We have a World Market ottoman which is fabulous. Also in a zeitgeisty kind of way, we are going to IKEA tonight....for dinner. Hey, it's close and I love them crazy meatballs.

We have the old white Billy bookcases that are about fourteen years old (a bit discolored, but still standing) and a small white dresser we got for Jake's nursery that has survived all three kids. One of the coffee tables was destroyed early on -- it had to be the softest pine ever, because Jake running his Matchbox cars on top of it made dents.

I like the odds and ends at IKEA best, though. Oh, and we got a duvet cover there that rocks.

I adore my IKEA shelves. It's all about "you get what you pay for" there. They have some stuff that's really cheap and relatively crappy, and some stuff that's less cheap and much less crappy.

I have to admit, my perusal of IKEA bookcases was such that I wasn't tempted at all, despite the rattiness of my existing bookcases. They just didn't look -- permanent. Target and Kmart bookcases are the same way; maybe I'll just make my own some day.

I do have an IKEA chair, because it was cheap and cute and I needed another chair. I'm not sold on the sturdiness of it, however, and in general I think you have to look carefully to avoid stuff that looks like plastic. (I went for a darker color, to avoid the "blond laminate" look -- it's probably still laminate, but it doesn't look as fake.)

My general understanding of furniture is, if you want real, sturdy, worthwhile stuff, buy antiques from the 1950s or earlier. (For not-zillionaire values of "antique".) It'll end up being about the same price as new, and will last a lot longer.

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Try not to laugh.

My dining room table is nice. The shelving unit is kinda crappy, but eh, I'll replace it eventually.

I've had enough people tell me "But my IKEA couch has lasted 15 years!" to suspect that 15 years ago, they were making much sturdier furniture.

Me too!

I love my Ivar bookshelves. They are highly adaptable and useful for studio apartment living.

I've had enough people tell me "But my IKEA couch has lasted 15 years!" to suspect that 15 years ago, they were making much sturdier furniture.

I think that this is true.

As long as I put it together with glue, the IKEA has done well. The stuff that is not glued is woobly bo bobbly. I have 2 stools, a coffee table, an entertainment center, and a corner shelf that I sold. The rest has been wall shelves and the odds and ends.

I don't like the stuff that looks like it came from IKEA-- the Swedish must really love plastic and light woods. But my (dark wood) entertainment unit has survived for two years with only damage to the fiberboard back of the bookshelves.

I guess it's a bad idea to get a bed there, hmm?

My bed is from IKEA, and it's done me very well. So was my last one, come to think.