When it's your Turn to Pay

In a perfect world, Orthopedic Sleep Pillow an afternoon at IKEA would be a mix of Swedish meatballs, minimalistic furniture and shopping bliss. You'd eat at the restaurant, drop your kids off to play in the ball pit at Smaland, wander the store, exit with a disassembled coffee table inside a cardboard box - one that actually fits in your trunk - and everyone would mind his or her manners. Let's take a look at what to keep in mind the next time you decide to brave the crowds for that particleboard bookshelf. The best way to avoid a faux pas at IKEA is to know what to expect. A cornerstone of IKEA's business model is flat-packed furniture, which shifts the burden of assembly to the customer - and might cause you to have a panic attack if you were really counting on sleeping in that bed tonight. If you go on the weekend, it's probably going to be crowded.

Even in the middle of the week, a trip to IKEA will likely take at least an hour - and that's if you stick to your shopping list and don't wander off to look at lamps. Snap some photos of the room you're planning to furnish, and think about how new furniture additions will fit its character, context and color scheme. Next, break out a tape measure and calculate the size of the room - you'll save yourself the deep despair of assembling a bookcase only to find it's too tall for your study's low ceiling. And instead of asking IKEA employees their opinion of whether that couch would fit in the trunk of your Volkswagen Golf (it probably won't), just measure it yourself first. Fortunately for the directionally challenged among us, there's an arrow-lined path that winds through IKEA's Showroom and Marketplace, offering a sense of order and orientation in the mammoth space.

When visitors follow the path, they explore the whole store and come into proximity with just about everything IKEA has for sale, from desks and beds to cutlery and doormats. The setup might be an evil plot to get you to buy more home goods, but it could at least serve to minimize stress. But on those crowded afternoons around moving day, just go with the arrows instead of against them. Along the way, be aware of the people around you: Don't run, ergonomic sleep support try not to swing your yellow shopping bag in excitement, avoid cartwheels and don't leave your cart in the path. And instead of stopping to gawk in wonderment at all the affordable furniture from a distance, step off the path and let your fellow shoppers make their way around you. The major departments in IKEA are the Showroom on the second floor and Market Hall on the ground level.

The Showroom features mockups of fully realized kitchens, bathrooms, living rooms and other spaces, Derila Pillow while Market Hall contains decorations, rugs, tableware and cut-it-yourself fabric. If you have second thoughts about an item after you've picked it up, put it back yourself instead of expecting an employee to do it for you. And while scanning through the furniture inventory, it's perfectly fine for customers to kick up their feet on an ottoman, stretch out on a chaise lounge or even lie down on a bed if they're a bit drowsy. Mona Astra Liss, U.S. LINK TO LMI PAGE But keep things tidy: No muddy shoes on the fabric, no jumping on the beds and make sure you wake up in time to give your fellow shoppers a chance to try out that couch. You'll also find the As-Is section, which is stocked with discontinued items, returns, banged-up floor models and other products that are available at a discount.