice sheet-weight envelope covers for them, so you can frequently wash the cover without having to wash the thick quilted part. (If you already have a standard size quilt that is a pain to wash, the covers will work on that, too.

Steel gardening bench (actually; these are usually in the aisles of the downstairs warehouse area): My DS lives in a studio, and his kitchen is tiny. He bought a sturdy gardening bench with drawers and an extra shelf, and he keeps his small appliances on it (coffeemaker, airfryer, etc.) to free up his countertop. Tidy and there is no need to worry about it getting damaged by heat.

POANG chair: if you are in the market for a low-priced easy chair, this is a good one. It works as a bounce-rocker, with bentwood legs and arms, with a high-backed padded cloth (or leather) sling seat that can easily be replaced if it wears out. The bent legs act as springs, so it is very comfortable.

Compact carts: these little rolling metal carts are great as nightstands or next to desks or to move cleaning supplies from room to room.

Little things we all love (these will be in the lower-floor housewares dept.):

-plastic storage baggies (great because there are 2 sizes in the boxes, and they have 2-gal ones; cheap, too.
-kitchen canisters, cheaper than you'll find anywhere else, and last for years
-suction dish brush; solid handle, suction cup base to keep your brush out of the sink, and it has a hard scrubbing edge on one side, about $2
-general kitchen gadgets, peelers, spatulas, spoons, scrubbers, etc. Very inexpensive and good quality.
-plain steel pans and salad bowls; inexpensive and really nice quality for the price.
-flexible cutting boards
-universal household scissors: work if you are left-handed, and only about $3
-plant pots; lots of variety at good prices
-tableware by the piece; great if you live alone and don't need full sets for 4

And some things that are sometimes upstairs and sometimes downstairs, depending on the store: small storage containers and miscellaneous hardware.
The zip-up framed cloth storage is really nice, inexpensive, and keeps out dust. Underbed size is great.
Lots of sizes and types of boxes to hold things like pens, small tools, etc.
Hooks: some that mount permanently to walls, and some that attach to rails; very strong, and often funny (DS has a row of very tiny chairs mounted on the wall next to his door to hold coats; they are mounted facing the wall, so you hook your coat over the "back" of the 2" tall chair.) Most of their hooks are about $1-2.
Drapery hardware: good quality, and IME, a fraction of the price anyplace else charges, if you need to hang up blinds or curtains.

And yes, the big blue shopping bags, the ones with zippers. Really good for moving bulky things without having to deal with boxes, because they fold tiny when empty. They are made of Tyvek, so they don't rip and are water-resistant, and the handles can be worn as a backpack, too.
 
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Have fun Tippy - I have to admit it was a one and done for me when I went there about 16 or 17 years ago. Wasn't my thing. But I don't like Buc-ee's either so maybe I'm not a good judge of these things:smooth:
 














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