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15 years ago, when I was in my mid-20s, I didn't understand why people where so excited about IKEA. Then I went to a normal American furniture store. The tradit

15 years ago, when I was in my mid-20s, I didn't understand why people where so excited about IKEA. Then I went to a normal American furniture store. The traditional American store was terrible. The furniture was ugly and expensive with none of the clean lines of IKEA. That's when I understood for the first time the genius of Scandinavian design.

massysett 11y ago
I think people are excited about IKEA because it's inexpensive, comes in a flat box, and can be taken home right now. Furthermore, I bet IKEA has clean lines not for the sake of clean lines but rather because clean lines can be made inexpensively and packed into a flat box.
- analog31 11y ago
  In my neighborhood, those qualities are also appealing when shopping on a budget to furnish smaller houses. Form follows function.
- TheOtherHobbes 11y ago
  A furniture store near me went into administration recently. Some of its sofas cost north of £10,000. They looked a lot like IKEA sofas, and the rumour was they were sourced from the same factories and made from similar materials, but offered in a wider range with a hint of extra trim - mostly nicer looking feet.
  - gherkin0 11y ago
    > They looked a lot like IKEA sofas, and the rumour was they were sourced from the same factories and made from similar material I was always under the impression that Ikea designed and sold all of its own designs. Is it really a place that sells mostly desirable private-label goods from 3rd parties, a-la Trader Joe's? > but offered in a wider range with a hint of extra trim - mostly nicer looking feet. My bother was telling me last weekend about http://www.prettypegs.com/us/ http://www.prettypegs.com/us/. Apparently there's an ecosystem developing around Ikea furniture to provide that. Also, to completely change the subject. I recently learned that all the Philips-looking screws on Ikea furniture are "Posidriv" screws not Philips and you need special driver for them, because a Philips driver will likely ruin them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_screw_drives https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_screw_drives
    - imtringued 11y ago
      Why don't they just include the correct screwdriver with the furniture? It's only going to cost them like one or two dollars and will likely increase customer satisfaction.
      - nickez 11y ago
        "Every" screwdriver kit you can buy in Sweden is very likely to have both PZ and PH included.
        cdcarter 11y ago
        And many American sets will come with Pozidrive now. I believe including the $9.99 "FIXA" tool kit you can get at IKEA checkouts.
  - f_allwein 11y ago
    IKEA is nice, but is nothing like good quality traditional furniture made of solid wood. So if you want (and can afford) something to last for generations, go for something like this: http://www.manufactum.com/cherry-wood-standing-bureau-p1465637/?c=193601 http://www.manufactum.com/cherry-wood-standing-bureau-p14656...
    - ViViDboarder 11y ago
      They make solid wood furniture as well. Much more expensive, but still way cheaper than many others.
- ethbro 11y ago
  This is the biggest point that so many of these articles miss. Aka "It's the economy, stupid." Scandinavian design is clean, functional design that can also be produced at a reasonable price. Any article that takes a "Scandinavian design (excluding IKEA of course, ha ha ha poor people)" bent deserves to be ignored. You know why people buy ugly "American" furniture? Because the alternative is too expensive! The solution to an ugly $500 couch is not a $10,000 minimalist birch piece of furniture. PS: The iterative design process of IKEA with an emphasis on eliminating cost without compromising function is a marvel of engineering. There have been a few stories, but here's one: http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303376904579134743769761378 http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB100014240527023033769045791347...
- gdubs 11y ago
  Behavioral Economics would say people love ikea because they put it together. [1] 1: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IKEA_effect https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IKEA_effect
  - pwthornton 11y ago
    I think there is something to this, and IKEA really takes this to another level. There are plenty of resources online about IKEA-hacks -- ways to take IKEA products and out them together in unwoxwcted ways. These hacks don't require you to be a wood worker or engineer, and that only adds to the sense that you helped build it. I put together a 2 X 4 IKEA bookshelf with a 4 x 4 underneath it to create a 6 X 4. Because IKEA is so big and has so many products, there are a lot of ways to mix and match their products to come up with something unique. Traditional furniture store are all about making those decisions for you.
gbog 11y ago
I don't know much about Scandinavian design but I hope it's not ikea, which is just cheap and ugly, and can only fit in cheap open spaces or appartements without any style. We had to throw away all our ikea furniture when we moved in a house with some specific character.
rrock 11y ago
Exactly. If I were to contrast typical American furniture with Scandinavian, I would say that the American is designed to look "heavy", as if heavy == quality. Put a bunch of that in a room, and it weighs down the room. Some people like that, but I don't. Of course, I'm omitting mid century modern, which is quite nice.
- tacostakohashi 11y ago
  I think what stikes you as "heavy" is excess ornamentation that strikes me as overwhelmingly fake. I spent an afternoon shopping in Manhattan for a desk recently, and was pretty surprised just how hard it is to find anything remotely attactive. The big mainstream American players, say, Ethan Allen, Crate & Barrel, and West Elm have so much stuff that, while generally decent quality, is so disconnected from the time and place. So much of it is designed as if it were to go in a french country cottage, or a log cabin, and so little of it looks like it is was made in the 21st century. Although Ikea is a bit low-end for me, their designs at least have an honesty about them. There's nice stuff to be had at, say, Design Within Reach, various European brands, and smaller U.S. manufacturers, it's just amazing and frustrating how far from the norm it is, and how difficult it is to find.
jseliger 11y ago
That's when I understood for the first time the genius of Scandinavian design I've had one eye on an interesting startup called Campaign Living: http://www.campaignliving.com/ http://www.campaignliving.com/, which sells furniture that can be easily assembled and disassembled, then repacked and moved. Their website is ridiculously hard to use / navigate, at least on desktop, but the concept is interesting, especially for people who move a lot (which is to say, almost everyone in their 20s). I've also never sat in one, so I can't say whether they're comfortable.

massysett 11y ago

I think people are excited about IKEA because it's inexpensive, comes in a flat box, and can be taken home right now. Furthermore, I bet IKEA has clean lines not for the sake of clean lines but rather because clean lines can be made inexpensively and packed into a flat box.

analog31 11y ago
In my neighborhood, those qualities are also appealing when shopping on a budget to furnish smaller houses. Form follows function.
TheOtherHobbes 11y ago
A furniture store near me went into administration recently. Some of its sofas cost north of £10,000. They looked a lot like IKEA sofas, and the rumour was they were sourced from the same factories and made from similar materials, but offered in a wider range with a hint of extra trim - mostly nicer looking feet.
- gherkin0 11y ago
  > They looked a lot like IKEA sofas, and the rumour was they were sourced from the same factories and made from similar material I was always under the impression that Ikea designed and sold all of its own designs. Is it really a place that sells mostly desirable private-label goods from 3rd parties, a-la Trader Joe's? > but offered in a wider range with a hint of extra trim - mostly nicer looking feet. My bother was telling me last weekend about http://www.prettypegs.com/us/ http://www.prettypegs.com/us/. Apparently there's an ecosystem developing around Ikea furniture to provide that. Also, to completely change the subject. I recently learned that all the Philips-looking screws on Ikea furniture are "Posidriv" screws not Philips and you need special driver for them, because a Philips driver will likely ruin them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_screw_drives https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_screw_drives
  - imtringued 11y ago
    Why don't they just include the correct screwdriver with the furniture? It's only going to cost them like one or two dollars and will likely increase customer satisfaction.
    - nickez 11y ago
      "Every" screwdriver kit you can buy in Sweden is very likely to have both PZ and PH included.
      - cdcarter 11y ago
        And many American sets will come with Pozidrive now. I believe including the $9.99 "FIXA" tool kit you can get at IKEA checkouts.
- f_allwein 11y ago
  IKEA is nice, but is nothing like good quality traditional furniture made of solid wood. So if you want (and can afford) something to last for generations, go for something like this: http://www.manufactum.com/cherry-wood-standing-bureau-p1465637/?c=193601 http://www.manufactum.com/cherry-wood-standing-bureau-p14656...
  - ViViDboarder 11y ago
    They make solid wood furniture as well. Much more expensive, but still way cheaper than many others.
ethbro 11y ago
This is the biggest point that so many of these articles miss. Aka "It's the economy, stupid." Scandinavian design is clean, functional design that can also be produced at a reasonable price. Any article that takes a "Scandinavian design (excluding IKEA of course, ha ha ha poor people)" bent deserves to be ignored. You know why people buy ugly "American" furniture? Because the alternative is too expensive! The solution to an ugly $500 couch is not a $10,000 minimalist birch piece of furniture. PS: The iterative design process of IKEA with an emphasis on eliminating cost without compromising function is a marvel of engineering. There have been a few stories, but here's one: http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303376904579134743769761378 http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB100014240527023033769045791347...
gdubs 11y ago
Behavioral Economics would say people love ikea because they put it together. [1] 1: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IKEA_effect https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IKEA_effect
- pwthornton 11y ago
  I think there is something to this, and IKEA really takes this to another level. There are plenty of resources online about IKEA-hacks -- ways to take IKEA products and out them together in unwoxwcted ways. These hacks don't require you to be a wood worker or engineer, and that only adds to the sense that you helped build it. I put together a 2 X 4 IKEA bookshelf with a 4 x 4 underneath it to create a 6 X 4. Because IKEA is so big and has so many products, there are a lot of ways to mix and match their products to come up with something unique. Traditional furniture store are all about making those decisions for you.

gbog 11y ago

I don't know much about Scandinavian design but I hope it's not ikea, which is just cheap and ugly, and can only fit in cheap open spaces or appartements without any style. We had to throw away all our ikea furniture when we moved in a house with some specific character.

rrock 11y ago

Exactly. If I were to contrast typical American furniture with Scandinavian, I would say that the American is designed to look "heavy", as if heavy == quality. Put a bunch of that in a room, and it weighs down the room. Some people like that, but I don't. Of course, I'm omitting mid century modern, which is quite nice.

tacostakohashi 11y ago
I think what stikes you as "heavy" is excess ornamentation that strikes me as overwhelmingly fake. I spent an afternoon shopping in Manhattan for a desk recently, and was pretty surprised just how hard it is to find anything remotely attactive. The big mainstream American players, say, Ethan Allen, Crate & Barrel, and West Elm have so much stuff that, while generally decent quality, is so disconnected from the time and place. So much of it is designed as if it were to go in a french country cottage, or a log cabin, and so little of it looks like it is was made in the 21st century. Although Ikea is a bit low-end for me, their designs at least have an honesty about them. There's nice stuff to be had at, say, Design Within Reach, various European brands, and smaller U.S. manufacturers, it's just amazing and frustrating how far from the norm it is, and how difficult it is to find.

jseliger 11y ago

That's when I understood for the first time the genius of Scandinavian design I've had one eye on an interesting startup called Campaign Living: http://www.campaignliving.com/ http://www.campaignliving.com/, which sells furniture that can be easily assembled and disassembled, then repacked and moved. Their website is ridiculously hard to use / navigate, at least on desktop, but the concept is interesting, especially for people who move a lot (which is to say, almost everyone in their 20s). I've also never sat in one, so I can't say whether they're comfortable.