IKEA Amsterdam

The boyfriend hates it.
I love it.
I just do.
It’s IKEA. No surprises here. Easy parking. Normal IKEA’ness.

This location generally has a nice selection, but avoid making returns here at all costs. Tonight, we waited 45 minutes (with only a handful of people ahead of us) to make a simple return and last time it was well over an hour wait to make a return. I’ll stick to Haarlem next time for returns. On the up side, this location has a great selection of couch cushion covers in their open item area, so if you’re looking to replace just one cover you’ll probably be in luck here.

*** This is a restaurant review ***
New year brings a new beggining and every beggining needs household appliances, lamps and (not so) steady furniture.
If you happen to be in this situation, shopping on high end Ikea and you are feeling low on energy, how about pumping some carbs at the exquisite restaurant section, where you basically also need to assemble your own food?
You’ll have 2 dishes to choose from (the same ones all year round, or I’ve just been very unlucky), and a vegan section which will make vegetarians become carnivores again. The taste is not great, especially for the price, and the queues are long, but there is one good point about it: free re-​fill on your coffee and beverages.
Final note: it does not make you want to leave a tip (but it’s self-​service anyway).

Parkplätze gibt es genug aber auch gefühlte 1000 Menschen die dort hinwollen.
Kleines Restaurant. Zu klein.
Zu wenig geöffnete Kassen.
Nix für nen gepflegten Ausflug.

Who doesn’t know IKEA?! So I’m gonna keep this «short».
It’s fun to joke about IKEA and say that it’s a Swedish puzzle company. Or to say that they only have «cheap crap». But I think that’s a bit unfair. We shouldn’t take IKEA for granted. If you finally graduated and you make a decent amount of money and you want to spend money on better furniture, that’s fine. But until that point you’ve probably lived your life with mostly IKEA «crap». I think that’s worth some gratitude. And let’s be honest. If you think that the DIY instructions are incomprehensible, than frankly, with all due respect, you’re a friggin moron and you shouldn’t be allowed any farther than Småland when entering IKEA.
I’m still (and again) a student so I love IKEA. The instructions are much, MUCH clearer than DIY products from other companies, sometimes by leaps and bounds. It’s ridiculously easy to assemble IKEA products.
The engineered wood is of greater quality than most, if not all, other DIY furniture shops such as Leenbakker etc. It’s thicker, and the pre drilled holes are of better quality and not flaky/​crumbly. Of course they have real wood products too but I guess most people don’t think of IKEA when considering genuine wooden furniture.
They have something for everyone’s budget.
The only thing that is truly horrid about IKEA is their delivery service! Don’t fall for it! It’s expensive! Unnecessarily so! You’re better off renting your own van or truck if you’re planning on buying a lot.
Here’s a few things I recently bought from IKEA for relatively cheap, with which I’m a 100% happy!!! Blackout curtains «plug and play» :P. 100% cotton sheets, duvet covers and pillow cases. 100% cotton (with polyester fillings) summer blanket (technically it’s a spread), down/​feather pillows (best I’ve ever had and I’ve had € 100+ pillows), a melamine coated dining table which I use as a desk, a € 2.50 teflon skillet which works surprisingly well!, whiteboard etc.
Anyway. Just wanted to set some things straight that certain other ungrateful people wrote about IKEA after many years of benefiting from its products :)

When it comes to IKEA you know I love them with all my heart, but this one just ruins my fairytale love for IKEA. Sure it’s big, sure it’s still IKEA, but that’s pretty much where it ends. Only the German word: Schmutzig makes sense for this place.
To give people that don’t know what schmutzig means a clearer description of this IKEA:
~Everything just seems dirty. Dirtier than other IKEA’s.
~There is currently one spot in the entire store that you can go to the toilet. (read: tiny bladder, huge store…)
Oh. Did I mention that all the furniture seems dirty?

I love and hate Ikea.
Back when I was a student I had little money. So ikea was a necessity. I was forced to buy their crappy quality Billy, Skøsky, Fleprjundig and what not.
Most of their products are indeed made of shredded and compressed wood (which you wouldn’t even use to slap your dog off an ugly girl, not even if she was waaaayyyy ugly). The upside is the weight of their products (almost non-​existent) and their crap is really cheap.
When you move you will discover that Ikea stuff is made to be put together and be left there until eternity. Once you unscrew the furniture the stability will vanish like how a magician makes stuff disappear.
The biggest downside of Ikea is the crowd of slow moving cows behind carts.
The biggest upside is their meatballs. And they have milkshakes too, yay!

When you visit Ikea be prepared that you will buy a whole lot more than intended. No worries though, everything you will buy, you can sell on the fleamarket ;) or eBay.

whenever i want cheap, practical and simple but good design… i come here! i’m not a fan of the build it yourself model but it’s worth it for the affordable prices.
oh and they also have the most amazing potato chips by the cash registers in the food section. try the sour cream and onion and you won’t be disappointed!

I was never really a fan of Ikea until I moved to Amsterdam. Although we are always in Ikea, it’s still growing on me. I had to compromise my taste to some measure because my Dutchman taste is a bit more standard than mine. Never the less, we are constantly in Ikea because I am big fan of «Home Improvement».
I am a firm believer in aesthetics and organization. I believe your home should be your castle. I like to have the feeling when I step into my place that it’s my sanctuary. I have to say that I have toned down the princess syndrome to some degree because when in Rome, you do as the Romans do.
Ikea furniture is simple and more practical, so it works for us. We are in the process of creating a walk in closet, so we can have even more room for my extra clothes and shoes. I am truly the epitome of LA girl when it comes to shopping and fashion. So, you can only imagine the transition my Dutchman had to experience when it came to sharing space. I am happy to say the big transition is going well so far.:)
P.S Don’t go to Ikea on a Sunday, it’s just too many people. Also make sure to have lunch there while you are shopping.

Standard Ikea. It’s got a showroom and cafeteria-​style restaurant upstairs, but down below is where the fun stuff is (AKA place where you can actually grab stuff to buy). I suggest skipping the show room all together unless you’re really lacking inspiration.
Word to the wise: be sure to pay attention which register line you go into. The ones on the right take cash or credit, while the ones on the left take credit only.
This is also a great store for those who are looking to furnish their student room since you can get essentials like cutlery and serving ware.

Great place for a quick and cheap dinner! Even though the menu is much different than the American, its still so good! Like for the Swedish Meatballs meal, instead of mashed potatoes, you get fries!