When you think of good quality furniture that’s reasonably priced and also modern and sleek in design, the first retail store that comes to mind is IKEA.
But now that you’re way past graduation, climbing up the career ladder and buying your own home, you’re craving to create a space that looks very different from your college dorm room.
You want a space that reflects your unique style, and more importantly, looks like it belongs to an adult.
You’re wondering: Is it time to move on from buying furniture at IKEA?
To help you decide, we’ve put together a handful of questions that’ll help you decide:
What’s your budget?
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Being a practical bunch, we have to say it: At the end of the day, your budget will dictate your options, and if you’re short on cash, IKEA would definitely be one of your most wallet-friendly.
Don’t get us wrong though — the stuff there is amazing, and you can often end up totally blowing your budget even when you don’t intend to.
However, if you’re looking for more exclusive designs that aren’t as readily available and can afford them, then it’s probably time to move on from IKEA.
What is your living situation?
Deciding where you buy your furniture from depends largely on your living situation.
Are you living in a rented home? Are you looking for something that can easily be packed and moved whenever you do? If your answer is “yes” and “yes”, IKEA is your go-to furniture store.
IKEA offers perfected the flat-pack model that makes moving super easy, and because their products are so easy to dismantle, transporting and moving them will cost you much less than having to move whole furniture pieces.
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Another major benefit of the flat-pack model is that the furniture is highly customizable. So you can change, tweak or entirely remodel your existing furniture using simple hacks such as these.
On the other hand, you might be looking to invest in furniture that will last you generations to come.
In this case, you’ll want to explore beyond the flat-pack scene and look for custom-made or one-of-a-kind pieces from more exclusive brands that offer family heirloom-worthy pieces.
Do you love or hate DIY projects?
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Do you feel an incredible sense of accomplishment whenever you’re able to assemble furniture yourself?
A 2011 experiment called The “IKEA Effect”: When Labor Leads to Love wanted to find out if people valued DIY projects differently than products that came pre-assembled, and the study found that DIY-loving subjects tended to value products more if they assembled it themselves.
On the flip side, you might be one of those people who absolutely abhors the idea of going furniture shopping only to come home and realise that you have to assemble it yourself.
While every piece of IKEA furniture comes with instruction manuals, screws, bolts and everything you need to put it together, it might be a better idea to move on if the thought of DIY-ing any kind of furniture (including paying someone to do it for you) frustrates you to no end.
What’s your age?
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You might be wondering: what has age got to do with shopping at IKEA?
According to a study carried out by the financing company, Earnest, your age does play a role in whether or not consumers shopped at IKEA.
The company analyzed data of spending habits of more than 10,000 American shoppers, and found that shoppers in their 20’s who are just kick-starting their career and moving into their first apartment tend to look for furniture that’s affordable.
However, those in their mid-30’s have a different set of buying preferences, and the study found that many of the subjects stopped shopping at IKEA by the age of 34.
Even if you do have an IKEA-inspired home (which we absolutely adore), it may very well be that you bought many of your furniture from IKEA as a young adult, have held on to it for another decade or so, and are now starting to gravitate towards more exclusive or higher-end brands.
Either way, having a healthy touch of IKEA in your home is never a bad thing, especially since it’s totally possible to make your space look more expensive than it really is for less.
Love IKEA? Get our top tips on how to decorate your home without breaking the bank with a FREE copy of our Timeless Living: How To Design A Classy IKEA-Inspired Home ebook: