My Antonius laundry bag was $12.99

I visited the West Sacramento Ikea this weekend. While exploring the different furniture sections and walking through the showrooms, I asked myself: Why do so many people come to shop at this store? Aside from the products itself, is there something about the design of this store that gives such a positive response from its customers?

I pondered about these questions and found that even though I couldn’t answer them for others, I could ask myself: Why do I want to go to Ikea to shop for things for my apartment?

Along with easy to follow instructions and $4 Swedish meatballs, Ikea hits affordability on the mark. The store definitely provides a range of products that are priced fairly low and inexpensive, even for the college students. This allows a great variance of people, especially me, to shop here. Because of this, I feel like more people have opened up to shopping for their homes and start to enjoy it, as if it were a simple Sunday family activity. For me, going to Ikea opened up the world of interior decorating as an interest of study in college.

Since so many people like the same products from the same store, it would make sense that a large amount of those people would purchase those products to furnish or decorate their homes. But no, I don’t want to have the same couch, table, desk, and bed as everyone else. I like showing my individuality through what I put in my room and I wouldn’t be pleased if I saw similar stuff in someone else’s room. That wouldn’t make me or my tastes of style unique. The store doesn’t promote the same furniture for everyone, but it provides the sense of individuality by building a base (i.e. a black coffee table) and then adorning it with your own touches (i.e. coasters, flowers, magazines). This is what makes your style and Ikea provides a step stool for making your space yours.

The concept I’ve tried to touch upon is the fact that this store was made by our own human minds and creativity. When you walk into Ikea, you want the same feeling every time you walk into your own home. Not everyone has the same tastes or likes the same decorations or style, but Ikea is an affordable way to provide a sense of self-creation in one’s space.