I buy IKEA - when it turns up at the thrift store (though it's scarcer there than the other crap). Juliebird, just bring that crappy non-IKEA table of yours down to Value Village, and don't feel guilty. {I'm not being sarcastic.}

I'm very choosy, so its likely I won't buy it, but it may be what someone is looking for

You and I and Cæsaigh didn't invent this bollexed-up twisted retail marketing system we operate within, so you are not beholden to being responsible for it. You ARE responsible for your action - given the context of your life and your options. This is a Life Principal for me - which is just as validly applied to one's shopping habits as to one's tithing... Or, for that matter, one's Friends

Life has taken many of my options away from me. Yet, I act on my values every day - as do we all - intentionally or unconsciously. Our retail consumer habits may seem trivial, but this book, this review, and this thread remind us that our buying habits are anything BUT trivial; they carry an immense hidden weight

I, like Cæsaigh, make some my most important decisions in the 'thrift store'. Some of my musical equipment (as a quirky example) is 'thrift store'. I'm looking right now at a couple things that have been critical to what I do for years that were thrift store finds.

As both Juliebird and Cæsaigh mention in different ways, they own things which were well-used before they became part of their lives. As with friends, I feel experience adds character

Maybe you are the first user, or maybe you're the end user

Before Ikea where was one´s chance to have an elegant home? Ikea´s clever copies of the foremost Italian and Scandinavian designers is low cost for connoisseurs everywhere.

Once a few years ago Ikea copied fine 18th century Gustavian

pieces of furniture - an initiative so popular that it became

impossible to keep up with demand so Ikea ceased production. But there is more: such as copies of what are very expensive French " toile- de -jouy" i.e. French 18th century cotton prints for curtains, table cloth,bed spreads it all great favourites with Marie Antoinette.

Ikea does not only copy modern designs for which it has been sued nowadays it produces copies had from downloading

a cultural heritage not yet protected by international law.

It means Ikea can change every American suburban home into a Marie Antoinette petit Versailles palais if you hurry up and if you have enough knowledge of art history to find the treasures.

Ikea never advertises it supports aristocrats everywhere.

You've fallen for the IKEA trap: going for decent design at the sacrifice of sturdy craftsmanship and durability. Yes, IKEA offers nice, clean styles, but how many years before it all hits the local landfill? Not many, guarantee you. (Their soft goods - sofas and such - are of especially poor quality.)

Better to buy far fewer things and go for solid workmanship. This is actually far more economical in the long run.

BTW, how many on this site have ever taken the time to refurbish/refinish/renew old pieces of furniture made entirely of decent wood? I've done this many times over the years, so our house is full of legacy furniture which will be around long after we are gone. I find this very comforting.

Look again--Some people noticed, travelingferret, and they might have appreciated the recognition. But yeah, the design is good. Also, though some are trying to defend IDEA goods by pointing out that they can last the long while, I believe more effort ought to be put in defending the idea that the nature of their composition and their cost, make them easier to imagine as only temporary goods. Goods well suited for who you are NOW, that is, constituted so you don't feel you have to keep them around forever, or pass them on to other people they no longer well suit, either. You can get rid of them, as you should anything that remains static, while you go about life's primary business--growing into something richer and more wonderful--different.

What we need to do is really get good at re-using the materials. You buy knowing you'll be breaking in on down soon enough, to be put back into something relevant and new. Planned obscelesence is moved by the wrong energy, but can be "re-made" into a philosophy which redeems change and growth, that is, into something rather well usefully suited to work against an age increasingly driven to redeem stuff that should be well out of our face by now, but was, unfortunately, well built to last. More talk about the good old days and the crappy youth of today, grandpa? Lovely, can't get enough, as they say. . . Say, How're your bones doin', gramps?

People demand the lowest price, so manufacturers cut costs [and quality] to give it to them. You can still get good stuff if you're willing to pay. My wife and I live in a 225 year old home that's still in good shape. She has three vacuum cleaners; one purchased 50 years ago, one 30 years ago and one 5 years ago. All are still in good working condition. We still have furniture purchased 50 years ago just after we got married. We own a car that's nearly a decade old, and it still works well with no major repairs ever have been done.

You see, it all ties together. It is the Humanist Secular Liberal Agenda, which is removing God from our lives. You laugh, because you are a fool. >>

Nope, not laughing. Rolling eyes is more accurate. I'm sure the greed of corporations had absolutely nothing to do with it.

Pigeonhole much?

where I learned to work all kinds of materials with my hands. Then I lived on a farm commune, where I learned from creative people how to build from scratch and rehabilitate just about anything. It hasn't been an easy life, but a fulfilling one. My apartment is full several sturdy things I found and fixed. Rewired lamps hold compact florescent bulbs just fine. The softest cotton sheets are old ones. The best linen is old. With modern stain removers it's not hard to make them look new. Dyed linens make napkins, skirts, curtains. I like to make broken things beautiful. (Not antiques of course, they have their own beauty.)

Finding and breathing new life into a broken thing is vastly more satisfying to me than being part of the consumer chain. I'm not a hoarder, but a learner and a craftsperson. It's great to be around like-minded folks, too.