Furniture Stores in OC (Santa Ana, Costa Mesa: fit in, apartment, rent)

[anutikk]

Can someone suggest any furniture store similar to IKEA in OC? (not so much in terms of price, but more in terms of how compact & functional their stuff is). I have a very small apartment & most of stuff sold at say Living Spaces just doesn't fit in.

Any ideas are welcome!

[jwblue]

There is an Ikea in Costa Mesa.

A one time lengthy drive would be worth it to get some decent inexpensive furniture.

Eight years ago I drove an hour and half just to get a good office chair.

I still have that chair and love it. It was worth the drive I made.

There is an Ikea in Carson as well.

http://info.ikea-usa.com/StoreLocator/Results.aspx

[Coldjensens]

Ikea is also in Tustin. They are very much like Ikea.

They also sell cheap furniture at Target, K-Mart, and sometimes Costco (usually not quite as chintzy).

There are several stores in Santa Ana that sell or rent chintzy furniture.

You can get decent used furniture on Craigs list, at Goodwill stores or at St. Vincent DePaul (also at garage sales). That will get you better quality furniture and a lower price than Ikea. However you have to know how to recognize good quality furniture, or you may end up just buying used Ikea type furniture - which is not the best idea since it will already be broken or ready to break.

There is also an unfinished furniture store in Tustin. They have better quality, but are not as cheap as Ikea and similar stores. Then you still have to sand and finish the furniture.

[DinsdalePirahna]

the IKEA in Tustin closed when the Costa Mesa Shop opened. I like IKEA. excellent ideas to fill small spaces, and you can find quality if you look for it. Try to avoid anything with a high particle board content and paper laminates.

If your taste is "Hillbilly Modern" you can find halfway-decent quality stuff at Big Lots.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna

the IKEA in Tustin closed when the Costa Mesa Shop opened. I like IKEA. excellent ideas to fill small spaces, and you can find quality if you look for it. Try to avoid anything with a high particle board content and paper laminates.

If your taste is "Hillbilly Modern" you can find halfway-decent quality stuff at Big Lots.

I did not know that. However I never go there. A visit to Ikea, a day at Disneyland or a root canal are all on roughly the same level of my personal concept of Hell, so these are things that I do not usually seek out. Although most root canals are really not quite that bad. I just had a bad experience (the left me with some posts sticking out my mouth pried open and waiting for some glue or something to dry. However they forgot about me and went to lunch. That particular root canal was equally Hellish as a summer day at Disneyland, or a half a day playing "Escape from Ikea"

[DinsdalePirahna]

IKEA is not that bad. They have some very unique and inexpensive components that allow you to do a lot of customization. I was able to build a high quality drafting/drawing table/animation for my office for under 150 dollars. A similar table at an art store would be well over $500.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna

IKEA is not that bad. They have some very unique and inexpensive components that allow you to do a lot of customization. I was able to build a high quality drafting/drawing table/animation for my office for under 150 dollars. A similar table at an art store would be well over $500.

Their products are not that horrid, it is the stores that are torture. You cannot escape them. They are a crowded maze of over stimulation. You cannot escape form them in less than an hour unless you know the location of the secret hidden short cuts which I have heard of but never found. Makes you wonder if they often have workers or shoppers melt down and "go postal" in there.

Their products are mostly chintzy, but if you stay away from the press board garbage, they are a bit better than most big box junk furniture for about the same price, maybe a little bit more. What will drive you nuts about their products though is the 2500 parts with a four page set of instructions where cartoon characters demonstrate in five or six cryptic frames how to assemble the 2500 pieces into a bunk bed:


"Step One: Assemble Top Bunk. (Unwritten - return to Ikea store to look at an assembled unit to see how the top bunk fits together and which pieces to use).

Step Two: Assemble lower bunk. (Unwritten: Go back to Ikea to examine the bottom bunk and make notes).

Step two and a half: Take everything apart to figure out where those three leftover things are supposed to go. However it may be that they are just some extra parts that were included in case you lose one (but you were not informed that there were extra parts included).

Step Three: Attach top bunk to bottom bunk. (Unwritten: Return to Ikea to ask the clerk how in the heck the two pieces are supposed to go together, wait an hour for them to find someone who knows, make notes and return home after escaping from the shuffle maze).

Step four: return to Ikea to buy sheets because we just sold you an odd shaped bed and no sheets but ours will fit on it.

Step five: return to Ikea for more sheets, because it is a BUNK bed you idiot, you need two sets of sheets.

Step Six: Return to Ikea for two more sets of special sized sheets because you need to have some sheets on the beds while the other sheets are being washed.

Step Seven: Return for more sheets because the sheets that you can only buy at Ikea also tend to shrink after about five washings and then will no longer fit on your odd sized beds. Go to another Ikea becuase they only have three sets of the special sized sheets in their store and the next closest store is in LA. The clerk will tell you "Well just don't put them in the dryer and they should last ten washings").

(unwritten: Each trip to Ikea will take a minimum of two hours, becuase we want to make you shuffle through the entire store in a crowd of people, rather than just walking to the sheets and then to the check out line like you would in any other store.)


Sorry - Why I detest Ikea is one of my favorite subjects.

[DinsdalePirahna]

Remember the IKEA knock off "STØR"? They were selling a desktop and calling it a "DØR" for about $40. The exact same product was sold at Home Depot as a "DOOR" for about $15.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna

Remember the IKEA knock off "STØR"? They were selling a desktop and calling it a "DØR" for about $40. The exact same product was sold at Home Depot as a "DOOR" for about $15.

Well the crossed off O is really neat and commands a premium. You have to be clever with the computer to even make one (more clever than me).

Likewise if you live in or go to a place called "Centre" you pay a premium for the fancy spelling. The same is true when you have a little squiggly line or an umlaut over a letter, the price at least doubles.

[Dennis P]

Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna

the IKEA in Tustin closed when the Costa Mesa Shop opened. I like IKEA. excellent ideas to fill small spaces, and you can find quality if you look for it. Try to avoid anything with a high particle board content and paper laminates.

If your taste is "Hillbilly Modern" you can find halfway-decent quality stuff at Big Lots.

I like IKEA for the same reasons as you, especially the Costa Mesa store. I actually live closer to the IKEA store in Carson but I don't like their weird layout. The last time I was there at the Carson store was in March of this year, and the fact it rained heavily the day I went there didn't help. The only time I go to the Costa Mesa store (when I feel the need to go there) is after church service on Sunday morning, as my church is in Westminster and it's an easy drive down the 405 to IKEA from there.

Reps to you!