"They were right. It is a cult. But a nice cult."
Last weekend, Laura and I stopped at IKEA for the first time in a long time. We had just been looking at couches in another furniture store. Laura was impressed by how inexpensive the couches at IKEA were; I was looking at them and thinking about how cheaply constructed they were and how they would be lucky to last five years. (That said, I bought the desk I’m using right now at IKEA eight years ago, and it’s as good as the day I bought it. But then, I paid about three times as much as one of those couches cost.) The Guardian has a lengthy, interesting article examining the company, how they make their goods so cheaply, how they find all those goofy names for everything, and their founder’s early flirtation with fascism and Nazism.
I was tempted by some of the lamps, and may return to get some, but I would have a hard time living with most of what they sell. All the reading I’ve done on modern design and looking at how furniture is made have really raised my appreciation for items that are well made (and added to a desire to make some of it myself so I know that it’s well made, or not, as the case may be). That and a desire to not ever live like a college student again. Lamps and Daim chocolate candy and maybe a long wall shelf were about it.
Posted at 11:40 PM