That’s not obvious to me at all, unless by “Ikea fans” you mean the tiny subset of Ikea customers who really think about this stuff and use the products as the base for DIY projects, etc.
Apart from that small group, seems to me the overwhelming majority of Ikea customers are just there to get furniture and housewares, much of it with an appallingly short useful life, for a price they can afford, and they’re willing to spend time on assembly to help keep it cheap. And that’s all they’re there for. That’s certainly how I see Ikea furniture used the vast majority of the time.
I agree. I was talking about buying a $90 Ikea poster just for the frame. If that’s not what you’re doing, never mind, I misunderstood.
I never said I dislike the plain lines. I love Scandinavian design and would live in a Danish Modern wonderland if I could afford it. What I don’t like is Ikea’s flimsy, disposable, banal take on the style.
I think I understand how the two of you are using these products in ways different from what most people do. It works for you, and that’s fine. But I’m not a tinkerer. I like well-built, functional furniture with clean lines, that comes as a finished piece. (And honestly, if I prefer a finished piece over an assembly-required one, that fact says nothing about my understanding of furniture, space, interior design, etc.)
In my experience – and I regularly shopped there for over 20 years – Ikea furniture is indeed functional, for the most part. But it’s rarely well-built, and when it is there are almost always better options available.
