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Oddly enough, one of the first IKEA stores to open in the U.S. was in Pittsburgh. I was living there at the time and on my first trip there I bought two of their $79 Billy bookcases. I loved them so much I bought several more. I used them in PA for about 15 years. When I moved to the Southwest, it didn't seem cost effective to transport them; they are heavy and someone offered to pay me $50 each and cart them away himself. I replaced them as soon as I unpacked my first-edition book collection Arizona -- and the price hadn't gone up. Being utilitarian and cost-effective doesn't equate to junk in my book even if they aren't solid hardwood. I had solid hardwood bookcases once and the shelves sagged.
You might be surprised how many households don't even own a screwdriver...
Bought the new flat screen last week. It came with a stand, some screws, instructions that were wrong, and....... a screwdriver. A Phillips head.
I thought it had to be a mistake, but no -- there was a styrofoam hole for it. And then Hubby said he has a lot of Phillips heads in his truck that he finds in dumpsters that look just like we got in the box, and now we know where they come from. It's now in our tool box.
I don't know if it's the bigness of the tv, but it's weird. It's sort of 3-D-ish, and looks almost live, like the actors are in the living room with us... and yet.... well -- let me say this -- watched NCIS LA, and the whole thing looked faked. They had to run away from a pending explosion, and I could almost here the director yell action.
So I guess I'm having a hard time "suspending my disbelief" still.
What we do is hire an Ikea assembly consultant, these guys are from a small group that grew up working in the original factory in Sweden and have made this their life's work, they are old world craftsmen at assembling these things and are required to undergo 200 hours per year of training to keep up on the latest technologies in things like particle board and twist lock bolts. Make sure you get a guy from the official Ikea Assemblers guild though, there are knockoff companies that send Germans who fake Swedish accents.
We fly him out from Sweden, put him up in a local hotel, and he comes over to assemble our stuff in an afternoon. We also spend the extra to have him bring titanium versions of all the assembly hardware, you don't want to skimp on that stuff.
you fly guys out from sweden to assemble your ikea furniture??? my wife did all the assembling.
And yet, don't you wish they had planned some obsolescence on those avocado green and harvest gold appliances from the 60's and 70's? Some of that stuff is still around to torture us. What I want to know is why they made that of high quality and not the more normal colors?
And yet, don't you wish they had planned some obsolescence on those avocado green and harvest gold appliances from the 60's and 70's? Some of that stuff is still around to torture us. What I want to know is why they made that of high quality and not the more normal colors?
And yet, don't you wish they had planned some obsolescence on those avocado green and harvest gold appliances from the 60's and 70's? Some of that stuff is still around to torture us. What I want to know is why they made that of high quality and not the more normal colors?
Had to pay extra for colors...
Don't forget the turquoise brown and pink appliances... Had to go all over to find a brown refrigerator for my Grandmother years ago... I think the proper name is Mocha
Had a 1950's dining room set to sell... people were standing in the driveway arguing about who was there first... chrome and Formica.
I have a 12-year warranty on mine. If you have the old (wasteful) water heaters (the ones with a tank)... you can make them last virtually forever by replacing the rods.
Had a lifetime Hoyt 30 gallon water heater... was in the home when I sold it.
The lifetime models had all copper tanks... nothing to rust.
you fly guys out from sweden to assemble your ikea furniture??? my wife did all the assembling.
I was kidding around, I can usually put anything from Ikea together in less than 20 minutes.
To jtur88's point, we probably own very few things that we'd consider permanent. Heck even if we could buy cheap furniture that lasted 30 years we'd eventually get sick of it anyway and want to update the look of our living room. We've got some (still somewhat vague) plans to sell everything and do a round the world trip for a couple years then return to the states and start over, so the subject of what is permanent comes up for us more than most people since that is what would go in a storage unit. One obvious one is my kitchen knives, they are quality stuff and I see no reason they aren't a lifetime investment. Also = the stainless steel pots and pans, non-stick is throwaway and needs to be replaced regularly but a good set of stainless steel pans should last a long time.
I was kidding around, I can usually put anything from Ikea together in less than 20 minutes.
To jtur88's point, we probably own very few things that we'd consider permanent. Heck even if we could buy cheap furniture that lasted 30 years we'd eventually get sick of it anyway and want to update the look of our living room. We've got some (still somewhat vague) plans to sell everything and do a round the world trip for a couple years then return to the states and start over, so the subject of what is permanent comes up for us more than most people since that is what would go in a storage unit. One obvious one is my kitchen knives, they are quality stuff and I see no reason they aren't a lifetime investment. Also = the stainless steel pots and pans, non-stick is throwaway and needs to be replaced regularly but a good set of stainless steel pans should last a long time.
haha you threw me off by going into so much detail.
i also like the idea of not caring if something breaks because i didnt sink a lot of money into it. my ikea furniture has lasted me 7 years at this point with no signs of breaking down any time soon. but if something were to happen, i wouldnt get upset over it.
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