From: macrakis@osf.org (Stavros Macrakis)
Subject: Re: Address of IKEA
Organization: OSF Research Institute
	<1992Aug12.041342.21565@porthos.cc.bellcore.com>
Distribution: usa
Date: 12 Aug 92 11:56:23

In article <1992Aug11.193938.25079@ns.network.com>, muchow @
zebo.network.com (Jim Muchow) asks for the addresses of IKEA stores in
the US.

In article <1992Aug12.041342.21565@porthos.cc.bellcore.com> patter@dasher.uucp (24224-guthrie) answered.

Last time I looked, IKEA did NOT offer mail order or delivery.  I
wanted to buy a bunch of kitchen cabinets from them (just like I had
in France), but I would have had to drive down to New York to buy them
and truck them back myself.  Given the risk that they would be out of
stock of some components (as they were a couple of times in France),
this seemed like a bad deal.

In case this is of interest, here's a short review of IKEA
merchandise in general, and IKEA kitchens in particular.

Value for money is the key concept at IKEA.  Price is pretty low,
quality is moderately good.  It is not the lowest price around, but it
is pretty close.  Quality is considerably better than the cheapest
stuff, but nowhere near good furniture.  Taste is very
middle-of-the-road `contemporary', although they are adding some
`traditional' items.  To my eye, the contemporary items are beginning
to look a little dated (much 70's design style), and the traditional
look pretty hokey.  I would recommend IKEA for `starter' furnishings,
but if you can afford to, you will probably want to trade up after a
few years, so don't fill the house with it.  Some of the children's
stuff they have is a great deal and very well designed for safety.
Note that almost all IKEA furniture is assembled with knock-down
fittings.  It is easy to assemble, but for solidity and permanence, it
is very important to assemble carefully: be sure joints are square,
tighten fittings gently, jiggle to make sure everything is well
seated, tighten some more.  Do not over-tighten (you can crack the
particle board).  After a few weeks, retighten while slightly jiggling
(to re-align parts).  If you take them apart (to move, for instance),
do not expect them to be as solid when you put them back together.

About IKEA kitchens.  I basically like IKEA kitchen cabinets a lot.
They're a good deal, and good basic quality.  If you go down in price
from IKEA to (say) TriPak, you get utter junk.  All IKEA cabinets
(like most cabinet manufacturer's) are based on the same carcasses
(the boxes).  Different models just have different doors.  Fancy doors
can double the price of the cabinet or more.  I would stick to the
cheapest doors, which are plain flat white or grey melamine.  Note
that you can paint melamine very successfully if you want other colors
(there is a special primer to use).  IKEA cabinets go together very
quickly and easily.  The only part that takes any time is if you need
to make cutouts for pipes running along the wall (drain pipes, heating
pipes, etc).  Note that IKEA cabinets do NOT have legs (adjustable or
otherwise), so if your floor is not level, you will either need to
build some sort of level base or shim them.  Moreover, since there are
no legs, the particleboard rests directly on the floor.  If you wash
down your floor often with lots of water, you will weaken the particle
board over time (in that case, you might want to staple some heavy
plastic sheeting around the side legs -- the front kick doesn't
matter, since it is a separate, non-structural piece).  As always,
installing the countertop and sink still takes time.  I would NOT
recommend the full-depth sinks (no countertop, just sink from front to
backsplash), since they are hard to seal adequately on the sides.  As
for countertop, the IKEA ones are flat all the way back.  If you want
an integral backsplash, you can buy such a countertop from a local
lumber store at reasonable prices (about $8 a linear foot) in a choice
of laminate patterns.

It is possible to do a lot of imaginative things starting from the
basic IKEA boxes.  There was an article in Metropolitan Home a few
months ago (sorry, don't have the reference) showing an IKEA kitchen
in a Philadelphia house with some extras which compeletely changed the
look.

The next step up from an IKEA kitchen is something like Ultracraft.
The cheapest Ultracraft costs about 30% more than the cheapest IKEA,
and gives you pre-built boxes with glued joints (this should last
longer), (if I remember correctly) adjustable feet (see above for
advantages), and a larger selection of shapes (corner units, etc.).

	-s
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