The IKEA India Thread

Ikea or similar brands are too. overpriced and offer substandard quality as well. This was quoted by the brand sales person themselves that they use substandard material which may last max 3-5yrs. Thereafter issues will pertain like wood bumps, peeling of sunmica/laminates etc.
Given this crap there is zero point wasting money in such brands. AT least I will never fall for them and would alert others too.

Just last year I bought a new home and was browsing designs online and compared prices (even though I was zero% keen opting for such platform) and I saved lacs locally!
I choose between 2-3 local furniturevallah through references and got my own designed modded furniture that too pure original ply which will last for years to come. Plus they offered free lifetime services though they guaranteed nothing will be required unless we handle roughly or otherwise damages during shifting etc.

People only fall for ikea/pepperfry etc. only for ease of purchases and cosmetic looks couple it with lack of real product knowledge. And also most of this class hardly cares about quality as well.

Buying petty/small stuff on these platforms is fine. but anything major, think twice.
totally agree , if you are settled in life and you know this would be your house for next 20-25 years.

if you have a knack of changing furniture or your organization offers furniture allowances ikea could be your darling same goes for some young family . one has purchased a home and cant immediately by a longterm furniture or a built to last furniture ikea solves the problem.

One issue that ikea has is they are ready made product seller , i did get their curtains super hapy with their quality ,but than the sizing is very standard .rather they could sell the cloth and someway have representative measuring your windows and give you custom fittings .Mumbai has very crazy home sizes. So their approach of one size fits all doesnt work for all.
 
totally agree , if you are settled in life and you know this would be your house for next 20-25 years.
Not exactly! I have been living on rent since 2k8 (13yrs) and when I first bought basic furniture like bed, few tables, tv unit, cupboard etc. they were from selected ready-made from a local furniture shop but they aren't mdf but pure wood and bought them all under 20k back then. I still have the bill and this shop is one of the oldest in the area and while buying itself they quoted they will give me 40-50-% amount refund during buyback/ complete sell so its a 100% win win investment for me!

I did browsed through pepperfry when it was new that time, their prices were horrible so obviously avoided both on price and quality factors.
 
I absolutely agree with everything you said. I have no experience with big furniture from Ikea. I have got small furniture and small items. Their lower floor where they have small small items actually have things that may be pretty useful and look good too. Many will be kind of impulse purchase if one is in the store.

Carpenter made furniture is any day good. I have a sofa-cum-bed at home which was hand made and it was made by carpenters in my home here back in 1995 or so and still it is super duper sturdy. It is actual wood and not MDF or ply or so. I don't recollect cost as dad paid and I was small but I reckon that for 1995 prices, it would have been not cheap.
My grandfather bought a coffeetable from bhopal for 25 rps in the late 80's,made of teak wood it is still serving strong so many years later. Only required polish.Same with bed, has been passed down to two generations now still going strong. And both things have survived being transported all over india.
Not exactly! I have been living on rent since 2k8 (13yrs) and when I first bought basic furniture like bed, few tables, tv unit, cupboard etc. they were from selected ready-made from a local furniture shop but they aren't mdf but pure wood and bought them all under 20k back then. I still have the bill and this shop is one of the oldest in the area and while buying itself they quoted they will give me 40-50-% amount refund during buyback/ complete sell so its a 100% win win investment for me!

I did browsed through pepperfry when it was new that time, their prices were horrible so obviously avoided both on price and quality factors.
i agree lot of furniture from places around mumbai and in mumbai like bhiwandi wood factories is much better, lasts long.
 
Random ramblings:

I've been somewhat addicted to shopping at Ikea since they opened up here. For the first couple of years, an Ikea shopping trip was a weekly excursion. I've tried to scale back in recent times, now it's mostly a twice-a-month online order capped at 3k to stock up on replenishables and other curiosities that show up on their website.

Ikea has a wide range of quality when it comes to furniture. Most of the stuff is meant to be discarded after a few years and is priced accordingly (sub 1k table tops) but they do also have higher quality stuff at much higher price points.

Ikea in a way, is a lot like Taco Bell. They reuse the same 5 ingredients for a dozen different menu items. So a plain white Linnmon table top can be had through their in-store "as-is" or "circular hub" section for under 500 has the exact same construction and longevity as their black veneer Linnmon top that's 1400 or so. And then they have table tops at 4k and up which also have the same paper honeycomb internal structure. But at 4k, you'll also find particle board table tops.

Most of the larger furniture I purchased was through the as-is section, so they were at deep discount and you didn't have to think twice about the price. For example, I have half a dozen PAX wardrobe frames and they were priced between 800 to 1100 each. A similar discount was on shelving, pull out baskets at under 500 for each. I've only ever paid full price for the pullout trays and drawers, since they never appeared in the as-is section.

For actual long life purchases, I prefer places like Pepperfy for their solid wood furniture and minimalist design.

Like everyone else, I have a collection of Skadis pegboards and accessories though I'm a little sad they discontinued the black/dark ones before I could get enough. Products made of plastic, glass and metal have lasted years now without fatigue (for plastics) or rust (for metals). The only stuff that's aged badly were the Linnmon table tops where the surface finish started flaking or the entire thing started bowing. I probably should used a table mat for them. Paper based products from Ikea in general are not going to last in our climate.

Almost all of the kitchen stuff has held up really well, much better than expected — from knives to pots to containers.

For furniture assembly, I find that for better build and longevity you need to use glue and go crazy with fasteners, which is what i'd do for anything shipped in a flat pack.

What attracts me most about Ikea products is the modularity and standardization. I can come up with a set of size requirements and almost always reliably find something. Containers of this size, or a shelf of that size. This is now changing with stuff that's available on Amazon.

The best part of Ikea is the discounts and markdowns that's only available in store. Some time ago, they had high CRI gx53 led bulbs at less than Rs 80 each. Stuff like this was the entire reason behind my weekly trips. But my spending quickly got out of control and so I had to stop, ha.

But places like Amazon are now flourishing after the lockdown and I'm discovering really cool stuff there so I don't miss my Ikea trips much.
 
Ikea is possibly the laziest business to enter this country. I have been hearing about them setting up a shop in Bangalore for the last 4 years. Nothing so far.
Right and for a while they did not deliver there but they do now. Finally !

Online Delivery
Hyderabad, Mumbai
and Pune

Online Delivery
Ahmedabad, Surat,
Vadodara and Bengaluru

No need to pay premiums on Amazon any more
 
One more very important point I missed on was the furniture I got custom made is fully modular i.e every part can be disassembled easily and reassembled or kept it in any corner in just a fraction of space. Extremely convenient to transport a well as store when not in use.
 
Ikea Bangalore is ready almost. I have tried ordering from Hyderabad store but the packing experience and customer service is pathetic. I have ordered lot of products initially when it was in stock, later it was out of stock so it generated new order id automatically.

Decided I'm never ever going to order online Ikea, will wait for Bangalore store to Open. I stay Closely to the upcoming store, Whenever I cycle the security guard says by this year Deepavali it should be functional.
Pictures are from june but recently been there it’s very much ready now with all blue boards fittings.

Physical purchase is most important i would say than online experience.

I’m still living with the damaged product Helmer but servers my purpose . lost my patience with them on customer service .
 

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Most of the furniture from Ikea is made of engineered/compressed wood, so not sure why anyone would go with it, as it just doesn't last from my experience. It is the equivalent of fast fashion, which is not very practical, especially in a cost-sensitive market.

Household items on the other hand are mostly thoughtfully designed, which makes them more worthwhile than generic ones, even though it is again a low-cost item manufactured in China.

Would really want to visit the Navi Mumbai store but of course it will cost upwards of 1.5k for a round-trip from the middle of Mumbai, so online orders will suffice until a visit comes about for practical reasons.
 
Most of the furniture from Ikea is made of engineered/compressed wood, so not sure why anyone would go with it, as it just doesn't last from my experience. It is the equivalent of fast fashion, which is not very practical, especially in a cost-sensitive market.

Household items on the other hand are mostly thoughtfully designed, which makes them more worthwhile than generic ones, even though it is again a low-cost item manufactured in China.

Would really want to visit the Navi Mumbai store but of course it will cost upwards of 1.5k for a round-trip from the middle of Mumbai, so online orders will suffice until a visit comes about for practical reasons.
their storage accessories and curtains etc are super ,furniture is as i said it depends on the ones mentality .Regarding to visiting their mainstore at turbhe , i guess they used to run free buses from maybe Thane station. there is a store at worli as well
 
Most of the furniture from Ikea is made of engineered/compressed wood, so not sure why anyone would go with it, as it just doesn't last from my experience. It is the equivalent of fast fashion, which is not very practical, especially in a cost-sensitive market.

Household items on the other hand are mostly thoughtfully designed, which makes them more worthwhile than generic ones, even though it is again a low-cost item manufactured in China.

Would really want to visit the Navi Mumbai store but of course it will cost upwards of 1.5k for a round-trip from the middle of Mumbai, so online orders will suffice until a visit comes about for practical reasons.
That is why me travelling from borivali to the store is going to be like a one day picnic. Also we got new car recently so want to drive little "far" than the 2 Kms one way what my wife drives daily.
 
I have purchased multiple pieces of furniture from IKEA ever since they launched and started delivery to Pune. And I find their quality and sturdiness acceptable for the given price range. Perfectly suited for people like me who may live in rented properties and may need to relocate every few years, can just sell the furniture and move on. Looks, sizing, fit and finish are second to none., nothing else comes close to Ikea in this regard (for the given price range).

The negative point, things go out of stock quite often and sometime may never come back in stock.
 
So I went to Ikea Navi Mumbai yesterday and being first time driver, we made several mistakes. Not in terms of shopping at Ikea, but the travel. I stay in Borivali in western suburbs so Ikea Navi Mumbai is 45Kms away.

Being good friday, I thought everyone had holiday so roads may be empty, but I was supremely wrong. Got stuck big time on the WEH. We left home at 9AM hoping to make it by 10:30 so we could get free breakfast at Ikea but we reached 11:30 so nothing. JVLR was one which showed least amount of time.

While returning, we wanted to use same JVLR route which is riddled with construction and it took us freaking 3 hours to reach home from Ikea. I disregarded Google maps even when it showed me a route which would have taken 30 min less time. Only due to it being unfamiliar route.

Anyways lesson learnt, go to Ikea on weekends, preferably Sunday as that day is guaranteed to be emptier roads Compared to other days. Crowded store is manageable.


At the store itself, it is super huge just like I saw and have visited in US. Same layout of 2 floors with upper floor for the bigger furniture and template rooms and Lower one for the marketplace. I am sure the lower floor will just entice you to put stuff in your cart. I surely bought stuff I don't think I need.

Parking was breeze and we got on P1 in G9 row which was like 30 steps away from entrance. So I suggest parking in G,H,I,J rows.

Food in their restaurant is very nice and drinks and coffee/tea have unlimited refills. I liked the concept of getting in line and getting whatever you want and then billing it later.

It was a fun day at Ikea and expect yourself to spend entire day here.
 
My reaction reading above post:

I stay in Borivali in western suburbs so Ikea Navi Mumbai is 45Kms away.
Bruh

Being good friday, I thought everyone had holiday so roads may be empty
Bruhhh


Just a word of advice:
Anyways lesson learnt, go to Ikea on weekends, preferably Sunday as that day is guaranteed to be emptier roads Compared to other days.
If you do this on Sunday then leave store before evening. Otherwise you'll most likely get stuck in crowd returning to Mumbai from weekend gateway.
 
I've wasted soo much time browsing IKEA it's not funny.

Large(ish) Purchases so far

1. Hemnes SideBoard Unit
2. Malm Chest of Drawers
3. Alex + Linnmon + Alex Add on unit

Bunch of cheap shelves, trolleys and tons of random stuff. Still too early to judge quality, etc.

Apart from the Hemnes and Malm, everything else was assembled by me. Pro-tip. Get a drill/electronic screwdriver. Saves a ton of time.

Been to the Navi Mumbai store once. Not going back in a hurry. Great day, but man it's crowded AF and checkout can take a lot of time.
 
How many days they take deliver in Mumbai.

I need to buy 4 or 6 pcs of this and they don't deliver in NCR.

Someone known is going to Mumbai for few days, I will place the order accordingly.
 
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