The BBB Guide to Surviving IKEA

Having as 13 apartments and a limited budget, I know a thing or two about how to make IKEA furniture work in a home.  I've visited numerous IKEAs around the country: Boston, CT, Phoenix, Florida, and just this weekend I braved the Brooklyn, NY location. Not only did I survive, I thrived! 

A very happy Courtney this Sunday after 2 hours in the Brooklyn IKEA. 

IKEA isn't the nightmare you hear about from your friends if you plan ahead, and work your plan. Here are my tips on surviving IKEA.

1. Plan ahead: There are three things I do before shopping at IKEA- I shop online first so I can narrow down exactly what I'm looking for when I hit the store. This keeps you on budget and increases trip efficiency. Everything you need to know about that piece of furniture is listed on this page: the dimensions, available colors, as well as its availability in your local store. Compile a list of the make and model of furniture that you want. The items often have quirky, Swedish names so writing this down helps.

Second stage in planning is making sure the furniture works in your space. Take the time to plot out where your furniture will be in your home and explore the possible scenarios of your space. Believe me, you do NOT want to schlep a heavy IKEA box home only to find out that the piece doesn't work.

2. Get acquainted with the store layout: IKEA's showroom and marketplace floor are designed to lead you past every single piece of furniture they sell. This winding labyrinth layout has been hugely profitable for IKEA, as it confuses shoppers and urges them to grab items and go because they may be too hard to find later. My tip for staving off impulse buys is to stay the course as you wind through the showroom. If you're pressed for time, make a beeline to the department you need and utilize shortcuts to minimize distractions or getting caught up in showroom traffic.

Ottawa's IKEA Showroom Layout c/o GirlAboutTown.com

If this is your first time at IKEA and you have an hour plus to spare, it's worth taking a stroll through their showroom to see how their products play out in real life. This is your only chance to see their furniture up close and personal where you can see the quality of the piece you're looking for. Test it out-play with drawers, sit on mattresses. IKEA items are shot very well online and sometimes the piece is not what you expected. This could be disappointing or pleasantly surprising.

Also, they do some really great small apartment vignettes. For example, I stumbled upon a mocked up 300 sq ft apartment that was entirely furnished (from foyer, to bedroom, to bathroom, and kitchen) with IKEA products and the utilization of space was genius.

If you're pressed for time, or if it's absolutely bananas in there, skip to step #4&5.

3. Track the location of your items: While you're in the showroom, make sure you record the location of your items. Most pieces of furniture, with the exception or oversized items, are accessed in the self serve furniture area. This is indicated at the bottom of each item's tag, usually in red.

You will need to know the asile and bin numbers. The item number above is also handy if you need to inquire about the status of the item in stock. My tip is to take a pic of the tag with your cell phone for easy reference later in self serve. 

c/o dottywymandesigns.blogspot.com

4. The Marketplace: Ah, this is where the magic happens. If you're looking for rugs, kitchen items, lighting, or bedding come here first and skip the showroom. You can access the Marketplace by walking through the checkout line and past the Self Serve Area. Make sure you bring a cart!

Gorgeous Flokati rug for under $100 I saw this weekend!

5. Self Serve Furniture Area: If you're coming to IKEA with your list of items and you know that they're in Self Serve, skip the Showroom and enter IKEA through the check out lines (yes, they say "Do Not Enter" but ignore this) to get there. This is going to shave 2+ hours off your time here. If you know the name of the item you're looking for, it's often very easy to walk through the aisles of Self Serve and find what you're looking for. Furniture is often grouped together by model and the room that it serves, so you'll likely be able to find your MALM dresser if you locate where the MALM items live.

c/o ericadukes.com

If you're coming from the showroom, use your pictures of the aisle and bin numbers to find your furniture. Here's what you'll see:

c/o ericadukes.com

Be sure to grab the right color if your piece of furniture has multiple options. You can see in the pic above that this Lack table comes in the birch veneer color, as indicated on sticker on the label. Also, some items come in multiple boxes so make sure you get everything.

6. Check out and RUN!!!!!: All the homework and navigation strategy is an attempt to cut down on the time you spend hunting in IKEA because often the checkout lines are long and slow on the weekends. This is the only thing you cannot control during your visit here. My suggestion is to make sure your small items are on the top of your cart so you can feed them to the cashier first to get things going. Also, make sure that all the labels are facing the same way to make it easy for the cashier to scan your big boxes.

Success! An entire office outfitted for under $500. Shopped on a Sunday-stress-free to boot!

So there you have it; my tips to make IKEA a stress-free and efficient visit. Got any nightmare stories or tips to share? Please comment below!