The IKEA Episode

 In episode 98 of I Hate Talking, the hosts  deliver the promised IKEA episode, starting with brief cameos from two young “guest experts” who offer earnest life advice about brushing your teeth and plug a YouTube channel before weighing in on a new dinosaur documentary. 

The main segment’s word of the episode is “IKEA” itself, which they explain is an acronym formed from founder Ingvar Kamprad’s initials plus the names of his boyhood farm and village. They also touch on the “IKEA effect,” the idea that people value things more when they assemble them themselves, and compare how each of them feels about building furniture and trusting professionals to do it right.

From there, the conversation turns into a detailed, often funny debrief of their first family trip to IKEA after a recent move. They compare expectations of cheap, amazing food with the reality of decent but unremarkable meatballs, surprisingly pricey menu items, and some standout low‑sugar fountain drinks. One host loves wandering the maze‑like showrooms and treating them like staged miniature homes; the other finds the forced path, the risk of triggering a Diderot‑style “upgrade everything” spiral, and the lack of a direct route to “just the table section” borderline nightmarish. They leave without a table but with hangers, a drawer organizer, a birthday present, and strong opinions about shopping styles, concluding that IKEA will probably never sponsor them—though Ollie’s or the LEGO Store just might.

Keywords: IKEA episode, IKEA acronym, IKEA effect, assembling furniture, meatballs and food court, shopping styles, Diderot effect, family trip, I Hate Talking podcast.

Transcript

I Hate Talking: 0:29

Welcome to episode 98 of I Hate Talking. Hi everyone. So this is the long awaited IKEA episode, but before we get to IKEA, we have a few special guests that want to perhaps answer some questions or share some insights. Hi, I just wanted to tell you that you can literally die from not brushing your teeth. If you did not know that so. If it's nighttime And you didn't bloss your teeth tonight? You should probably go to the bathroom and do it. Good advice. Also, if you're hearing this, make sure you subscribe to Wainox 37 and universe. It's my YouTube channel and There you go. Very good. So, perhaps a few science questions or dinosaur questions. There's a new Netflix movie out about dinosaurs, and it's not really a movie. It's more of a documentary, I suppose. So was the dinosaur documentary a hit or not? It's good like. Like, it basically shows you what a life of a dancer is like. OK, and what did you think about the dinosaur documentary? I kind of liked it cause like I don't really like dinosaurs that much, but again, that cool. Very good. Is there anything else that you'd like to share before we move on to our word or phrase of the episode? I can't really think of anything else. OK, and what about you? Did you brush your teeth today? I did. Excellent. All right, well, very good. Thank you to our two special guests for being here in this episode and we will now move on to our word or phrase of the episode. And like we alluded to last week and in the very start of this episode, this is the IKEA episode, so I think it is only fitting that our word or phrase is IKEA, OK, because it does have an interesting origin. Do you know anything about the origin of the word that describes the company IKEA? Um, no, I mean, it's a Swedish company, right? And I think I just assumed that was a name in Not Swedish. What language would it be? Sweden, yes, Swedish. OK, but it's not a word. It's actually an acronym. OK, that's why I thought it was a name, but OK, so it's a Swedish acronym. Yes, and it's actually composed of four different names. So the I for Ingvar, which was the founder's first name. K for Kamprad, which is the founder's last name. E for Elmterrid, which was the farm where this gentleman grew up, and A for Aginard, the village in Sweden where he grew up. So a specific village, farm, last name and first name is how the word IKEA is arrived at. Cool. And then he was only 17 years old when he founded this company. Oh wow, that's impressive. And that was basically as a mail order furniture company in 1943. Oh wow, I mean, I feel like that would be difficult to do. Back then, even, because in 943. You know, I'm just thinking about like mail trucks and stuff like that, and how it's not like nowadays where they have the big trucks. That can you drive all around. So taking that much wood and lumber and that sort of thing, and delivering it, seems like it would be difficult. Perhaps so, but that is how he got started. And then We'll get into our IKEA experience in a moment, but as I was searching for some of the background on IKEA and its name, I saw a particular effect known as the IKEA effect, which is basically stating that if people build their own furniture or build their own creations of any kind, that they will actually attribute more value to those particular things that they themselves have built. Rather than having it built for them, and they are simply the users of it. And so like they take more ownership of it. Precisely, ownership or ascribe more value to a particular item. Interesting. Do you like doing the IKEA builds? Well I do like building things myself because I do think that perhaps That I have a particular perspective that if I do it, I'll do it correctly versus somebody else may or may not do it correctly. So if they are a professional and that's like their job, then hopefully they do a good job, but Sometimes even the professionals don't do. Exactly what they're supposed to do. And therefore I think that is a particular reason that I enjoy building my own things. Is that I can follow the directions and do it correctly. -- So -- it's more of like a control issue for you, control and trust issue, yes. I very much enjoy building them, like the bookcases, um, actually are. Couches we bought came in a box and we had to be assembled. And I mean, it took me hours to assemble all a large section sectional. But I had a lot of joy. I enjoy. Building those sort of things. It's almost like a mindless task. Uh, in a way, and like repetition, and I enjoy it. I don't mind it at all. Yes, I don't think that's particularly my experience, cause if I could have it one way or the other, and it was like built correctly and assembled to perfection, and I knew this without a shadow of a doubt, I would prefer just somebody else to do it. Because I do find it even more frustrating when I pay somebody to do something. In a certain way that is supposed to be done so that it follows the directions and particular aspects of the construction and then it's not done correctly and then Typically, I'll fix it. Yeah, that's so frustrating is, uh, when you trust a professional, especially if you pay them, and it's not done. That was again an issue we had moving. We hired someone to do some builds, and they did not do it correctly, and you had to. You didn't take it down fully. You know, you, you still had to take parts of it apart and rebuild it. And that's just frustrating cause I felt like that was just such a waste of money and time then. Right, it was not So bad that we had to recall this person and have them correct their mistake, but it did take a little bit of time to make sure that all the hardware was correctly used and was firmly attached to the structure. That was the main issue. This, they did not tighten everything as it should have been tightened and left a couple of screws out. That's true. I don't know if they didn't know where they were or what happened, but they just were like, good enough. I know you were talking about having control and trust issues. What about the couches? I made those while you were gone. Did that bother you first that I made them and not wait for you to come home. And the second, Do you think I did a good job or not? Well, actually I did not know that they required that much assembly. I thought they came partially assembled, so it sounds like they did not. It was basically Assembling all the different things that had to be done for the couches, so that I did not even know, and I've not encountered any particular issues with the couches. So yes, I think that was a success and that has not been an issue. Yeah, um, there was a base. And then like, so it's a sectional, so a bunch of different pieces, and you can configure it different ways. It came with the base, it came with the back. You had to attached. It came with one or two sides. And it came with the puddings, is that what you call them the. 4 legs for each piece, and then 2 cushions for each piece, and so I'd assemble all those. And only one time did I get a side and a back swapped. It was my very last one, I think I got a little like cocky, like, oh, I've done this so many times, 10 pieces I had assemble. It was my very last one I was assembling, and I got the side armrest and back swapped. So I had to take them apart and then redo it. So that was a little frustrating because I just got too cocky. I suppose so. And then our new dining table and chairs arrives on Wednesday. And that will be assembled by the delivery crew. Yeah, so we talked about this in the last episode. I do not know what it is. I know it's a 6-piece set. That's all that my message tells me, uh, which is good because there's 6 people in our family. Everyone's then we might be a chair short. Uh oh. For what? What? 6 pieces would be 1 table. I was like, what are you trying to sell people and 5 seating things. No, -- our -- family's not growing. We have 6 people. I see, because you're counting the table. Hm, a mystery. Oh, is there like a bench then? You're giving it away. Is it a bench? It's a bench. Nice. That's what I wanted. I just assumed 6 chairs and the table, like 6-piece table set. Nope, -- it's 6 -- pieces. Nice, yeah, the bench is gonna look good. Well, thanks for that tip and that clue. And uh when they called to schedule the delivery, the lady at first on the phone, she was very nice, but. She tells me it's gonna be delivered this day at this time between this time, and you don't have to be home, they'll leave it on the front porch. Like, uh oh, cause I remember you saying you paid a little bit more to have them build it. Yeah, it was only like maybe like $20 or $30 more to have it professionally built and installed, -- placed exactly where we want it and then -- remove the boxes, yeah, exactly. So I remember you saying that. So then that's what I was like, um, I think they're supposed to be building it, right? She was quiet for a few seconds and then she was like, oh yes, you do need to be there, make sure that walkway is clear, yada yada. But yeah, they're supposed to come, they're supposed to build it, and then remove all the boxing and packaging, and so yeah, for like you said, 20 to $30. It's Gonna be super nice perk, and again, we don't have massive boxes that we have to dispose of and such. So I can't wait till Wednesday. We'll have to have, well, we need to have like a fancy dinner, like a family dinner that night. Sounds good. Bring home some IKEA meatballs on Wednesday. Yeah, your work isn't too far from there. So tell me, are we going to talk about IKEA now? I suppose so, even though our six-piece dining set is not from IKEA, we did visit IKEA with the intent of potentially buying tables and chairs, and We'll just go through that experience, I think, because Personally, I did not enjoy it. So are you glad you didn't, because you initially were gonna buy online from IKEA this one set you liked, and I was like, I don't know, sometimes the chairs are hard and like it's hard to. Um, appreciate it, or not appreciate, it's hard to Imagine or understand how the chairs are gonna feel. Because something that um We have discussed is that we are not having any food or beverages in our living room, but from where our dining room is, you can see the TV. So every morning I sit at the table or like. Our card table right now, but future table, and have my coffee and stuff like that, uh, and have the TV on. Uh, so I wanted something that was a little more comfortable than just like a hard plastic chair. So that's why I was like, no, we shouldn't order it online, we should go look at it in person. It's good because we did not like it in person. Right? The exact model that I had selected, I didn't dislike, but hopefully the one that we bought will be the same or better. OK, it's not an IKEA brand. That's true. Ashley Furniture. So, we did go to this particular IKEA location as a family, and it was around lunchtime, so we did go to the food court and The food was decent, and it was not massively expensive. But I think I had in, I had an expectation of like cheaper and better food, so I was wrong on both accounts. So it was a little bit more expensive than I thought. Not massively so, and then the quality was. Not as good as I thought, -- as much as people rave about IKEA food -- court. OK, interesting. So yeah, I think it depends on which food it is. Like some of it is very cheap, like, like we had a kid that got what it was like 4 meatballs and some mac and cheese for $2.50 or something like that. So, I mean, that kind of price is crazy cheap and great. So his meal costs $2.50. But then there is higher priced things too, like I got a wrap, and I think that was like $9 so that was more than I wanted, but I didn't really feel like anything else they had. But I think, and then some of our other kids got like the larger meatball sets, so like 12 or whatnot. And so that was a little more. That's true. So It wasn't terrible. I guess if you're in the market for meatballs and macaroni and cheese, then. IKEA is a good place to go, but if you're looking for a wrap, or I had falafel, and there's probably just maybe places that you can get. Better quality or an equivalent price for those particular menu items, I think, right, I agree, but you did try one of the kids' meatballs, so what did you think of that? Yeah, it was unremarkable. I mean, it wasn't bad, but Wasn't like something I would go out of my way to get again. So we versus like a Costco pizza. Like any day of the week I'll eat some Costco pizza. Not every day of the week will I eat an IKEA meatball. OK, fair enough. Yeah, we go out of our way to go to the Costco food court, so you wouldn't necessarily go out of your way for IKEA food court. Correct. Now the highlight was of the entire trip, I think, the fountain drinks. Because they had like, Different flavored sodas that were low sugar sodas, so they were like sweet, but not like overly sweet. So they had like a raspberry soda and like some other kind of fruity soda that was refreshing and didn't taste like pure sugar to me. Were they from like Europe? I'm not sure. They were like, I didn't see any brand, so I'm not sure if it's like a Europe specific brand or just like their own brand or something like that. OK, they had a lot of uh buy one get one free desserts, so I definitely indulged in that and I didn't get a beverage, so I don't know about that. Um, they do have the glass, and I think that's kind of nice cause they're all like sustainable, right? So instead of like throwaway plastic or paper, it's all served on glass that you have to turn, I don't know, it just kind of makes it more elevated and fancy scene. Yeah, I suppose so. That was nice, and you had to get your tray and have your meal and carry it around, or they even had little carts, which we did not use. To the chagrin of many people. -- They like wanted us to use the -- carts, and they were a cool idea, but the kids wanted to carry their own trays. If I was, if they were younger and I was carrying everyone's food, I definitely would have gotten one of the carts, because it can put like 3 trays on it. They all wanted to carry their own and go through the line and collect their food items on their trays. Yes, I don't know how many people tried to convince convince us, workers and regular um customers to use the carts. That's true, but, but we weren't the only, I only saw a couple of people use them, so it's not like we were doing some kind of faux pas. By just having uh trays, other people do that too. Perhaps so, I'm not sure. Many people judge us for not using the carts. So then we, after we were finished with our meal, we returned all the place settings and glassware to the station where they collect that, and then began our tour of The IKEA shop floor, essentially. And we're expressly looking for dining sets, tables and chairs. Right, and I think I did not. I think I forgot that goal. Cause I had a couple of things that I want for the house in mind. So I was just open to whatever IKEA had to offer us. So this was my first time to IKEA and I had no idea that it wasn't. You can't just go to the tables. No, you can't just go to the tables. It's basically like this maze. Of leading you through different room designs with different department elements, so you may have Some things with kitchen or living room or dining or bedrooms, and some of that may all be sort of mixed in. It's sort of in general categories, but Not very much so, like you might find. A kitchen section right next to the dining section because it does go together, but they have it almost as like a room that you can sort of see what the different furniture would look like you didn't, you did not know that's how it was set up, no. So this was like an amusement park ride where it's like terrible and you just can't get off the road. I loved it. So because you had I prepared you properly. And you knew what to expect. Do you think you would have enjoyed it more or like you just felt so frustrated that you couldn't get to the tables and chairs and leave? I think if you had described it and were accurate in your description, I may not have even wanted to go there anymore. OK, so I guess it's good that I didn't. Uh, you took one of the kids was not down for it either, and you guys both failed pretty quickly and left, but me and the other kids really enjoyed it, and we took our time and we shopped around and because the whole process and thought process for IKEA. Is that like you walk and it's like a showroom. You see like, oh, this is how this bedroom can set up. Look how nice this table goes with this dresser that goes with this vase that goes with this, like it's an entire room. And you can look in like visualize like, yes, I want that room, so let me buy these pieces. And you can like test everything out and open the cabinets and lay on the bed or the chairs. And all that, so the kids and I really had a lot of fun. Walking around these pretend houses. I suppose so, and it might be relevant if we were starting from scratch and did not have any furniture at all. But like we were talking about last time with this Dero effect that now if I buy the IKEA table, I need the IKEA chairs to go with it, and then I need the IKEA shelf, and then I need the IKEA dresser, and now I need the IKEA bed, that this could actually exacerbate the Dero effect by seeing all this wonderful unified design elements altogether, but then you have to buy everything where we were there expressly for the purpose of looking at a dining table and chairs, right. We walked away, buying a birthday present for one of the kids, and he was adamant his birthday is next week and he was adamant that. This is what he wants. And so I was trying to at first think of how I could hide it, as we're shopping, and then he was just like, I'll just get it, we'll just get it, and this will be one of my presents, OK? I was like, all right, sure. So we got him a birthday present, and we got some silverware dividers for um one of the drawers, and we got a bunch of new painters for our closet that we're in right now. Indeed, that was definitely a indulgence thing, but it was 10 really nice hangers for $1.50. So I I thought that was a good justification, cause our coat hangers are all, a lot of them are just bent and wonky from years of use. And I would just, you're looking around, I haven't put them up yet. Is that what you're looking at? I see you looking over scanning the room. I have not re-hung them. They are, the new coat hangers are nicely sitting in this empty area of our closet. I, I will get to them and rehang them eventually. That's true. So we did get the birthday gift and some buy one get one free desserts and some hangers, but we did not get a table and chairs, which the other child that likewise did not enjoy the IKEA experience, I think, made it to about the halfway mark, which was generally where the tables and chairs were. So we endured some of the bedroom. Layouts and things like that. And then came to a section that was a little bit more focused on the dining tables and chairs, and we did try out some different chairs and did not find any that were like super amazing or anything. And then basically you and the other 3 kids took your time for the remaining part of the tour and we Did follow the, the actual path that you're supposed to because there were like certain areas that you could like exit early, but I was still looking for tables and chairs. So we did sort of just speed run the rest of the Show floor and then Departed and waited outside for everybody else to be finished. Right. Did you know how long it would take us? No, I did not. Yeah, we came back, we had a great time. We all decided there was one chair at a table we all liked, but we did not get it because price point x 6 would be a lot. And then we all agreed on these like, Lounge chairs, we all loved, they were amazing. I even asked the worker because there was no tag on them. So I asked the worker how much they were and what they were, and I was sort of hopeful that she's like, oh, this is the last one, and I would just bought that one. But now there's a bunch. And that was the other thing that surprised me because I had always sort of had it in the expectation of my mind that IKEA was going to be. Cheap, but good quality. And it probably is, comparatively, but it was like not as cheap as I thought it was going to be. It's still quite expensive for a lot of these different Pieces of furniture, right? I mean, for a desk, or a dresser and stuff, it is a good price point, but again, it's a different quality. It's good quality, but it's not. Strawn lumber. It's not like, you know, the dressers they made in the 50s that is like solid oak or something like that. So I don't think it'll last for 70 years, but. For the amount of time we need it while they're growing up, I think it works well. Indeed. And then reflecting on this after the fact, I think the reason that I dislike IKEA so much is that when I go to a store to buy something, I have a specific intent, and I don't really shop. I go into the store, I go to the section that contains the item that I need, I retrieve it, I go to the checkout, I buy it, and I leave. -- And it was extremely hard to do this at -- IKEA, right, yeah, they intentionally make it so you can't do that. They make it, so you must walk around the whole thing. And then that led to another conclusion that I don't think I really ever shop except with a few handful of exceptions. Like 99% of my experience of buying something is, I know exactly what I want. I go get it and I purchase it and I leave. The only time that I do not do that is at the clearance section at Lowe's or Home Depot. I will go browse that section. I don't necessarily have any particular thing in mind that I need, but I will go check and see what they have that maybe is at a highly discounted rate. And then Yard sales Again, mostly for the bargain element. Where, like, again, I don't necessarily need anything, but if there's something that might be useful in the future, and it is sold at a very steep discount, that perhaps I will shop around and buy that. And then Ollie's bargain outlet, which we've referred to a little bit in some previous episodes, where like the entire store is like that, that you can go to see what good stuff that they have and how cheap it is, and then you can get it with not necessarily the intent of buying anything or anything specific, but just browsing and actually shopping, quote unquote. Yeah, so my shopping experience is vastly different. Do you think that you like that because it's a bargain, like a treasure hunt kind of idea? Yeah I suppose so, but I'm not even necessarily like. Expecting to find treasure, like I would be perfectly happy to walk away from the clearance section at Lowe's or Home Depot or a yard sale or Ollie's without buying anything. So it's not like I'm going there even to buy something, but if I do find a Desired item that is steeply discounted, then I guess that is akin to a treasure that I have found. So I definitely like discounts, uh, as we've said before, I don't like any of those experiences. I mean, I don't mind the like. I'll hit up the clearance section, yeah, at Home Depot or earlier I was at Walmart, I hit up the clearance section there just to browse, but As an experience as a whole, I don't like those experiences. I like when I have my shopping cart or whatnot, and I can leisurely walk up and down the aisles and look at all the pretty things. And Yeah, I, that's what I prefer more, and I know we shop differently. There's actually very few times in our entire. 18 years and 17 years together, that we've actually shopped together, cause we know we're so different, we don't do it very much. I suppose so, and I guess credit to you that when we are shopping together, you probably default a little bit more to my style because we'll go just by a list that we have pre-populated, and those are the things that we go by and stick pretty much expressly to that list. Yeah, I don't think I make you walk around the mall holding my bags or anything, anything like that. Without you, I will leisurely walk around and take my time. Well, there you go. Thank you for that, cause. IKEA was A nightmare. It's a strong word, -- but it -- was, it was, yeah, it was. I do not ever plan on going there ever again. Even without the kids, for maybe a quick bite to eat if it's convenient and I'm in the mood, but I would really, I'd have no reason to go there for the main thing that they sell, which is furniture, cause I want to go to a department store and go to the department of which I need an item. And go find the item, and that is the only thing I want to look at. OK, well, do you understand also to put more uh salt on this wound? What happens if you want. The table that you saw? Do you know how you acquire it in IKEA? No, I do not. So you take that number, because they're all numbered like an item code, and you take it down at the very bottom where the checkout is, right before the checkout, there is where basically warehouse-esque. Rows of merchandise and you have to enter the code in and it'll tell you where in the aisles it is and then you go get the box from those aisles and then you take it to the checkout. So you can browse those aisles. Like unsupervised -- in the -- warehouse section. I don't know how well you'd see them though, because they're just like the cardboard boxes. They probably have a picture on the side and or an item number you can look at it online. Maybe that's what I need to do. I just need to go visit the warehouse section only of IKEA. So you look up online your item number and then you just go default straight to the warehouse part and get your item. Well then I might as well buy it online, but at least here I could look at the box. You see, this is, this, I was trying to argue for making another visit to IKEA and I don't think it's, I don't think it's gonna happen. So obviously IKEA will never be sponsoring this podcast. But what, if any, store would you enjoy? What store do you enjoy? I know you said you like Ollie's and Home Depot clearance, but what is the store that you would always say yes to? Like for a shopping experience. Yeah Or that makes you excited, like, yes, I gotta go here. Maybe the Lego store. Where you could go like browse all the new Lego sets and you can see them assembled or like some of the displays and everything. That would be maybe one. But then everything's so expensive, you don't really buy anything per se, so. I'm not sure. So you're just going for the architecture, yeah, the Lego store, that would be one. The thing that is a nationally recognized brand that has like special items at a particular thing like the Hershey's experience, like we talked about that you could go browse things and items that only exist at that location and you can't buy them anywhere else. That also may have a draw towards my shopping experience. My shopping definitely depends on where I am, but also who I'm with. There are some people that I can just go anywhere with and leisurely take my time and enjoy it. There's other times I'm with individuals and I'm like, oh, let's go quick, you know, like my kids, I'm not gonna leisurely walk around with them. We go get the items. But tonight I went to the store by myself, and I went up and down basically every aisle and fully enjoyed myself. And there's friends and family that I can do that with also. So I think it depends for sure for me on. Who I'm with. And also the time of day. I think a store depends on that for me. I definitely have low energy at night since I'm such a morning person. So if someone wants to in the evenings, I've had opportunities before where people wanna go, especially maybe in college, but other times where people wanna go shopping in the evenings, I'm like, dude, I can't like, Let's get the milk and cheese and go home. See, well, that's my Outlook on shopping at all times. Let's get the cheese and milk and that's it. But I do love online shopping still. I think if I had to choose forever in person or online, I would choose online no matter what. I guess, but I only open an online shopping browser when I actually I'm intending to buy something. So do you open online shopping? -- Websites just to -- look. Oh yeah, all the time. I also have like a running of items that I want that are either in my cart or save for later, or whatnot, and I empirically check on them for pricing and that sort of thing. Interesting, far different ways of shopping. So you can always let us know if you empathize with one of us or if you have a completely different shopping experience. You can do that by leaving a comment or sending us an email or sending us a text message, and if you did find this episode enjoyable, you can always like, share and subscribe, and it is helpful even if you just share it with just one other person. Yeah, definitely. Don't share it with IKEA, but maybe for Ollie, go ahead and share with them. That's true. If you know somebody that works at Ollie's, you can share this episode with them. So, from your friends at I Hate Talking, until next time, remember, it is only through talking that we begin the journey to understanding.