You need new furniture? Decoration? A new kitchen? And some (Swedish) food to go with it? Well,…read morethere is only one place that has it all - IKEA!
There are two types of people: those that are able to assemble IKEA furniture, and those that get extremely frustrated while trying to do so (and failing!). I consider myself part of the first group - and I cannot imagine a time where my family and friends haven't asked me to help them with their furniture. And I love it!
For those of you, who have never been to IKEA, here's a short description:
It's a Swedish company, so obviously even the rugs and toilet seats are named after Swedish towns and villages. You can pretty much find everything here that you might need in your house: Kitchen? Check! Bathroom? Check! Stuffed toys and princess beds? Double check!
Whatever you buy, there's a 99% chance you will have to assemble it yourself, and most of the time, even the simplest box will consist of at least 17 different parts.
The furniture is pretty cheap, and the quality has gradually been increased as well.
It is definitely possible to furnish and decorate an entire house with only stuff from this one shop, and it will still have a really nice style and look good.
And of course, the main reason why anyone here visits IKEA - the hot dogs! At only 1€, they are a cheap and quick snack, highly unhealthy, but soooo good!
I also recommend the breakfast: The restaurant opens up half an hour before the rest of the shop does, and who wants to shop on an empty stomach? It's also ridiculously cheap and actually really not bad at all!
Bottom line:
* IKEA offers everything (!!!) you need to furnish a house
* Everything has Swedish names and consists of billions of parts
* They also serve food, most notably hot dogs, Swedish meat balls and breakfast!
* You'll always leave with gazillion things you didn't need in the first place (scented candles, anyone?)
* You'll love it or hate it! (I love it!!!)
