i actually have a set of ikea food storage that i love, it was about 20 pieces for like $15 or so, clear ones with blue lids packed into a neat little cube. After a year of use they have held up really well for the price. So far all the casualties have been our fault, 2 pieces have cracked after being dropped or improperly packed and one lid was accidentally set on a not-yet-cooled burner on the stove (oops). What I love the most is they all stack into each other to the size of a shoebox but so they take up almost no room when not in use, but can hold gallons of food and have a nice variety of sizes.

I do have to say the knives i got from them are horrible... I'd sooner grab a steak knife to chop my veggies with before the ikea ones. Where do you get the good ones?

The only IKEA knife experience I have is with a bread knife and steak knives. But I can tell you right away to just stay away from the $3.99 set of knives; they are not going to be good quality. I don't know how their more expensive knives stack up, but the cheap ones are the same as any cheap knife...not great.

About five years ago I purchased an interesting bentwood knife rack from Ikea, as it was the perfect thing to hang on the wall between the stove and the counter. It came with three knives and a sharpening steel. I had assumed that the knives would end up being sent to Goodwill, since I already had my own well loved vintage carbon steel knives. I was very surprised that the knives were not only comfortable to use but have held an edge quite well. The whole five piece set (knives steel rack) was only about $25. The rack is discontinued, but the knives look very similar to their budget 365 line.

actually the 3.99 knife block used to be 7.99 - i bought it when i was in college and got my first apartment seven years ago. and they honestly worked fantastic especially considering the price & i use them constantly. i actually just went out and bought a second set because the two smallest knives that i use all the time were finally too dull for my everyday work. anyways for someone starting out and with limited space its an excellent deal. and anyways if you hate them you only spent $4

i think the $749 is for the oven, and that kitchen costs $4800...

"Lower prices - Even IKEA seems to be responding to the economy."

Really, ask yourselves how they manage to lower prices like this -- by cutting profits? Not likely. More likely by doing the same thing that Wal-Mart does -- squeezing suppliers.

What does that mean and why should we care?

Because it means that most likely workers are exploited in order to produce the stuff -- we are talking about people who struggle to support families on the minimum wage (or less), we are talking about child labour (IKEA knows it has child labour in its supply chain)... We are of course, talking about people who live in countries that do not enjoy anything remotely resembling Sweden's social benefits, environmental policies or workplace legislation. It also means that the wood is not sustainably forested (most of the wood comes from places where illegal logging is rampant, and IKEA only has 11 inspectors to monitor the situation)...

Don't know about you, but I don't support these sorts of business practices.

So AT, how about a little balance on IKEA? At least, no more IKEA cheerleading... People really don't need *more* encouragement to shop there, and the release of the catalog is only an "event" if AT and others make it so.

And yeah -- I'm getting really negative on IKEA because there doesn't seem to be much acknowledgement of its "issues".

not everyone can afford to shop at west elm, or room & board, etc..

Avoid buying plumbing fixtures from IKEA. Just had a nightmare weekend with a bathroom faucet...

mschatelaine, amen. low cost is fine, but it's always good to look behind the curtain at what's driving the dropping prices.

Every single one of my IKEA knives has broken off its handle or bent. Never again.

@ mschatelaine: YES! Thanks for pointing this out! There's a book coming out soon that tackles this: http://www.salon.com/books/review/2009/07/12/cheap/

@plumeria: Agreed. But there is a third way: antiques, consignment and thrift stores. Why not reuse, when more than likely, the items were better made, anyway?

'tis true @m! that kitchen would be steal of the century at $749, alas $4900. looks like their price placement worked and duped the OP.

yarggh! i need some new cake pans... anyone have experience with these orange monsters?

Nothing is going to equal the buying of single badass pieces of cutlery as though you were on top chef, but j.a. henckels makes a couple sets with a nice black wood block holder for $48 with the 20% coupon they always mail out at bed bath and beyond (. http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=13049556&RN=395 I agonized a long time a couple years ago about buying ikea low end knives, and just couldn't bring myself to do it.

those cheap (leaky, breaky, warpy) plastic containers... great, another thing to throw away. i was drawn to them as well, and hate em. the only ones that work proper enough are the rounds with the screw lids. and even then, MEH! go for the mid-range rubbermaid stuff at any retailer in an 18piece set for $9. you'll thank yourself later for that.

@plumeria - agreed!!! tho i dont think i'd shop those stores even if i could. It just seems to be ever
over-inflated price wise to me.

@ann246 - what happened? you're not supposed to buy everything from ikea lol. home depot and lowes sell faucets too. though i do likes me some of them sinks at ikea (faucets are pretty standard things, as are sinks. of course you do have to count the holes. )

@violet222 - in my experience, good finds via thrift, consignment and antiques are rare in NYC area... everyone knows what the stuff costs retail. yet i have found quite a lot curbside. the concerns there are (shivers...) bed bugs! but what are you gonna do?

Art is what is in your heart, so decorate at will!

@violet222: I've said it here before but it bears repeating. Not everyone lives in cosmopolitan areas with multiple, well-stocked antique and thrift stores. In many rural American towns, decent thrift store and Craigslist finds are few and far between. I might be able to acquire a few good pieces over a few years, but not enough to furnish a house within any reasonable time period. Reusing is a wonderful option if it's available to you and I strongly encourage it. But one must recognize it's not always a practical option everybody.

There are actually people who read this blog outside of New York, Chicago, and L.A. Please everyone try to remember that other people may not be as blessed with the same resources, monetary or otherwise.

Can we just once have an ikea thread with out the ikea critics chiming in and instructing us to buy our furniture in consignment shops? seems to happen 2-3 times a week.

Go live out of a consignment shop yourself, and stop persistently preaching.

Reminds me of the "driving a pious causes smug" southpark episode.

With a personal net worth of $31 billion dollars (yup, that's a "b") Ingvar Kamprad, the owner Ikea, can afford not only to lower prices but also to raise wages and source materials responsibly. With that kind of dough, those principles are not mutually exclusive.

I would love to find some good "thrift" or "consignment" furniture. However, in this part of the world, this doesn't exist. For the last 50-60 years, people in this former Communist country have had terrible furniture - and have used it until it fell apart.

Before Ikea came along, furniture similar in quality to Ikea but much uglier (horrible decorations, etc). was sold for prices 2-3 times higher.

Now, as I'm furnishing my first apartment, it makes an unbelievable difference to have the option of actually getting rather nice furniture without blowing the finances of the entire extended family. There are plenty other people in similar situations.

So, yes, it's certainly irritating to see people bashing AT for writing about the new catalogue.

Where can I find a backsplash like the one in the second row , last picture?

i agree with violet222. i've never bought and ikea knife because well, they just look like they wont last, and most of them have gently serrated edges which makes sharpening them impossible. at a few different thrift stores here in philadelphia i've found a myriad of amazing knives. i got a henkel butcher knive for .48 cents and some great forged steel knives with wood handles that were pretty expensive knives in their heydays and even though i have to sharpen them about once a month, they work really great, and having 15 different knives on ikeas wall mounted magnetic knife block look alot cooler than 15 boring ikea knives with crummy plastic handles.

thrift stores are the best place to go when you are looking for kitchen stuff. i've found everything from mccoy pottery to fiesta ware to a couple of solid sterling silver (not plated) dinner forks. i never pay more than a dollar or two per item. you have to really hunt through all of the bins and shelves, but you're guaranteed to find something cool.

most people dismiss thrift stores for cooking stuff. and im glad because i'll keep finding unique stuff while everyone else just goes to ikea....

Are we collectively sure that Ikea is a bad corporate citizen?

The review of the book mentioned here (and I admittedly haven't read the book) seems to criticize the company mostly for propagating the allure of a disposable culture.... and says that they "may" source wood from illegal regions (though the book admits that Ikea employs forestry monitors to make sure that doesn't happen). The book also criticizes the build-it-yourself ethos because it doesn't value craftmanship, or something like that.

I think those are somewhat legitimate complaints, but they might be balanced by the company's other positive things-- low shipping costs, flatpacking, etc that make up their business model.

I know that ikea isn't going to produce heirlooms, but I think most people here would agree that it's not an either/or situation in our homes and lives. Sometimes you pay for quality and sometimes you just need something cheap to put your books on.

Can we just once have an ikea thread with out the ikea critics chiming in and instructing us to buy our furniture in consignment shops? seems to happen 2-3 times a week.
sure. if people will stop peeing all over themselves every time ikea or target is mentioned.

@Annegret, @Serrin Ling: You crack me up. I live in a place with no Ikea and few decent consignment stores. Oh, and Craigslist sucks here. Yup, the people of Boise, Idaho are not known for their senses of style, and I see why. I've been seeking a decent modern couch for a couple of years now, but when you search "modern" on CL you get crappy, overstuffed junk.

So no, when it comes to furnishing my house, I don't have it easy here, either, and I do drool when I go to big cities and hit Ikea. I certainly can't afford the (very) few cool furniture stores here. But I'm not going to try to pretend that Ikea's business practices are magically better than Wal-Mart's just because they have better fashion sense.

And I've decided that having an up-to-date, hip looking place is less important than trying to help the planet by reusing perfectly good furniture that already exists. I'll avoid buying a couch at the Salt Lake City Ikea, even if it takes me a long time to find what I'm looking for locally because I don't "live in cosmopolitan areas with multiple, well-stocked antique and thrift stores."

I work at IKEA as a Furnishing Consultant and would like to clarify a few misconceptions I have read on some of the comments listed. IKEA is at the forefront of sustainability and avid promoters of saving the environment and living green. We were one of the first US retailers to go "bagless". Our wood is harvested from sustainable forests that IKEA owns throughout the world. IKEA reuses and readapts scrap material and turn them into other products we sell as well. Waste is not a word IKEA uses in production of product nor in day to day operations in the stores.

Yes, IKEA has products produced in second and third world countries, but we also provide jobs and build schools in some of those countries as well to help better communities. IKEA is NOT a promoter of child labor nor will it use a factory that promotes it. Each local IKEA has a large presence in the community that it is located in. We donate, volunteer and help our community as much as possible.

The reason that IKEA is promoting "New Lower Price" in this new catalogue is because we strive to work better AND smarter. Products are always being reexamined to see if we can produce, package and ship it more efficiently, but always keeping our quality promise. Many of our products that have dropped in prices this year is because we have began opening up new IKEA owned suppliers in the US and Canada, which cuts back on import and shipping costs.

I agree that not all IKEA products will be handed down from generation to generation, but we do have numerous products that are HIGH QUALITY along with beautiful design. You may be surprised to know that many of our products have 10 year warranties and we back up our promise.

IKEA has never once stated that we are better than any of our competitors. Its actually the users that state that not us. What IKEA does promote is our continued efforts to provide affordable furnishings for everyone at every price point.

So please, if you feel that negative about IKEA, I beg you to shop were you feel most comfortable. I, however, am an avid promoter of IKEA and will always be. Misconceptions or not, we provide products at every price point so that everyone can be able to furnish their homes.

You can read up on some of our practices here:

http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/about_ikea/the_ikea_way/index.html

@violet: Well I guess if you've got a high horse to sit on you don't need to buy a couch.

I love the look of antiques and thrift shop finds, but to be honest, other things like - not knowing if the previous owners were axe murderers - often stop me from making a purchase. That, and the possibility of bed bugs lurking within the frameworks. I too want to be a responsible shopper, thinking about social justice issues and poverty BUT I would be lying if I said I didn't have almost an entire room furnished by Ikea! It's what I can afford on my salary. Sometimes you really have to pick your battles. I do my best to buy local produce, support Toronto owned shops etc. We just bought a really amazing iron bed from Wesley Allen that will probably last us a lifetime. However, I really do need to shop at Ikea!

On another note, find the writing about Ikea's practices in the post above to be very clever. I can promote being responsible but doesn't mean I am!

"not knowing if the previous owners were axe murderers"

and in what way would that affect the quality and/or efficiency of a piece of furniture?????

I'll admit I have a loathe/like relationship with Ikea. Yes, in many ways they're just Wal-Mart with very good design standards, but as far as big boxes go they seem easier to guilt into something that resembles corporate responisibility than many of their competitors. And while I find the 'Ikealifestyle' presented in their catalogs and store displays almost dystopian, you'd be hard pressed to deny that if one shops carefully there are very good values to be found (their cast iron enamel cookware and the Stockholm line are excellent examples). I've done a lot to furnish my home with consignment and thrift-store Danish modern and Ikea can be invaluable for 'filling in the gaps'. Oh, and to the people who whine about not living in a big city, most of my good thrift store furniture was acquired when I lived in god-awefully unfashionable Eastern Washington state. There's just too much competition here in chic Portland, OR.

Not that I'd ever think twice about leaving Portland.