5 Reader Responses

1. Inestimable Says:
   October 9th, 2007 at 10:10 pm

   Are stores necessarily bad-[looking] things?

   IKEA’s staged room displays are pretty amazing and well-designed if you ask me.

   It certainly seems better than opening your pantry and seeing advertisements/marketing-ploys/eye-catching-colors still screaming from every product, even though you’ve already purchased them.

2. Tim Boucher Says:
   October 10th, 2007 at 1:53 am

   Are stores necessarily bad-[looking] things?

   Did I say they were?

   IKEA’s staged room displays are pretty amazing and well-designed if you ask me.

   Do you work for Ikea or are you proof that what I stated above has some truth to why they are popular.

   It certainly seems better than opening your pantry and seeing advertisements/marketing-ploys/eye-catching-colors still screaming from every product, even though you’ve already purchased them.

   But you still get that from Ikea because everything they make *looks* Ikea and therefore the brand is always its own best advertisment.

   At least it is a unitive aesthetic of advertisement though: maybe that’s why it’s so popular.

3. Inestimable Says:
   October 10th, 2007 at 6:38 am

   Did I say they were?

   Haha, no. But right there was a collision of my old thought patterns with my new ones. The word “store” and “props” triggered a mental “tone” in my head that aligned with the way I used to think about such things. (”You’re all fake!”) I realized the assumption as soon as I clicked to submit but then it was too late.

   Do you work for Ikea or are you proof that what I stated above has some truth to why they are popular.

   Nope, but I’m going there this weekend to start getting ideas for my new apartment, so I’ve been getting excited about it again. I think it comes down to the fact that since everything goes together so well, makes great use of space, is easy to put together, and best of all is inexpensive… it’s the only place I know of where the “value” is really tangible. It’s much easier for me to be creative and productive when you have a nice well-designed “base” upon which to build something new.

   Unless of course I had the cash, time, skills, and materials to design an entire room on my own in a short amount of time…

   Also, I’d like to actually suggest that IKEA is a store that has props to look like a home, not the other way around. Just don’t use fake bathrooms; those things don’t flush. — props.

4. Tim Boucher Says:
   October 10th, 2007 at 3:21 pm

   I’m going there this weekend to start getting ideas for my new apartment, so I’ve been getting excited about it again. I think it comes down to the fact that since everything goes together so well, makes great use of space, is easy to put together, and best of all is inexpensive… it’s the only place I know of where the “value” is really tangible. It’s much easier for me to be creative and productive when you have a nice well-designed “base” upon which to build something new.

   You should take them on as one of your unpaid personal sponsorships:

   http://www.timboucher.com/journal/free-advertising/

   Authentic product recommendations are what companies really thrive on. They are worth a thousand times more than a banner ad.

   I’d like to actually suggest that IKEA is a store that has props to look like a home, not the other way around.

   No, the way I said it is right. But I would expect you, as an unofficial representative of Ikea to say otherwise1

5. Inestimable Says:
   October 11th, 2007 at 8:24 am

   You should take them on as one of your unpaid personal sponsorships:

   Definitely.

   No, the way I said it is right. But I would expect you, as an unofficial representative of Ikea to say otherwise1

   haha. noted and title accepted.