I have Ikea stuff from the '80s!
I also have items from the 90s and 2000s.
The key things to keep in mind have already been said, but I think they are worth repeating. My personal criteria when shopping at Ikea:
~ Location: Where will the item be used?
~ Purpose: What will it be used for and by whom?
~ Materials: Know what you are buying. Does it fit the intended location and purpose?
~ and no drawers (unless high-end).
One of the things I really love about Ikea is how fun it is to shop there and how I can test each item I am considering myself and see what life in the store has done to it already. I do keep in mind that store life is harder than my house, but the items don't stay out in the store as long as I want to use them so it evens out in certain respects and is valuable information for me. I try to go to Ikea by myself because my family doesn't enjoy the experience as much as I do.
I only bring them along once I have things narrowed down or the item is for one of them. Our Ikea is five miles from our house and is in the same shopping center as Costco, Lowes, and one of our public library branches (and a long row of small stores/restaurants). It is easy for us all to go together in one car and then split up and come back together.
Before this location existed, I would stop at one of the Ikea stores on any drive to/through the LA area -- timing it during open hours, of course. Before those existed, I would visit Ikea when I visited my family in Northern VA. I don't recall a time before that Ikea existed!
Another thing I love about Ikea is how DH & I were able to purchase every piece of furniture in our family office over a period of ten years from Ikea and it all looks like it came from one store at one time. Instead, it came from various lines at various times, but the finish is the same on each piece. While I love the desks we chose, I do not love the drawers on them. They are annoyingly short (front to back) and get caught if you don't open them just right. Mid-priced line. OTOH, we paid for the high-end lateral filing cabinet and configured it to have a storage cabinet on top with doors. That drawer is top-notch and still works like a dream after 8+ years. Seeing as I have purchased items for ten years specifically for this room all in the same finish, I can tell you without a doubt that the quality of materials has declined in that time -- especially in the finish in the last 3-4 years. The last two pieces we've purchased are slightly different than the rest. I can tell, but visitors cannot because those pieces are in the darker corners of the room and it isn't noticeable at all.
Every room in our house has at least one item from Ikea in it, except maybe our master bathroom....
Although, the shower curtain rings may be from Ikea.
The drawer bottoms were particle board and made me so sick we had to replace them, and that was a major pain. They're also not the sturdiest things. But, I can't complain too much because there is no way I could get that style anywhere else for a price we could even remotely afford.
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