IKEA: There has got to be an alternative. Please?

Dunno about the specific stuff you’re after – I got most of my kitchen supplies and linens from ahem IKEA – although mind you, Matalan are not too shabby and certainly as cheap as IKEA.

But, from my experience with kitting out most of my flat when I moved in, it’s worth giving ebay a try.

COI: bought (separately), 3 armchairs, one sideboard and one dining table for £128 off ebay.

Why are you trying to avoid IKEA? I’m not being a cheerleader for them or anything, I’m just curious.

Posted about 1 year ago by SFULG

Urban Outfitters do housey type stuff.

fitters not fritters mmmmmm fritters

Posted about 1 year ago by purpaboo

as do Muji, quite cheaply

Posted about 1 year ago by agox

Re hotel china: I’ve picked up job lots of this at auctions before. Ring round a few auction houses perhaps?

Posted about 1 year ago by agox

I’m annoyed that Ikea have stopped doing those special CD shelf inserts that slot into a Billy bookcase. Bang goes my filing system.

Anyone got any they don’t need?

Posted about 1 year ago by iSleepDiagonal

erm, what’s a Billy bookcase?

Posted about 1 year ago by purpaboo

I love Ikea furniture names. The Rummy sofa. The Tordbjorgler lamp. The Butfukk piano stool. Etcetera.

_{some names may not be strictly accurate}

Posted about 1 year ago by plum

fuchtrumpet?
fochtrumpet?
fuchstrumpet?
fuchstrumpet?

see what i did there

Posted about 1 year ago by purpaboo

It’s a range of modular furniture made by Ikea. A bookcase from the Billy range.

I wish they still did Spurt mugs

Posted about 1 year ago by iSleepDiagonal

iSD, you can occasionally find them on eBay.

Posted about 1 year ago by purpaboo

yes I know. I was outbid by £1 by someone with a more on-the-ball snipe program than me

Posted about 1 year ago by iSleepDiagonal

@ISD: What’s the best snipe program around at the moment?

There’s a place on Tottenham Court Road, where the reject shop used to be, that seems to sell similar sorts of stuff, albeit in a limited range. I haven’t been there in a while so I don’t know how cheap/otherwise it is.

Posted about 1 year ago by pottytime

Slightly off topic but I recently discovered that certain Ikea furniture has become collectable on ebay. I didn’t believe it myself but I recently sold what I thought was a fairly average chest of drawers from the Visdalen range. Apparently it’s been discontinued and is highly sought after! I got £52 for it which considering it’s age and the fact that it wasn’t in great condition I thought was pretty good. There is a bedding range – red and flowery but can’t remember the name of – that is also very collectable. My sister is selling a bed spread and it looks like she’ll actually get back almost what she paid for it 5 years ago….and it’s used….and the cat was sick on it once:-)

Although they are evil and wrong the larger Tescos/Asda have very reasonably priced crockery/furniture etc. Slightly less painful than being trapped in Ikea for hours! Woolies is also a great place to shop for homewares….and dare I say it Argos is much better than it used to be. Not exactly designer but accessable and reasonably priced. I’m a fan of the high street me….

Good luck!

Posted about 1 year ago by Flange1971

I highly recomend Matalan and also bizarrely larger Poundstretcher stores (which is excellent for seasonal products and lighting but skip the linens – do not confuse with Poundland which is very shit), large Morrisons and TK Maxx (check that the branch you are visiting has homewares as they don’t all carry them).

Also check out Paperchase which now often carries various bizarre homewares like chests of drawers and armchairs…

I have also heard of ILVA which is a bit like IKEA style but I haven’t been to one.

inverse snobbery paperchase tk maxx matalan supercheap and stylish

Posted about 1 year ago by phatflaresblack

Thanks for all your replies so far. Very helpful.

I have also found a wonderful little place called South Bank Glass & China on The Cut. They seem to have everything you could need for the kitchen, and mostly at very reasonable prices, in a tiny little store.

re: what I have against IKEA – 1) As Flange1971 pointed out about visiting IKEA: I hate getting trapped there for hours (had the same getting trapped in the labyrinth of the Vatican Museum when visiting the Sistine Chapel in Rome ages ago) 2) You always end up leaving with loads of random stuff that you didn’t need.

freaky statistic that my man just shared with me: 10% of Europeans were conceived in IKEA beds!

Posted about 1 year ago by Lena

Oh, another plug for TX Maxx – I got some brilliant kitchen stuff there, like a set of great 70s-style melamine nesting bowls for about 3p. And some cool pastel-handled knives

Posted about 1 year ago by agox

For the kitchen stuff, have you tried Pages on Shaftesbury avenue? It’s towards the Holborn end, near the cinema. I think there’s another kitchen supply shop in Soho, near De Hems; and the supermarkets in Chinatown are worth a look as well. There used to be a good factory outlet tableware store in Brighton, called Plate Expectations, but google tells me they’ve closed down. And the really big Woolworths on Edgeware Road (Marble Arch end) is good for super-cheap linens and basics.

Posted about 1 year ago by babybat

My parents tell me I was conceived on the Eiffel Tower.

I don’t think so, Moth-urrr….

theyre too straightlaced

Posted about 1 year ago by SFULG

Not china and possibly not cheap but there are what look like a couple of decent designerish type furiture shops up the top (Warren st) end of Hampstead Road.

Posted about 1 year ago by jobytc

babybat: I have been to Page’s a couple of times now. Love them! But china is pricey.

agox: I always laugh when I see TK Maxx. In the US, it’s TJ Maxx. I’ve always been curious what those marketing people were thinking???? It’s exactly the same store.

Is there some dirty connotation to “TJ” over here?

Was the American test market intimidated by that hard ‘k’?

Is it a pun on “UK” ?

Or was it just a typo that then became a regional brand?

Posted about 1 year ago by Lena